Santo Mauro | breakfast food | Madrid | Rome | Spain

Who do you call once you get into town? "My exchange sisters, who both live in Madrid. They are twins. I'll say, 'I just landed. What time are we meeting up?' "

So you really think of them as your Spanish family? "Oh, totally. I always go and see them, or to any wedding, and the rest of my family will go, too, not just me. When my father died, my Spanish mother flew to Rome immediately to be by my side and fly with me to New York. Three more of the family came over for the funeral. We are really tight. I have a plot of land that they gave me from their farm that even­tually I will build a house on. They raise papa negra pigs, the nicest ham. They have black hooves. They are very special."

I know you can't remember where you stayed when you were 19, but where have you stayed since? "One of my favorite hotels in the world is the Santo Mauro. It's this huge mansion built for the Duke of Santo Mauro in 1895 that they have converted. The rooms are phenomenal. The king-size beds are the biggest, widest beds you'll ever see in your life. It's one mattress, but it's like the width of two queen-size beds. Downstairs, the Santo Mauro has a big library, a big sitting room. It's the most lovely place. They have a beautiful garden and a restaurant. They serve breakfast in the library, which has super high ceilings and the most beautifully done moldings. One of my favorite things there, which you can get anywhere in Spain, is chocolate con churros. It's breakfast food, or for before you go to sleep if you've been out dancing and drinking all night. It's a cup of the thickest hot chocolate and fried dough, and it's amazing. Another nice hotel is the Hesperia. I stayed there once and had a fantastic suite. It's just very clean and modern, and the suite I stayed in had a Jacuzzi out on the balcony."