Madrid,
Madrid,
Spain and Canary Islands
Monday, September 29, 2008
Our two day stay in Madrid started off on the wrong foot! Being cheap, we decided to take the over-crowded metro (subway) from the airport into the center of Madrid, where we were to stay. As part of this trip on the metro we had to change metro lines three different times which means getting on and off jam-packed metros three different times with all of our luggage in tow. Other than a few dirty looks directed our way for taking up so much space with our bags, the journey to our hostel was going well until we attempted to get on our last metro line before reaching our final stop. As we boarded the metro, a group of people (who a man on the subway later identified as Bosnians) came up behind us and started pushing us from behind and one of the girls made a big scene, yelling and getting angry. The situation suddenly turned hectic for a few seconds as we were pushed on the metro and then the doors closed and the group that had been pushing so earnestly from behind had suprisingly not decided not to board the metro after all. As the doors closed and the metro pulled away, a man came over to us and explained that those Bosnians had just stolen our wallets. We quickly check and sure enough, both wallets gone. Denise´s from her previously closed purse under her arm and mine from my back pocket that was covered with one of my heavy bags draped around my shoulder. We got off the metro, flaged down an english speaking person with a phone, and called Denise´s mom to have her call and cancel all of our credit and debit cards.
Everything has since been resolved and we only lost our wallets, about $150, and our sense of security. Other than this one unfortunate event, Madrid was a nice city. A bit crowded for our tastes and a bit too dirty and noisy as well, but we saw the sights and one night had awesome tapas (fried food that comes with the purchase of a small beer) in a local bar.
Sorry we are so far behind on our blogs!! Life has been crazy getting settled into our new schools and home. We will be catching up this next week
