Trains to and from the Camino

I wrote this post at the beginning of March.  I'm still waiting to make reservations for the last leg of the trip from Santiago de Compostela to Madrid.  Renfe still doesn't have the schedules for that route and date.

Our flight to Madrid gets in at 8:20 am on Friday, May 1st.  But with our experience with flying US Airways to Rome in November, when both flights were 3 hours late, I want to allow plenty of time to catch the train.  The high speed trains to Leon are at 11:05 and 14:40.  When we flew to Madrid in 2007 with a 7:35 arrival time, we had made reservations for the 14:05 train to Pamplona and were able to change them to the 9:50 train.  That time we went first class and there was hardly anyone else in the car so I'm hoping that maybe we can do the same thing this year although it is May 1st so the train could be crowded.  At least if we go first class where there are fewer passengers, it should be easier to get an earlier train.  So we are on the first class car (117 euros for two) of the ALVIA 04141 train that leaves from Madrid's Charmartin station at 2:40pm and arrives in Leon at 5:40.
Here are the stations along the way:
Segovia (3:11pm); Valladolid (3:50pm); Palencia (4:30pm); Sahagun (5:04)

I'll have to wait until March 13th to make the reservation from Santiago de Compostela to Madrid since they don't take reservations more than 2 months in advance.  They have a 9:05 train that arrives at 14.56 (2:56 pm).

Here's a map of the train routes.

An Insomniac is attacked by Montezuma

Some nights I just can't sleep.  At all.  That was the case with Thursday night.  I even went out on the sofa bed in the living room to escape Fernando's snoring and that didn't work.  That evening I hadn't had any expresso and even had two beers!  So in the morning I was dragging myself around and then had an attack of La Turista.  I don't know if was the sandwich Fernando and I shared at the Marrakesh airport, or the fat tuna belly I had for dinner, or the tap water I drank here in Madrid (it should be safe, right?).  In any case this all put a crimp in our plans to explore Madrid and most of the morning I spent hunting for bottled water and napping.

We finally got off around noon, with a little help from Immodium, and took the Metro into Madrid.  First stop was the Museum of America, slightly north of the city center.  Fortunately I had bought a large map of Madrid because the normal tourist map doesn't cover that area and there are no signs for the Museum.  I think they need a Sophie Masloff for mayor, someone who would put in directional signs for the walking tourist.  All their directional signs are for cars and you have to search for the street signs which are placed on the sides of buildings, as in Mexico.  I think Fernando was slightly disappointed in the Museum but it was only 3 euros so not a big loss.  Afterwards Fernando wanted to see the Ciudad Universitaria nearby, thinking he could pick up a cheap ethnic lunch like in the U.S.  But again, there were only large buildings and not much in the way of small stores.

Since we bought the all day Metro card for convenience, we hopped on the metro (although it took us some time to find the station -- again no directional signs pointing the way to a metro station) back to the center of town and began exploring the tourist shops around the Plaza Mayor.  The place was hopping with tourists -- mainly Spanish tourists I swear, but we did enjoy a beer and some bread, cheese and salami at one of the tables in the square.  You say that's not great for La Turista?  Unfortunately there wasn't much of a healthy selection at the Museo del Jamon where we ate!

The rest of the afternoon we spent trying to follow a Frommer's walking tour of the older sections of Madrid which turned out to be quite uninteresting, following major thoroughfares with lots of cars.  It's hard to wander through Madrid streets and not get hopelessly disoriented.  Maybe I do like smaller towns like Burgos and Logrono.  I try to like Madrid but it isn't easy.

One thing I'll say about Madrid:  the air is quite clear so that the sky is very blue and the yellow and orange colors of the buildings are quite vivid.  The mornings and evenings are chilly but the sun gets quite hot at midday.  I should stare at the blue sky for some time before we leave because for sure there won't be much of that in Pittsburgh.  On the other hand, there will be rain and greenery.

Airport Hotels

Thursday, September 12:  We weren't expecting much from the Aparthotel Convenciones Barajas because it's just a hotel near the airport.  We just wanted a quick place to sleep and get off early on Saturday for our flight home.  It isn't bad at all.  It has a kitchen with a two burner stove, a microwave and a refrigerator.  Then it has a living room with a pull out sofa (in case someone else like Penny wanted to stay with us), a bedroom with two beds and a bathroom with a bathtub and bidet.  We are on the fourth floor and there IS an elevator.  There is a TV in the living and the bedroom for those who are concerned and there is wifi.

