Goodbye blue sky
Trip Start
Apr 08, 2007
1
23
144
Trip End
Oct 01, 2007
Madrid,
Spain
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Despite us not having a bed on the train ride down from Paris, we slept fairly well. I say fairly, regardless of the pitching and heaving that riding in a seat overnight entails. But the seats were much like that of flying business class: large, comfy, and capable of leaning back quite considerably with a leg and foot rest to boot. Frankly, they better well should be given that they cost €43 a head on top of a Eurailpass
01: Busy Plaza Mayor in Madrid
! I can't say I had an amazing sleep - I woke up about every hour - but it was far better than expected. Probably being so exhausted when we boarded the train helped though; it was a pain in the tail navigating the RER system from Gare du Nord to Gare d'Austerlitz in Paris with our heaving bags.I did end up feeling quite knackered much of the first day here. We took it fairly easy though. That is, once we had lined up some accommodation. We arrived without a single booking, so we had to scramble some to find a place. The hotel service at Chamartín station only had one hotel available, asking for €91 for a double. That being well out of our price range, I opted for a phone call to every hostel in the book. Conveniently, the first one I talked to had space, but only in the dorms. Then once we'd gotten into town and dropped off our bags there, we ended up finding cheaper accommodation in a double room through a nearby hostal. Even better, it was for three nights (as we wanted), instead of the mere one that the hostel had available.
With that sussed, we got some much needed lunch, had a shower and then hit the town. Taking in Puerta del Sol and neighboring Plaza Mayor, we then wandered around Palacio Real (just missing closing time, unfortunately) and up to Plaza España
02: Plaza Mayor
. It being Sunday, we then thought we should take advantage of the free museum admission. The Prado was predictably jammed with people, lines literally stretching a full city block. Still, we gathered up the patience and it only ended up taking us about 40 minutes to get in. The place is simply enormous though - far larger than I recalled it being - so it got a bit exhausting trying to take it all in. We got to see the fabulous Bosch works though, most importantly The Garden of Earthly Delights, so that was the most important thing.Today started out less than ideally. The outdoors was looking fairly grey and bleak from the get-go, and not long after breakfast and a little strolling it began to rain. Predictably, we set off without an umbrella, so we had to duck under balconies, awnings and the like until retreating into a supermarket. Returning to the hotel after for a dry respite, we decided to hit local chain restaurant Museo del Jámon, gorging ourselves on their enormous set lunch. Somewhat amazingly, we exited the restaurant to sunny skies. Well planned, I'll say! In fact though, it didn't last. We were able to enjoy it long enough to walk back through Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor and then up to Gran Via, and it even stayed nice enough for us to head down to the massive Parque del Retiro. By evening though, it decided to rain again. Hrmm.....
Now I'm trying hard to back up my myriad pictures to the portable hard drive and having a terrible time with it. This internet cafe doesn't seem to like the drive one bit, so it won't even allow me access to it. Hopefully I can remedy that soon. In the meantime, I am able to upload pictures, albeit slowly. Something tells me it's going to be nigh impossible to keep the online photos coming regularly.
Anyhow, tomorrow we're getting out of the big city and spending the day in Toledo. Here's hoping the rain stays away!
