(Note: I finally wrapped up and posted this half-written Day 30 post a full 30+ days after returning to los EEUU. Ay.)
Woke up this final day in Spain a little later than I planned, so was rushed a bit in getting ready and out of the hotel. Thankfully the metro station was right across from my hotel, so my trip to the aeropuerto should have been easy peasy.
Except, when I bought my ticket and went through the turnstile, I had forgotten to look at the map to see what train(s) I would need to take. Also, I realized time had slipped further away than I had planned -- my flight was leaving in less than 2 hours. And I had no idea how long the train would take.
After going around the station and not finding any attendants, nor a map anywhere, I finally ended up asking someone. Thank God for good people. The girl/lady I stopped took out her headphones and told me she thought it was the 8 that I'd need, but that I'd need to switch trains. I asked her if she knew which train I needed to get on even to start with. She ended up digging her metro map out of her backpack, and after reviewing it w/ me and telling me which trains I would need to take, she gave me the metro map. I told she was awesome and that her I loved her in English, and she laughed. Lol. Said MUCHAS GRACIAS again and got to studying. I had to make two train switches to get myself to the airport.
Done, done, and done. Got myself to the airport and made my way to the check-in counter. Got checked in, went through security, and got myself to the departure gate. Made my final FB post using the free 15 minutes of wifi that I was allowed in the airport at no cost. And was again a little tripped out at how different the general feel of even the airports in Europe are -- people are quiet. They speak in low voices. So composed. So... classy. Lol.
Got on the plane and got settled in for this 8 hour trek back across the big pond. Took advantage of the free movies in the embedded TV screen in the seat in front of me. I didn't plan it this way, but each of the 4 movies I watched back-to-back were hitting me over the head with the same general message... a message I had picked up here and there during the trip, to be honest. A message that I acknowledge I continually need to be reminded of, and need to get better at practicing. A general message that life is now... now. NOW. Do the things I want to do... now. Embrace every moment. Make the most of every moment. Think positively, because in general, life IS good. Great, in fact. And if I'm bored? Lonely. Maybe even, maybe just a little sad once in awhile? Go and DO something about it. Engage. Connect. Ha -- yes, all seemingly intuitive stuff. Apparently I needed to have a milestone birthday and spend a month over 5000 miles from home in order for this to (generally) sink in. I am hoping it continues to stick.
At any rate, the 4 movies I watched in succession were American Hustle, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Inside Llewyn Davis, and Dallas Buyers Club. Seriously, 4 heavy, heavy movies. I don't watch movies often, but this time I did it big.
So, I got to Newark NJ, and had an hour and 45 to get to my connecting flight to LAX. What I DIDN'T anticipate or plan for was that I was going to need to go through security at EWR... which took basically the entire time of my layover. Ugh. Finally got myself through and got to the gate as they were already boarding. Although this time, luck was on my side. Being one of the last people to board, I make my way to my seat near the back of the plane. I always get the aisle seat if possible, and noting that there was a guy at the window seat and no one in the middle, I was wondering if I had in fact lucked out for this last major leg of the journey with some extra elbow room and spread space. And indeed I (or I guess we) had. We both noted our good luck for this 6 hour or so trip, and ended up chatting for a spell. Turned out he was an actor returning from a 3-day shoot for a film he was a supporting actor in. Said he has been in the biz for over 25 years. Mentioned he was in the movie Field of Dreams. It was all feeling very surreal and VERY L.A. after spending a month in Europe, lol. At any rate, cool chat, and I did doze for more than a bit as I realized that I was basically chasing the sun and ended up being up for more than 24 hours straight on this journey home.
But ah, the journey didn't end at LAX. I had a connecting puddle-jumper flight up to SBA -- which I missed because the EWR-LAX flight was 45 minutes late arriving. So for the second straight time with United Airlines, I ended up stranded at LAX. A lengthy conversation with their customer service yielded me a rebooking the following MORNING on a flight up to SB, which was (obviously) not acceptable. Ended up getting a paid voucher for the SB airbus, and was told that if I wasn't able to get on that that if I rented a car I could submit a claim to get reimbursed through United. I walked away from the counter quickly deciding the one-way rental was going to be the better bet to get me HOME the quickest... home to Santa Barbara and home to my bed.
Funny that I had made a two-day car rental reservation the following day at Enterprise in SB, as I was planning to go visit friends that weekend 2+ hours away and wanted the plush luxury of a clean, new full-size car for the trip. I was able to convert THAT reservation at Enterprise at LAX into a one-way rental there to SB, and my sum total was just over $80 (would have been a much more expensive rental w/o a rezzo). Thanks to the LAX Enterprise peeps for bringing this to my attention. And they were very sympathetic to my international travel predicament, ha.
