In Spain, many restaurants are close from 4pm to about 8pm, as lunch ends at 4 and dinner doesn’t start until after 8 (bars open later/earlier and serve tapas, of course). This wouldn’t be too much of a problem…. except when you’re a tourist and forget that you won’t be able to find many food options after spending that extra hour at a museum and are starving at 5:30pm.

This is how I found myself in a Spanish McDonalds. I was actually very surprised to see it because I was in the smallish town of Ronda in southern Spain, but the town is a big favorite with tourists – hence the fast food. After I got over my surprise, I was happy because, as I said, I was very hungry. I got a burger, split some fries and absolutely couldn’t resist trying the gazpacho that was on the menu. It’s made specifically for McDonalds by a company in Spain and cost about $3 or so for a generous serving. It was pretty good – fresh, with a nice tomato flavor and a hint of spice. Heck, I would order it if it were on the menu here, too!