So as you can guess, I have arrived safely in Madrid.
After I emailed you yesterday I went and found the train station to get my ticket to Madrid. That wasn't too much of a problem. The train station is right in the center of town, next to the Plaza del Torros, in fact, which is quite an impressive building. It kind of looks like the coliseum. Same color, same shape, same idea of windows. So I got my ticket and then headed back to the hostel. On the way I got hungry enough that I pretty much stopped at a random cafe on the way and asked for the menu, which they didn't have. So I just wound up ordering the special of the day, and it was good. Frankly, it could have been bad and I wouldn't have noticed, so there's jet lag for you, but it was tasty and filling. I sat there and drank my tea and read for a while before actually going back to the hostel, showering, and finally conking out at 6:30.
Which was great until I woke up at 2:30am. I read for a bit and managed to fall asleep again until 8:30 when I got up, got my stuff together, and then read for a while. I left the hostel around 10:45 and went to another cafe right around the corner from the one I ate at last night for lunch. I had a nice ham and tomato sandwich on that kind of bread that is I think considered French, but really pretty ubiquitous throughout Europe. Which is good. Because I like it.
So then I hung out there and read and drank tea some more (what can I say, I like reading and drinking tea!) and headed back to the hostel, because I'd forgotten my jacket. Of course. But finally I headed to the train station with plenty of time to spare. I caught the high-speed train to Madrid. It was non-stop and only took an hour and 45 minutes.
The train ride was possibly the highlight of my day, actually. I really like trains. There's something very nice about them. And this one was a great way to see the Spanish countryside. As I said earlier, it actually looks quite a lot like Italy, only redder. It also looked suprirsinginly like the American Southwest, which sort of makes sense, since (and here's your random useless fact of the day!) they used to make a bunch of cheap westerns in Italy, hence the term "Spaghetti Western" and Spain looks rather like Italy. Also, they filmed the Western episode of Doctor Who in Spain, so that still makes sense. There were some nice rolling hills and fields and orange trees, and we passed over this absolutely gorgeous lake. It was this perfect, deep, beautiful shade of blue and it came right up to the base of these rolling hills that surrounded it on all sides and the trees went right up to the edge of the water. It was incredible.
I also realized on this trip that I quite like writing on trains. About 15 minutes into the ride I got the sudden urge to write something. I think it has something to do with the act of sitting there with nothing to do but enjoy the beauty of the surrounding landscape. Especially in Spain where there weren't a lot of people or towns we passed, just a lot of old, abandoned beige shacks that looked like something from a story. It's very inspirational. It's also a good place to write because trains are a relatively worry-free space. It's not like a car where you're in charge of something. There's no traffic, no turning. It's straight and steady and makes a much nicer noise. It's comforting really. On a train you can just be, which is a good atmosphere for writing. Nothing you can do will make the train go faster, you don't have to worry about running into anything or the loud music the guy in that jacked-up truck is playing. On a train you just sit there and watch the country go by. I am sure that you will have many emails from me written on trains for the next few months.
I did not write this on a train, however. My computer was being exceptionally dumb and had refused to charge while at the hostel. I knew it wasn't a problem with my converter because my kindle had no problem charging. I eventually thought that it might be a problem with my cord, which had been working just fine before, and was worried that I would have to get a new one, but for some reason when I got to the hotel my cord started working perfectly. Go figure. So I apologize if I was short on communication last night and this morning, I was trying to save my dying computer battery in case of a supermassive I need a computer right now or I’m going to die in the ghettos of Madrid emergency. But fortunately I didn't, and it is now charged.
I got to Madrid and took the subway a few stops to the hotel, which I found very quickly and easily. Some of the group was already here and when the rest arrived we went to the Museo del Prado, which as a name means nothing, only know that there's a lot of art there. I don't know how much y'all know of Spanish painters, but the Prado has a bunch of stuff by Velazquez and Goya and el Greco, and it was really cool. I like museums, and this one had some awesome stuff, including a stunning exhibition by a painter who did scenes from Wagner's operas. It was beautiful. We walked back from the museum, had dinner, and now everybody is headed to bed. Most of them arrived today, and frankly, I'm shocked that they made it to dinner at 8!
SO I'm going to read for a while and then probably hit the hay myself!
Buenas noches, todos, and I'll email you again later!
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