Today we woke up at 6am and got a taxi to Barna Sante station. It was like an airport! We had to go through a luggage scanner and metal detector and then have our tickets scanned and go through to the platform. Very strange! In all the other countries I have caught trains you just jump on the train! We had a nice smooth train ride for 2.5 hours and enjoyed beautiful countryside in the sunshine!
We arrived at our hotel at 10.30am and had a walking tour to be on at 11am. I told the man on reception this as we were checking in so he would know we are in a hurry. But this is Spain, we are near the Mediterranean. Everything is chilled and nothing is done on time! The man on reception treated me like an idiot and was very abrupt. It got to 10.45am and we had a 10 minute walk to the tour so after telling him twice and him grunting back at me (he was extremely rude!!!!) we ended up saying we were leaving and leaving our cases in reception. We had to take our backpacks on the tour which hurt my shoulders and back but otherwise we would have missed it!
We met the tour in Plaza Mayor and it started at 11am. Our guide was called O.D. He was really friendly and funny and from Israel but sounded American. Our tour started off walking to Puerta del Sol, the centre of Spain. I don't like Madrid as much as Barcelona so far. There are sooooo many homeless people and beggars and buskers. I feel like someone is pick pocketing me 24/7. The rude man on reception really didn't help either! Nothing stolen thus far, let's hope it stays that way. Very very VERY glad billy came as I wouldn't feel safe here alone.
We saw lots of shops with heaps of meat (mainly jambon - ham) hanging in their windows. Our guide explained that this is because during the Spanish inquisition (1400s-1800s) people hung meat in their windows so the authorities would know they weren't Jewish or Muslim (who don't eat ham).
We saw lots of cute little shops along the way. All the while avoiding beggar ladies shoving cups of coins in our faces. Over it. Bring on Melbourne where no one approaches me haha. We saw the oldest restaurant in the world, the old town hall and lots more. It was really good to get a basic idea of the history and know what you're looking at. The tour ended near the royal palace and opera house.
After this we went and bought our tickets for the Real Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano soccer match on Sunday. You buy your sport tickets from the bank - how random!!! Was fairly straight forward though, just needed a credit card for the machine. Then we went back to a chocolateria from the tour and had churros with dipping chocolate. Delicious! Then we checked in to the hotel and dumped our things and got changed. It was 18 degrees and sunny today so I was very glad of this! I wore a cardigan and just my thin jeans and I was absolutely fine! Lovely weather.
We set off again and had a look at a church and Plaza de España where there was a valentines day market on. Then we met O.D. again for a tapas tour with the same company! Apparently asking Alfonso was tired of farmers who couldn't afford both wine and food buying only wine and getting very drunk all the time. So he created a law saying that bars had to give a small portion of food on a plate covering the top of your wine bottle. The Spanish word for cover is 'tapa', hence the name! Now it isn't the law anymore but small portions of food to share (tapas) are traditional here. We went to three separate tapas bars and enjoyed delicious food such as jambon (ham), paella, black pudding (congealed blood with other stuff mixed in), Spanish omelette etc. The third bar was the best! We had navajas (razor fish) which were garlicky and delicious! And shrimp as well as champignons with bacon. The people on the tour were so nice. O.D. was even funnier with less people around (about 30 people on free tour but only 7 on tapas one). There were a couple from Canada with a little girl who are living in Ireland and travelling around, as well as a couple our age from Argentina. We had lots of fun!
Am scabbing off the Maccas wifi again because somehow our hotel justifies charging 2 euros for 30 minutes of Internet. Someone won't be getting a good trip advisor review (yes I'm talking to you rude man on reception!!!!). Hahaha.
Love to all,
Claire
Xoxox
No comments:
Post a Comment