I was hoping to post a picture of me in Madrid, all sunny and warm and lovely. But instead, when I arrived, it was raining and frescito. But still, I made it here and had a great first day! Paco picked me up at the airport, despite the fact that the Iberia terminal is a far, far trek from the main airport. He told me not to take Iberia again, but how can I resist? I avoided the international terminal at O´Hara because Iberia is basically American Airlines (incognito), we left ontime, and our plane zipped across the Atlantic in just under 7 hours. Plus, if you speak Spanish to the flight attendants, they´re nicer to you than to the other passengers. How can you beat that?
(note to Dan: stop procrasinating and buy that dirt cheap Iberia ticket for May)
Anyway, Paco and I took the metro to my little hostel: el Pension Salome. I was hoping to take pictures, but sorry... finding food and water took priority. So here´s the link: http://www.berthold-von-regensburg.de/pension-salome-madrid/index_es.htm
Paco and Dad didn´t want me staying in the center of Madrid (despite the fact that´s where all the hostels are) because they said there are too many immigrants and the area has deteriorated. So I booked four nights in The Pension Salome, ignoring that it´s named after the slattern who belly-danced for King Herod and delighted him so much, that when he offered her whatever she wanted, she requested the head of John the Baptist. So I suppose it wasn´t a shocker when I heard through the Paco-Dad grapevine that the Calle de Pez--the street of my now booked reservation for four nights--is in the middle of the red light district. Well, in the end, although my little hostel is on la Calle de Pez, it is quite nice and does not resemble a brothel.
Anyway, Paco left me to sleep all day until 5PM! Then, I ventured out onto Gran Via, which is like New York´s Broadway street, and found my three basic necessities: bottled water, internet, and chocolate. At the internet cafe, I got waylaid by the goofy Spanish keyboard, and had to ask how to make this symbol: @. It´s Ctrl+Alt+2 for all you playing along. Yeah, I was basically intuil, (which in means "useless," in Spanish, until I figured that one out.)
Later, I got real dinner and circled back for more internet. I only have four nights booked at my little brothel hotel, and so, I have to stay ahead of my trip, and start looking for the next temporary place to stay. I think I could stay in Salome, but the low level of heat is going to be a problem for me! It might be a problem in general here!
Tomorrow, I will meet Paco for lunch and I´m going to use his university office to use his...you guessed it--internet!
Hopefully, I´ll be able to post some pics tomorrow!
