As of writing this, I've been in Madrid for about 12 hours. I've already lost my wallet (and found it), my location, and my mind.
When I landed in Madrid, I could feel that I was in a different country, though I couldn't tell you which one it was. The flight was an uncomfortable 7 hours where I got to watch the Hangover III and sleep for a measly two hours. I got two free meals, food that was anything by satisfying. When the plane finally landed, I was happy to get off. I claimed my baggage easy enough (I fit my entire life into a suitcase weighing lbs and a backpack whoot whoot!). I had even made it easy on myself by printing out directions to my hostel. I looked down at the print out from google maps and saw that the next step was to ride the metro 5 stops. This also happened fluidly. Well, the next step was to change from the metro to Renfe, a metro knock off. I had the directions, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to get to Puerta del Sol, a big plaza in the heart of Madrid. GMaps said to take C3, which I was near. The issue was that C3 went in the wrong direction. I yelled "YOLO" and got on the train that I knew was going the opposite direction of what I wanted. At the next stop, I hopped on to the train going back from where I came thinking that it must cross Puerta del Sol because it would be going the right way. Well, this train overshot Puerta del Sol by one stop. This is when I built up enough confidence to ask a Spainard, "Puerta del Sol" to which they replied by pointing across the tracks where a crowd of people had gathered. I thanked him and got on the correct train.
Finding my hostel was another task. When I got to Puerta del Sol, I really felt like I was in Spain. I did a lap around the plaza before with my heavy backpack and my 50 lb suitcase before I realized that life is never easy and I should never expect it to be. I shelled out 3.5 euros and bought a map of Madrid. I tirelessly found my hostel and I was off. After 20 minutes, I arrived. Relieved to drop off my things, I went to the front desk. He looked up my name and sighed. Apparently, my room was still being cleaned and it would take another hour. It was almost 12 oclock at this point and I was exhausted. The man offered to take my stuff and let me use the WiFi while I waited. That appeased me because no one knew that I had survived my flight and had not ended up on an island with a smoke monster.
The first message I sent out was to my parents and then to Facebook. Finally, I got a hold of my friend, Ellie, who I had studied with me in Granada and was also in Madrid. We decided to meet up at Puerta del Sol. Once we saw each other, the tides changed for the better. We each got a cheap flip phone from Orange and then we went to el Parque del Prado. This was an enormous park right near the Prado Museum. We pretty much walked down one side and back another to find this awesome man made lake that had stadium seating on one side. Behind the seats were several large pillars. They were all angled facing a giant statue of what I'm guessing represented Carlos III.
After we found it, it was 3:00 PM. Having Granada blood in us, we decided to go for tapas. We found a nice tapas place and ate there for a few minutes. They weren't free, as we were used to in Granada, but they were cheap and delicious. After this bar we set off for Plaza Mayor where a waiter flagged us down and convinced us to eat at his restaurant with only hand gestures. He really talked with his eyes and he said 'croquetas'. Those are a Spanish tapa that is essentially fried mashed potatoes. By the end of our meal, we were both exhausted. I was sweating due to the beautifully hot Madrid climate and tired from only catching 10 winks of sleep. The problem is that the best way to fight jet lag is to stay up as late as possible. Well, jet lag KO'ed me and I took a two hour nap. I woke up to cancel plans I ahd made with Ellie and I started writing this.
So, I had a very eventful 12 hours. I'm staying in Madrid until Wednesday when I embark for Badajo and start apartment hunting. Crazy. I'll let you know of any more crazy shenanigans I encounter. Until then, hasta luego!
PS: I'll be adding pictures soon. Probably when I unpack in Badajoz. Also, I know that the title of this blog is Mi Viaje a Granada...I'm looking into how to change it.
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