Spainish Nights

"Spain: a whale stranded upon the coast of Europe."
--Edmund Burke

Spain may not seem like the most obvious of destinations for one to take after a stint in London, but it is never-the-less precisely where Chris and I ended up on the afternoon of the 8th. We woke and scrambled from the Clink Hostel to St. Pancras rail station where we intended to ride a train out to Gatwick airport. However, after sitting on the platform for a few minutes, a voice recording came over the PA that informed us, "The train to Brighton has been delayed due to a broken down train in Farringdon." Our train tickets were activated to be used on the Tube and we had to ride south to Victoria Station and catch a train there. In doing this, we ended up on a train that didn't stop at Gatwick, and thus had to hope off at East Croyden and catch the next train. The entire time, right up until Gatwick, the tune of "Broken down train at Farringdon" sang over the loudspeakers. Turns out there wasn't actually a broken down train, but rather the beginnings of a strike that we thankfully escaped the effects of (see the video in the previous post.)

In Gatwick, the delays continued as apparently people had to be evacuated out of security due to a pulled fire alarm "that had since been resolved", so the line stretched out to eternity. However, to Gatwick's credit, a woman showed up to fast track us so that we would make our flight. We did make it to the plane, and Chris and I were able to enjoy our first foreign language flight (the crew was Spanish and the announcements came first in Spanish, and then in English that was almost as difficult to understand itself.) We flew Air Europa and had a nice flight, landing in Madrid at around 2 o'clock. We experienced a bit of turbulence in landing, and a black woman next to us completley lost it, first calling out "Wow! What is going on!" and then just sitting stiff-bodied, eyes closed while mouthing prayers to her heathen gods.

The Madrid airport was very nice, painted in bright yellow like McDonalds and staffed by friendly, bi-lingual individuals. We ate in the airport, as we hadn't eaten yet that day, at an overpriced cafeteria where I was able to get my first taste of jamon Serrano on a bocadillo (my new favorite food obsession.) Chris had what he described as "lunch room pizza".

We rode the metro into the city centre of Puerta de Sol, which was 45min away. Coming out of the underground into the bright sunlight filling the plaza was quite an experience. Madrid is a beautiful city, and it is nearly impossible to look in any direction without be stricken by the architecture. We stumbled around the plaza (they are doing a bit of construction), sweating in the delightfully dry heat while looking for our hotel. I eventually located it despite the less than specific map we had and the terrible directions provided by the hotel. However, our place is fantastic as we are centrally located and in a large room full of amenities including TV (which has been an adventure in and of itself) and a balcony looking out over the Plaza de Carmen.

After a siesta, we took out to explore Madrid, seeing many peculiar sights and discovering that Madrid has, hands down, the best McDonalds I have ever been in (complete with walk up windows for ordering on the go and, inexplicably, cereveza on the menu.) I was able to use my limited Spanish to order us two "Cono Kit Kats" which are delicious vanilla cones with a kit kat stuck in them....you know, because why wouldn't you? We took our cones with us to the Plaza Mayor, stopping to admire one of the Museo De Jamon along the way. Madrid is absolutely ham crazy, but it's not lunch meat or spiral cut, honey baked ham like we have in America. Jamon Serrano, and the more expensive Jamon Iberico, look like jerkey because they are cured, and have a buttery texture with a flavor that doesn't come close to anything I have eaten before. The next day I bought two bocadillo's from a Museo de Jamon and chomped on them as Chris enjoyed two hamburguesas con queso in the McDonald's across from the Prado. That night however, I dug into a skillet of seafood paella at a small cafe where our mineral water came in glass bottles and cost 1.30 euros apiece (sin gas).

Today, (as I type it is the 9th) we strolled along the Calle de Prado and saw Neptune's Fountain, the Prado (though we didn't go in) and many of the impressive government buildings. We paid six euro and visted the Reina Sofia in order to see Picasso's Guernica, not entirely realizing that the museum is exclusively dedicated to "modern art." I don't know what emotion modern art is supposed to elicit from people, but it mostly just made Chris and I laugh. We saw some of the most ridculous paintings and exhibits the human mind has come up with (Silla y máquina de escribir...look it up), to include an entire room that was dedicated to four parallel, five foot high blocks of iron. However, we did see an impression collection of Picasso's work, leading up to the star of the show, Guernica and the test sketches that preceded it. In fact, the whole exhibit dedicated to the Civil War was actually pretty fascinating. Everything else though was a chore.

Afterwards, we visited the cities enormous park, the Parque del Retiro, where a group of young Spainards was having a water fight with water taken from nearby, questionably sanitary, man-made pond. The rest of the day was spent enjoying the city; its shops and mega-department stores, its people and street performers, its food and culture.

Chris and I both have thoroughly enjoyed Spain more than we expected too, and have done well with the small amount of Spanish learned in school and afterward. Here speaking Spanish with the people seems like an accomplishment more that it does at home with Mexicans. Chris had to show his ID when purchasing something with his credit card and the man smiled and said in English,
"Georgia? Atlanta. Atlanta Hawks!" To which he added a thumps up.

Next we take a train to Barcelona where Shane should be meeting us, and where we will be reuniting with Ashley and Stephanie (just got word from them today about this development.) They are coming fresh from a stay in Paris, and should have some good stories to tell.