Well, it has been about a week since I last posted anything. I left Santiago for Madrid last Saturday, arrived at the airport, bought myself a 3 day pass on the metra, hopped on and off about 3 trains, and called my cousin Curry when I arrived. Apparently there was some confusion about my arrival, and she had sent me to her friend's house because she thought I was arriving the night before...unfortunately I didn't get her email before I left, so she was apologetic and told me her friend would be right there. I must say that since the Camino I am much more layed back when it comes to last minute changes like this. I just go with the flow!
So her 18 year old friend Andreas picked me up and escorted me back to his place. He totally made me feel at home, and I just chilled until Curry arrived. She felt so bad, but I couldn't stress enough that it was NO BIG DEAL! We hung out, went out for some Tapas, and ended up staying up till 3am (actually they stayed up till about 5!)! The best part was that we didn't actually wake up until 2pm!!!!! I'm pretty sure the last time I did that I was severely ill! Oh and I forgot to mention that Andreas was a total sweetie and let me sleep in his twin bed! Curry was supposed to get the couch, but his roomate ended up never leaving the tv! I felt so bad when they told me how cold it was, but they assured me that I was the guest and there was no way I was sleeping on the floor!
Andreas then helped me get a ticket for the same Bullfight they were seeing that day at 5:30pm. I couldn't believe it! I hadn't planned on it, but when in Madrid... So we went off to meet some of Curry's flat-mates at the arena, and it was pretty surreal! The first fight was awful and made Curry and I wonder whether or not we would make it through the whole evening! Turns out that the first Matador was just really bad! We also got to see a few things that rarely happen: 1. A bull jumped over the guard railing 2. 2 horses were knocked completely on their sides by bulls 3. 2 bulls were set free (they won!). The only 2 things missing was a bulls ear being cut off and given to an audience member, and a matador getting thrown across the arena.
The next day Curry took me around for a bit of sight seeing where we packed sandwiches and ate lunch by a fountain. We hung out at Andreas' apartment and he cooked spanish tortilla on my request!
Tuesday was supposed to be my big touristy day since Curry was at school all day, but it ended up being cold and rainy. I did make it to the Museo de Prado which was fabulous, and did a little walking around. That night Andreas, Curry and I became much closer and gave blood at the nearest hospital. This was a first for Curry and I, but we did alright (besides the nurses yelling at Curry to keep her eyes open!). Andreas then cooked us the most enormous burgers I've ever seen! We needed them too, becuase even though we were told not to have alcohol for 3 hours Curry and I both had a glass of wine (to which after about 4 sips I was drunk)!
Wednesday morning I said goodbye to Curry and headed for the airport. On the train I realized I had forgotten the gorgeous brand new jewelry I had bought on Curry's desk and I didn't have enough time to go back! (CURRY...I HOPE YOU CAN MAIL THEM TO ME!)
Everything went smoothly on the flight to Frankfurt, and when i arrived I looked for the Train station. Only I found out from the info desk that the ticket I had was from the main airport which was an hour and a half bus ride away! The man told me that there was no way i was going to make my train, but that there was another one only a half an hour afterwords. I reminded myself of my new philosophy on accepting last minute changes, and just said whatever happens happens.
Sitting on the bus waiting for it to leave I recognized a woman that I had noticed at the luggage carrousel and I thought she looked familiar. I realized that she was the woman who had checked me in in St Jean Pied de Port on her birthday! I didn't get a chance to talk to her until the bus arrived at the station, but it was wonderful to just say hi and connect with someone who knew what I had just gone through!
I arrived at the track 2 minutes before my original train arrived! See...all you gotta do is go with the flow and all will work out! So I had a 3 1/2 hour train ride to Munich, and once there had to make my way to the U Bahn 2 to get to Jen's place. At the ticket machine I was very confused as I wanted to by a multiple trip ticket but couldn't figure it out. This creepy guy came over and talked to me for a bit until I told him I had to go check if the counters were open upstairs. I eventually just came back down as i knew everything was closed (it was 11pm) and bought a 1 trip ticket. I got on the train and got off at the correct stop where I pretty much found the apartment right away (though Jen told me the pizza place was on my right, when it was actually on my left...lol). Vesta let me in and has been wonderful putting up with my lazy ass on her couch for the past 2 days! Jen has been in Italy doing her scubadiving certification and will arrive back here tomorrow morning. Sheesh! What a post! Well...until the next post...
No comments:
Post a Comment