Welcome to Madrid
Trip Start
Jan 26, 2008
1
23
36
Trip End
Feb 29, 2008
Madrid,
Spain
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Isabel II, Belles ancestor!
. After about half an hour there was an enormous queue forming at the gate for the preceding Ryanair flight. They started boarding the Ryanair flight about 10 minutes before it was due to depart, got the majority of people on board by the departure time but there were still people turning up to board at the very last minute and they held the plane for them. Once the Ryanair people were clear, we lined up and were at the head of the queue which quickly started to form behind us. We kept a wary eye out for potential queue jumpers, plenty of people did try and sidle over and see if there was any possibility of getting into the front part of the queue but our fellow queue members insisted that they head back to the end of the queue. The one mildly unpleasant thing about being at the front of the queue was that we had two couples behind us who were competing for the 'who can kiss the most passionately in the airport queue' prize. One of the girls did at least have the good grace to look a little embarrased by her amorous partner but the other three were oblivious to the effect their behavior was having on those around them. We did not commence boarding our flight until the scheduled departure time. We were on the first bus to the plane and I was second up the stairs and into the plane so we managed to secure seats in an exit row in the middle of the plane. We took up residence in the aisle seat and middle seat and no one was tempted to try and get passed us to the empty window seat. This suited us perfectly as once we had taken off we were able to spread our selves across the three sats for a very comfortable 2 hour flight to Madrid.
We arrived in Madrid and were surprised to have an air-bridge to leave the plane by. We enterd the terminals and followed the signs to the baggage claim and, once our suitcases appeared, we collected them and headed out the green exit
The Ten or so Amigos
. Not a customs officer to be seen anywhere! Madrid airport is huge, there are four terminals w weer in Terminal 1. We started following the signs to the metro and after a ten to fifteen minute walk, from Terminal 1 and through Terminal 2, we managed to find the station and purchase our tickets. We caught the number 8 line form the airport to 'Nuevos Ministerios' where we changed to the number 10 line for a trip to 'Tribunal' station where we made our final interchange to the Number 1 line for the trip to 'Anton Martin' station. The train from the airport was relatively empty, the train on line 10 was moderately full and the final train was packed. As we boarded the final train I felt someone pressing up close to me and initially just assumed it was because we were all packed in like sardines. I began to get a bit uncomfortable about it all though and kept looking over my shoulder at the girl behind me. I then got an uncomfortable feeling at my right front hip and thoughts of pickpockets quickly came into my head. I checked my pockets and much to my alarm I could not find my wallet. At this point the girl behind me suddenly had an urgent need to get back of the train, it had not yet left the station. She departed the train, the doors closed and the train left the statin and I was missing my wallet - Welcome to Madrid! There was only 20 Euro and 10 Australian Dollars in my wallet and of course my credit cards. We got to the hostel, found our room and then headed downstairs to find a public phone so that I could start calling the credit card companies
Fur Hat at Puerta del Sol
. We did not have to look far to find what phone numbers to call, free-call phone numbers to contact all the major credit card companies were on a notice posted next to the pay phone - it seems i am not the first person to have this sought of need at the hostel. After about half an hour on the phone, the last 10 minutes toalking to comforting British accent, I had the stolen cards all cancelled and we breathed a bit easier. Belle still had all her cards and fortunately she had been carry the majority of our cash so, all in all, we got through the pickpocket episode with a minimum of inconvenience.We headed out to check out Plaza Mayor. On the way we came across a shop selling churros with hot chocolate dipping sauce so we sampled this local delicacy - Yum! We found the plaza and wandered around it a bit and then decided that perhaps we should report the theft of my wallet to the local constabulary. Checking our map of Madrid we located the main Madrid police station and headed off in that direction. On the way we came across a second hand bookshop that sold equal numbers of english language and spanish language books as well as some books in German. Belle managed to find a copy of Robert Ludlum's Bourne Supremacy which she has been looking for for ages. We continued on to the police station, finally locating it, and speaking to an officer at the door who pointed us to a room at the back of the police station. This turned out to be a waiting room, you take a ticket from a queuing device and then sit in the waiting room to wait your turn to report a minor incident. The waiting room was full of people, there had obviously been a large number of minor incidents today. We waited for a little while and then realised that we could easily be waiting here for four or five hours. We did notice that there was a phone number you could call to report a 'minor incident' and so we took down the phone number and left
Guy on a Horse
. We headed back in the direction of Plaza Mayor and came across Puerta del Sol which seems to be one of the main shopping strips. When we had first headed out we had been surprised at how quiet the streets were. We quickly worked out that the streets had previously been quite because we had set out during siesta time. The streets of Madrid were now brimming with people. We wandered along and Belle spotted some boots she liked the look of in a shop window and low and behold they fit, so Belle finally managed to get the boots she had been hoping to find in Rome. We next found a leather good shop where I got a replacement wallet which will stay safely in my locker at the hostel until we move on to France, and finally we managed to find a bookshop where Belle picked up her English language, Spanish Cookbook. We eventually found our way back to Plaza Mayor where we had dinner of Seafood nd Chicken Paella and some Spanish Pork sausage. There is lots of Jamon (Ham) here in fact, many of the shops selling the Jamon are called Museo de Jamon. The Jamon is all still on the bone, trotter still intact - looks a little unsightly but going by the number of people sampling it, it must be very tasty.
The Hostel we are staying in is the first true 'Hostel' of our trip. We are in an eight person mixed dormitory. When we first arrived we had thought that perhaps we had the room to ourselves. When we got back, all of the beds were occupied! There is free breakfast which is good and also free WiFi. The majority of the other guests at the hostel are in the younger that 25 years age bracket and their idea of a good time does not really coincide with what Belle and I consider as a good time. As we were preparing to hit the hay at about 10:00am the rest of the residents in our room were preparing to head out for the evening. So that has been our first day in Madrid. Not the best introduction to Spain but the scenery is interesting and there is a great atmosphere, particularly in and around Plaza Mayor.