In no time I was exiting the parking lot in a loaded Altima for the final leg of the trip home. After not driving for a month, my sloppy driving was making me laugh. Or maybe it was the delirium from lack of sleep, ha.
Made some pretty sweet time and was home before I knew it. Well, I knew it. But still. Figure of speech, no? It felt so good to drive up to my place, park, dig out my house key from my luggage and open that front door. Ah. Yes. And nevermind that a termite fumigation took place while I was away (shout out to my friend that checked in on my place and aired it out for me while I was away!), I was happy that despite a stripped down bed, no groceries or anything perishable in the house... I was HOME. Also, for those in the know, I have this bonded leather couch that while riddled with sickness (some say it has eczema, some say cancer... the bonded leather peels all over and sticks to one's skin), happens to be SO. COMFORTABLE. I settled in and had enjoyed some sweet, sweet -- and long overdue -- American slumber.
So no pics here, just narrative... and so it goes. 30 day Iberian Peninsula adventure trip, done. Bucket list item(s), check. Newfound perspective and appreciation, check. All in all, a great, great (great.) trip.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Day 29 - Madrid: Walking In The Rain, Not Eating at the World's Oldest Restaurant, Hard Rock Cafe, New Hotel Room, Templo de Debod, Rooftop Beers, Museo de Jamon
So for my final full day in Spain, rainy weather made a return visit. I decided that since rain is basically non-existant in SB this year, I might as well enjoy it. Dressed for cooler weather and planned out what I was (or wasn't) going to do on this final day.
I decided to cancel my online reservation I had made a few days at Botin, known as the world's oldest restaurant (and recognized in the Guiness Book of World Record as such). Got to thinking about how the restaurant got generally bad service reviews, was really expensive (I would have spent about $100 US dollars for just me), and the fact that I had to identify my country of origin when I made the reservation (possibly subjecting me to even crappier service), I decided to cancel it. I was planning to have their house special lunch: gazpacho and roast suckling pig -- which didn't really even sound good to me then. So, I decided to lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe instead. Haha, what an American I am.
Made a long roundabout walk across town to get to HRC, and my timing was perfect -- I snatched up one of the few open tables just before 2pm, when a lot of people started showing up. For whatever reason the half a BBQ chicken sounded awesome to me (I would typically get ribs, or a burger) -- and it was. Along with 3 beers. And a cafe con leche afterwards since maybe just a litle of Europe has rubbed off on me :)
When I was through with HRC I was thinking of going to visit the Palacio Real, but decided not to. Headed back to the hotel and decided to formally complain about my room (the construction noise had been consistently starting early, lasting throughout the day) -- and in channeling my diplomatic but firm grown man-ness I succeeded in getting upgraded to a top floor (9th) room that was double the size and had a window view of the entire city. Sweet!
Got my stuff up to the new room and ultimately headed back out to go see the Templo de Debod. I had passed by it quite a few different times on my hop-on/hop-off bus excursions, and the one time I walked through that area it was closed. It was this time and I got to go inside what is an ancient Egyptian temple that was given to Spain as a gift from Egypt back in the 1960s/70s. It was two stories and had ancient hieroglyphics etched into many of the walls. Pretty cool -- I was excited for my trip for one reason for being able to see things hundreds of years old -- and I ended it with seeing a temple that was truly thousands of years old.
After the Temple I headed back to the hotel as I wanted to catch my last Iberian sunset from the rooftop terrace. I had the terrace to myself to ruminate over the fading light (note: sunsets in Madrid don't happen until after 9pm here in March/April).
I decided to make one final walkaround town and maybe stop in somewhere for a drink and maybe a tapa or two. Ended up checking out something else on my to-do list -- a Museo de Jamon. They are all around the touristy areas, but filled with both locals and tourists as the food and drinks are pretty cheap, and allegedly good. One part is an actual butcher shop, another part is a huge walk-up bar/counter where you order food and drinks and eat there, and then there's a separate dining area. The bar areas was packed so I decided to do a final sit-down meal. Went with their house special -- and had probably the grossest soup I've ever had in my life. Salmorejo, it was called. Didn't even know what it was when I ordered it, haha. I thought it might be some ham tapa thing -- I was presented with a bowl of pink thick soup that had chunks of ham in the middle, and was dotted with olive oil in spots around the diced up ham chunks. The color and consistency reminded me of that picture/video of what McDonald's Chicken McNuggets are made from -- that pink chicken soft-serve like puree of muscle bits and connective tissues. So, I go to take a spoonful bite -- and it is COLD. Like it just came out of the refrigerator. And it tasted like -- pureed ham. Like what a ham milkshake might taste like. It was disgusting.
