First, after living in New Orleans, a city that is not only below sea level but actually sits in a bowl, the idea of an underground city is beyond my comprehension…or at least it was. I finally used the metro for the first time the other day. I was terrified. I was also taking it at midday. I was told this is the prime time for las ladrones (basically pickpockets) because there are so many people on the metro.
I guess I didn’t do too badly considering it was my first time on the metro here… well anywhere really. I found the right station, went in, bought ten passes from the machine, and made it down to the stop. The metro was there, and I hopped on. Turns out, I hopped on the metro going in the opposite direction that I wanted to be going in. Once I discovered this, I looked at my map and rerouted myself. I was going to have to take the most confusing line in all of Madrid. However, I did fine. I took this line to my stop and got off. It was only after I got off at this stop that I realized my mistake. I had gotten off at the stop that was in my original plan, not my new plan. I had accidentally gotten off one stop too early. I figured that one stop couldn’t be too far away, so I decided to walk.
Again, I was wrong. I have come to understand that reality here will always be the opposite of what I am expecting. Anyway, when I got off, I honestly had no idea which way to go. I was in a part of town that I had never been in before. I found a map and just began walking. Soon I started to see signs proving that I was walking in the right direction. I just kept walking for what felt like forever. My backpack, which held everything that I would need for that weekend, was getting heavy, and I had on too many layers, so I was hot. Finally, I found another sign telling me to walk through a tunnel. I drew the line there. I walked until I found a taxi and took the taxi the rest of the way. It turns out that I was walking in the right direction, but that one stop was much further than I could have imagined. Because I had walked so far, five minutes and five euros later the taxi dropped me off at the bus station.
The metro system is quite extensive, but it turns out it is also very simple. Once I got over my nerves, I took the metro back to my house from the bus station. I didn’t have a single problem this time.
This is the metro stop in Puerta del Sol. It is considered by many to be the center of Madrid.
Also, there are a lot of tunnels in Spain. There are tunnels in the city of Madrid that take you beneath the streets and buildings of the city and tunnels in other parts of the country that take you through the mountains. Sometimes these tunnels feel like they last forever, but finally you get to the end and you find yourself at the top of a mountain looking down on the beautiful countryside. That is quite a sight to see. You can see the low rising stonewalls that expand across the mountains and the animals grazing the mountainside.
On my trip to Salamanca, my ears actually popped because the mountains were so tall…but beautiful. In these mountains, you can still the snow that has yet to melt. However, the mountains can also be quite dangerous, especially at night. When the sun dips behind the mountains, the street signs light up with a border of red flashing lights. They tell travelers to beware of the dangerous curves up or down the winding mountain roads.
It is so interesting to see how different their interstate system is from ours. While driving along interstate, we had to slow down numerous times to travel through small towns. The speed limit ranges from 30-120 kilometers per hour (20-75mph). And although Madrid is a very clean city, throughout the city and all along interstate, one can find graffiti on buildings, walls, benches, you name it.
Oh, and I did finally find a pickup truck. It was very small and parked in the parking lot at Ikea. I asked my host family about this, and they told me that there are not many here. They said that I should see a few more as the months get warmer, but I still will not see many. And there won’t be any in Madrid. I don’t think half of my family could live here for that reason alone!! And on a side note, speaking of people in Madrid, there is such a diversity of people that live here. I have met other Europeans that have moved here of course. However, Americans, Canadians, Indians, Chinese, Japanese, and Australians all call Madrid home as well.
Soon to come are stories about my adventures to Guarroman/Baños/Baílen and Salamanca…
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