Arrival, Departure, Arrival and The Time In Between

From Dallas I caught my flight to Madrid without incident. It was on this flight that I met Oscar. Yes, Trish, his name was Oscar, like our favorite octopus. Oscar lives in Madrid. His office is in London, and his wife lives in Paris. He was sitting next to me and after I watched the movie, Nebraska, we got to chatting. We discussed work, retirement, our children, and life transitions. He is at the point I was about 15 years ago, tired of working and trying to figure out retirement. We shared pictures of our kids and discussed art work. He showed me a picture of a painting he had done. Very impressive. There were many similarities in our lives, including having red walls in our houses. We had lots of time to talk. It was a nine hour flight. I watched a movie for two hours and napped for two hours, so we must have spent four or five hours chatting. 

He was really an interesting person. He went to high school in the US on a study abroad program. Later he did his bachelor degree in the US and got a masters in engineering at Georgia Tech. His English was excellent. He said my Spanish pronunciation was very good. I didn't try speaking Spanish to him, because he spoke excellent English, and I'm lazy. :) He was having a company car service pick him up at the airport and offered me a ride to my hotel. What a treat. I normally take the Metro. He bought me a bocadilla, jamon y queso, (sandwich, ham and cheese) and a bottle of water before we got in the car. He was a kind and generous man. We exchanged contact information. 

As we were driving into the center of Madrid, preparations were being made for a big celebration if Real Madrid won the King's Cup that night against their arch rival, Barcelona. I told him my daughter Leea and I were in Madrid in 2012 when Spain won the Euro Cup and it was quite a riotous celebration. We decided that perhaps my presence in the city brought Real Madrid luck. He pointed to a statue with a temporary ramp leading up to it's head. He explained that if Real Madrid won the fútbol match they would carry a scarf up to the statue and tie the scarf around it's neck. I think this match determines which team represents Spain in the World Cup. 

After he dropped me at my hotel and I checked in, I went out to run some errands before I went to sleep. I went to the Correos (post office) and mailed a few things to Santiago for use there during my volunteer time as an Amiga. After the Correos, I went to the phone stores. Movistar still wouldn't sell me a SIM card for the iPhone 5 without a contract, so I went to Orange and got a SIM card with 1 gig of memory for 10€ a month plus cheap phone calls. By this time, I had been awake for about 25 hours, my errands completed, I went back to hotel and slept for four hours. 

After my nap I met up with my friend Liz, her husband, Frank; and their friend Nick. We walked around and then had dinner al fresco on the Plaza Mayor. The restaurant made an excellent café con leche! It was a lovely relaxed time with tales if cockroaches and Caminos. On the way back to our hotel after dinner we heard the sounds of celebration from the bars because Real Madrid was up 1-0 over Barcelona. Off the Puerta del Sol we saw a procession with the the Virgen Mary on the float. After we got back to the hotel, we went up to the roof terrace to watch the full moon rising over Madrid. My goodness it was stunning!

Later in my room, I could tell that I had brought luck to Real Madrid once again as the victory screams rose through the air. Real Madrid won 2-1. The Spanish know how to throw a party. There was music, dancing and parades of happy people until about 5am. I fell asleep about 1:30am.  I slept until 9am. Yawn. First priority was café con leche, of course. I went downstairs and had a café con leche, of sorts, meaning expresso, hot water, hot milk and sugar compiled by yours truly. Liz, Frank. and nick were there, so I sat down and chatted with them and then it was time to say our final good byes. I made me another café and went upstairs to pack. 

I left for the train station about 10:30am. It's about a ten minute Metro ride from where I was staying. Did I mention that the hotel I usually stay at in Madrid is on a major "hooker" street. Leea and I used to joke that they were waiting for a bus, funnier since the street is blocked to vehicular traffic. They seem nice, the hookers that is. They chat amongst themselves. They are not nearly as annoying as the guys buying gold. Hey, everybody has to make a living.  There's probably a hundred of them on the three blocks between Gran Via and Puerta del Sol. I got comments and concerns from Oscar and the car driver and Liz said they got comments from their taxi driver, but I've never felt any danger there.  

I got to the train station, showed my ticket and went through the luggage check. I decided to wait and eat on the train. So I found a seat and started writing this message. About fifteen minutes before the train was scheduled to leave they announced the gate number. I started walking to the gate, reaching in my pocket to get my ticket out again. YIKES!! It wasn't there. Relax I told myself, you must have put it in your coin purse so it wouldn't fall out. Nope, not there. I frantically searched everything once, twice, panic rising in my throat. I found one not too far from my Gate, but now it's twelve minutes before the train leaves and the sole person working this counter is helping a family. So I look on my phone for my ticket confirmation with the locator number. I find it. Another woman steps up to help me. Shockingly, in less than a minute she has issued me a new ticket and I am headed for the gate to board the train. 

I had a relaxing train ride and arrived in Seville in less than two hours. It was 86 degrees when I arrived. After a short walk a Metro ride and another short walk I arrived at the hostel where I will be staying for a few days. I was going to start walking on Monday, but it is supposed (90% chance) to rain Sunday and Monday. So depending on how much rain there is, I may stay until Tuesday or I may just start in the rain. Somehow, once I'm started, rain doesn't seem like a big deal, but starting in it seems monumental. I don't know why, it just does.