Second course was pollo al horno -- not sure why I wanted chicken again, but it sounded the best out of the special options. And that was actually good. But haha, when the waiter took the soup away he asked if I didn't like it with a smile, and I confirmed (in Spanish -- final meal biz was all en espanol there).
I had two beers with my bill and when I got la cuenta, I saw I was only charged for one. That was nice. Both my first meal in Madrid and the last had a comped drink.
Headed back out and through Puerta del Sol/Vodaphone Sol/Sol and ultimately back to the hotel. Got aggressively propositioned by a prostitute on the way back lol -- that was a first here in Madrid. Headed back up to the room and got to the business of sorting out my luggage situation, as I had a morning flight out of Madrid the next day. Finished out a few more beers and didn't get as far with packing as I had planned, as I crashed out on the nice king-sized bed. Buenas noches to me.
I decided to cancel my online reservation I had made a few days at Botin, known as the world's oldest restaurant (and recognized in the Guiness Book of World Record as such). Got to thinking about how the restaurant got generally bad service reviews, was really expensive (I would have spent about $100 US dollars for just me), and the fact that I had to identify my country of origin when I made the reservation (possibly subjecting me to even crappier service), I decided to cancel it. I was planning to have their house special lunch: gazpacho and roast suckling pig -- which didn't really even sound good to me then. So, I decided to lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe instead. Haha, what an American I am.
Made a long roundabout walk across town to get to HRC, and my timing was perfect -- I snatched up one of the few open tables just before 2pm, when a lot of people started showing up. For whatever reason the half a BBQ chicken sounded awesome to me (I would typically get ribs, or a burger) -- and it was. Along with 3 beers. And a cafe con leche afterwards since maybe just a litle of Europe has rubbed off on me :)
When I was through with HRC I was thinking of going to visit the Palacio Real, but decided not to. Headed back to the hotel and decided to formally complain about my room (the construction noise had been consistently starting early, lasting throughout the day) -- and in channeling my diplomatic but firm grown man-ness I succeeded in getting upgraded to a top floor (9th) room that was double the size and had a window view of the entire city. Sweet!
Got my stuff up to the new room and ultimately headed back out to go see the Templo de Debod. I had passed by it quite a few different times on my hop-on/hop-off bus excursions, and the one time I walked through that area it was closed. It was this time and I got to go inside what is an ancient Egyptian temple that was given to Spain as a gift from Egypt back in the 1960s/70s. It was two stories and had ancient hieroglyphics etched into many of the walls. Pretty cool -- I was excited for my trip for one reason for being able to see things hundreds of years old -- and I ended it with seeing a temple that was truly thousands of years old.
After the Temple I headed back to the hotel as I wanted to catch my last Iberian sunset from the rooftop terrace. I had the terrace to myself to ruminate over the fading light (note: sunsets in Madrid don't happen until after 9pm here in March/April).
I decided to make one final walkaround town and maybe stop in somewhere for a drink and maybe a tapa or two. Ended up checking out something else on my to-do list -- a Museo de Jamon. They are all around the touristy areas, but filled with both locals and tourists as the food and drinks are pretty cheap, and allegedly good. One part is an actual butcher shop, another part is a huge walk-up bar/counter where you order food and drinks and eat there, and then there's a separate dining area. The bar areas was packed so I decided to do a final sit-down meal. Went with their house special -- and had probably the grossest soup I've ever had in my life. Salmorejo, it was called. Didn't even know what it was when I ordered it, haha. I thought it might be some ham tapa thing -- I was presented with a bowl of pink thick soup that had chunks of ham in the middle, and was dotted with olive oil in spots around the diced up ham chunks. The color and consistency reminded me of that picture/video of what McDonald's Chicken McNuggets are made from -- that pink chicken soft-serve like puree of muscle bits and connective tissues. So, I go to take a spoonful bite -- and it is COLD. Like it just came out of the refrigerator. And it tasted like -- pureed ham. Like what a ham milkshake might taste like. It was disgusting.
Second course was pollo al horno -- not sure why I wanted chicken again, but it sounded the best out of the special options. And that was actually good. But haha, when the waiter took the soup away he asked if I didn't like it with a smile, and I confirmed (in Spanish -- final meal biz was all en espanol there).
I had two beers with my bill and when I got la cuenta, I saw I was only charged for one. That was nice. Both my first meal in Madrid and the last had a comped drink.
Headed back out and through Puerta del Sol/Vodaphone Sol/Sol and ultimately back to the hotel. Got aggressively propositioned by a prostitute on the way back lol -- that was a first here in Madrid. Headed back up to the room and got to the business of sorting out my luggage situation, as I had a morning flight out of Madrid the next day. Finished out a few more beers and didn't get as far with packing as I had planned, as I crashed out on the nice king-sized bed. Buenas noches to me.
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