To start with, I have to explain that neither Russian airport I was in announced that the plane at the gate was boarding. They expected you to pay attention and look whe. It started. No platinum boarding. No sections. Everyone stands in the same lines and goes in. You’re responsible for yourself and you’re to “special” because you paid a shitload of cash for a business class seat.
It was great to be picked up at the airport by Sonia and her mom. They even brought me a ham sandwich and some sweets, which I took on the walking tour today and ate for lunch. She also signed me up for a free walking tour since the bike tour had been cancelled.
The hotel is nice and 10 minutes from the airport and about a 50 minute bus ride to the center of the city. The first think I did this morning after breakfast was go to an ATM and then walk to the bus stop. The driver wouldn’t let m3 on because he couldn’t change 10 euros. So I walked back to the hotel, got change and walked back to the bus stop. This time the bus driver asked me where I was going. When I told him, he told me I had to talk the bus in the other direction. Everyone is speaking Spanish to me and I’m getting along pretty well with it. Anyway, I got off at the right stop and walked to the plaza major, where the tour started at 11. The city was still dead then. You should have seen it 3 hours later. Man, you can barely move.
It seems the people in Madrid love to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas, and I mean all 12. There was a big Christmas Mart on the plaza major around the statue of Felipe the stinky. (His hollow bronze statue was open at the horse’s mouth. Seems lots of birds flew in and never got back out. Only until the statue was partially destroyed did they find the carcasses and fix the problem when they repaired the statue.)
The tour was good and I saw a lot. During the break I figured I would talk the afternoon tour (no longer free) and decided to sign up for their one day bus tour of Segovia. I had wanted to take the train there, but the train ticket alone would have cost more than the tour and I would have had to explore the sites without a guide. This offer seemed like a better option. And when I get back from that tour tomorrow, I’m going to take the walking tour about the inquisition. I’ll really be ready to sit in a bus all day after all the walking!
It was cold today, in the low 50s, and I was glad I had my winter stuff on. Unfortunately I lost my hat. Crap.
I love the narrow streets and all the balconies in the buildings. I like that the rent-a-bikes are all e-bikes. There are well-marked bike lanes and a lot of people ride. And there’s a lot of pedestrian/bike space downtown. And I like that the Prado art museum is free from 6-8 every evening.
After the last tour, I stopped across from the Prado for a plate of paella, the. Went over to the Prado at abou 5:40. The line was already a quarter of a mile line with lots of people still lining up behind me. It took me 45 minutes to get in. By then I was so tired, I didn’t even stay as long as I would have liked.
I headed for my bus stop and came on back. The bus was packed almost the entire way. I was glad that I finally got a seat.
More adventure tomorrow.
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