So I didn´t mention all the amazing sights in Madrid when I was there! Our hostel was rated the best hostel in Europe and was in the middle of everything. Madrid is a very ¨walkable¨ city, so I visited the city using those untrained two feet of mine and walking an average of 6 kms a day. Madrid is really a city where the designers paid attention to every detail - even the modern apartments have ornate balconies that make it look a hundred times better.
Although I said I would be going to Toledo, I didn't actually make it there. I decided that it would be better to see more of Madrid, so Jen and I went on a walk to see the whole east side of Madrid (having seen the west the day before). We walked around, and had a break in the huge park of Madrid called Buen Retiro. It's amazing how although Europe is packed, they still make it a priority to maintain "greenery" in their cities - everywhere you go, there are parks and places to rest. We ate some tapas (local food) and our waiter couldn't speak in English, but kept singing American songs like Sinatra or the Beatles. We kept walking on and visited 2 museums. I always claimed not to be a museum-lover, but there was a large display of Picasso's work, and I absolutely fell in love with it. I can't say I understand what he was going for at times, but he was a fascinating artist.
We chilled in the internet cafe that evening, and I said goodbye to everyone, and made my way to the train station with Nicki. It was my first time on a train, and I wasn't sure what to expect. We got a couchette, which are sleeping bunks as opposed to seats, and cost 5 times the normal price. I was expecting something spacy and luxurious, and entered into a tiny, tiny HOT room with 6 bunks. Of course, Nicki and I were on top, where it was unbearably hot, so we decided to go get drinks in the food area instead. (There was a family with a very spoiled and screaming child on the bottom bunks.) While we chilled with everyone else escaping the heat, the Montreal man and his buddies appeared - turns out they were taking the same overnight train to Barcelona! After showing him embarassing photos of himself posing, we talked for a while and returned back to our cart. The train ticket guy took our tickets, and told us he was going to come wake us up at 630 to get ready to get off the train at 7. We slept for a few hours, with me curled up until a fetal position for most of the night (no space). The train man came to get us late, right at 7am. Imagine his (and our!!) surprise when he couldn´t get the door open. Turns out the lock jammed, and Nicki and I were stuck in this tiny room on our tiny beds, wondering if they were going to take us across the rest of Spain. Half an hour later, the train man and his 2 backup men were power drilling at the door/lock to get us out. After panicking, laughing, and then silent observation, we were finally out. This is the random and amazing intro to Barcelona for us, and is only appropriate as the rest of the trip was more random and amazing.
I will leave details of Barcelona for another post, or even a few, since it has been the craziest 4 days of my life!! Let me give you a preview: dancing to a drumming group on the beach at 430am, getting free drinks from a 60+ French man who designs clubs for a living and getting lost in northern Barcelona ghetto... I love it.
No comments:
Post a Comment