This morning we are on our way to Madrid to meet up with our Kamloops friends. We looked at the Barcelona map and figured that we could find a quicker route back to the bus station than the route we took to the hotel yesterday. We discovered that rather than a 25 minute walk it was only a 7 minute walk. Would have been nice to know that yesterday.
At the railway station we discovered that Spain is much more careful about train passengers than other countries. In fact with the luggage screening and the careful review of the reservation/tickets it was very much like the procedures for boarding a plane. Fortunately we had lots of time and had no concerns about the slower boarding process.
The trains are very comfortable and we were able to totally relax and enjoy the travel into the interior of Spain. The terrain is very varied with low hills and flat land. The agricultural lands look very green and productive although there did seem to be areas that looked arid.
Madrid is an interesting city but very beautiful. We immediately noticed how happy everyone seems to be as the people we passed laughed and joked with each other. This is a bit different than France where everyone seems tense and serious.
We had no problems with the subway and shortly after 12 noon we arrived a the area where the apartment is found. We had to wait until Helen, Lynn and Mary arrived to check in, but with the sunny weather and pleasant temperature this was not a hardship. Most of the time we sat in the Plaza on a bench and just took time to relax.
After we got into the apartment we had to deal with some issues such as building a shopping list, figuring out how to get the clothes washer to work properly so everyone could take turns doing laundry and discussing plans for the next few days we are here in Madrid. Once we got the housekeeping issues out of the way we started to organize a shopping spree. It seems that everyone wanted to go shopping so the 7 of us walked around the corner and into a store. It was very efficient since with 7 shoppers and a divided shopping list we could locate and stock up quickly.
After we got back to the apartment we decided to have happy hour before looking for dinner. Dinner was not as easy to find as we had thought but in Spain the big meal is during the afternoon and evenings are usually Tapas. Because this is San Isidro - Madrid Festivals week there are lots of people out celebrating plus it is Friday evening, so even more people seem to be out and about. The streets are very busy and the sidewalk bars are packed. So we ended up doing some explorations around the area to find a place to eat. We did stop at one market place where several vendors sell tapas and we could not believe how many people were packed into that market place. We did not stay long there.
Dinner was great and by the time we finished it was already close to 9:30 so we just called it a night. Tomorrow we will start to explore some recommended historical buildings.
At the railway station we discovered that Spain is much more careful about train passengers than other countries. In fact with the luggage screening and the careful review of the reservation/tickets it was very much like the procedures for boarding a plane. Fortunately we had lots of time and had no concerns about the slower boarding process.
The trains are very comfortable and we were able to totally relax and enjoy the travel into the interior of Spain. The terrain is very varied with low hills and flat land. The agricultural lands look very green and productive although there did seem to be areas that looked arid.
Madrid is an interesting city but very beautiful. We immediately noticed how happy everyone seems to be as the people we passed laughed and joked with each other. This is a bit different than France where everyone seems tense and serious.
We had no problems with the subway and shortly after 12 noon we arrived a the area where the apartment is found. We had to wait until Helen, Lynn and Mary arrived to check in, but with the sunny weather and pleasant temperature this was not a hardship. Most of the time we sat in the Plaza on a bench and just took time to relax.
After we got into the apartment we had to deal with some issues such as building a shopping list, figuring out how to get the clothes washer to work properly so everyone could take turns doing laundry and discussing plans for the next few days we are here in Madrid. Once we got the housekeeping issues out of the way we started to organize a shopping spree. It seems that everyone wanted to go shopping so the 7 of us walked around the corner and into a store. It was very efficient since with 7 shoppers and a divided shopping list we could locate and stock up quickly.
After we got back to the apartment we decided to have happy hour before looking for dinner. Dinner was not as easy to find as we had thought but in Spain the big meal is during the afternoon and evenings are usually Tapas. Because this is San Isidro - Madrid Festivals week there are lots of people out celebrating plus it is Friday evening, so even more people seem to be out and about. The streets are very busy and the sidewalk bars are packed. So we ended up doing some explorations around the area to find a place to eat. We did stop at one market place where several vendors sell tapas and we could not believe how many people were packed into that market place. We did not stay long there.
Dinner was great and by the time we finished it was already close to 9:30 so we just called it a night. Tomorrow we will start to explore some recommended historical buildings.
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