We ate dinner at a neighborhood restaurant, nothing special but it did have draft beer --everybody at the outside tables was drinking beer, not wine.  I ordered a salad of piquillo peppers and ventresca.  Fernando ordered bocadillos of morcilla, chorizo, torta espagnola and ham iberico.  Ventresca is the belly of the tuna and came in long strips -- it was canned just like regular tuna but quite good, not fatty like one would think.  Camila, do you remember Mr. Ventresca who gave private lessons in flute?  Or was that Vantresca?

After dinner we walked over to the metro station, El Capricho, to check out the one day tourist rates.  The area is quite nice, really a residential area, with bike lanes and running lanes, sidewalks and small one-way streets.  Not at all what I expected.  Everyone was out walking, running or biking.  It seems like a very healthy neighbordhood.

Saturday, September 14:  Just a few more notes about the neighborhood:  there aren't any little stores!  You can't run out and pick up a bottle of water or a coke or some tea bags.  Yesterday morning I was feeling poorly so walked around seeing if we could find some provisions.  I knew there was a mall nearby but with the freeways, it's hard to get from one side to the other.  We followed the walking path through a tunnel and were approached by a woman who apparently knew we were lost and asked if we were looking for Plenilunio.  I vaguely remembered that the mall had a similar unrememorable name and so she more or less took us there.  There was a supermarket in the basement so we could pick up our water and coke but it seems that a mile is a long way to go for a bottle of water.  On the other hand, Spaniards are much more used to walking than are Americans but you would think that with all the apartment buildings that have been here for 50 years, some Colombian or other immigrant would open up a little shop for odds and ends.  Maybe the city has zoning ordinances like the U.S.

Madrid in 14 Hours

Do you think we could last from 9 am to 10 pm without a rest back at the hotel?
Maybe a nap in a park would suffice?

Casa Mingo

Frommers has four walks in central Madrid online.  The second one, La Latina and Lavapies, might be the most interesting -- fewer monumental buildings.  Or maybe we should just head for the pedestrian zones that are marked on the map, which I assume are meant for walking.

Frommers also lists some tapas bars that I've added to the map.  I saw a Dave's Been Here video on Casa Mingo which looks interesting but I don't know if we are ready to attempt cidra again, after our experience in Barcelona.  Well, we don't have to order a pitcher, a small glass will do, or some beer.  I always like roast chicken and they say that at the hour of dinner from Monday through Friday, they serve cocido upstairs.  I'm assuming that would be from 2-5 pm.  I could have the chicken and Fernando could have the chickpeas.

On the other hand, we really should stop by the Ham Museum, El Museo del Jamon, although I'm not sure I really like that much pig.  I wonder if they have salads, or a nice bocadito de atun.

As I was wandering through the google maps, I ran across Apartamentos Turisticos Matute 11, which are located in the center of town near the Museo del Jamon and the Mercado Anton Martin and look like a good place to stay if one wanted to spend a week in Madrid.  They are bookable as Matute 11 Suites through Booking.com.  It would be worth staying there just for the front door and it seems to be on a tiny street that couldn't support much traffic.  Obviously I'm preparing for more than one day in Madrid!  And we could do day trips to Toledo and Segovia.

Madrid

I'm looking for places to eat around the aparthotel Barajas outside Madrid.  The pickings are pretty slim and nothing comes up in a "search nearby".  We might have to stop by a supermarket and pick up something or eat at Bacadilleria Pans & Company.  I wonder if we'll need a car to get there...

We might have to take the Metro into town for dinner.  Or into a closer neighborhood with restaurants, like the area around the bull ring (Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas), which has bull fights on Sunday so we'll miss them.  There are some restaurants in that area that serve bull meat but some of the reviews accuse them of only wanting to make money.  There is a Basque restaurant, Ordago, which might be good.  And there is an Andalucian restaurant called Rincon de Jaen with several branches that looks like it would be good for tapas.  Yes, I think Fernando might like that one with Gamba Andaluza, Chopitos Andaluza, Calamares Andaluza, Chipirones Plancha con Ajito, Pijotas Andaluza.  Even if it only has a 3.8 rating on google maps.  I wonder if I should look up some of those words or if we can point to what looks good.  Chopitos are cuttlefish, chipirones are squid (also spelled txipirones), pijotas (or pijotitas) are young hake.  And then there are Carabineros (shrimp), Pimientos de Padrón (where did I run across those in the US recently?  San Diego?), Berberechos (cockles), Trigueros (asparagus), Mojama (salt-cured tuna), Chuletitas de Lechal (baby lamb chops).  Oh my!  And we're only spending two nights in Madrid?  But I notice that they don't have any txitxardinak - baby eels in garlic (anguilas).  When we were in Pamplona in 2007, all their eels were artificial (like are fake crabmeat) -- they'd eaten up all the baby eels.

On Friday we plan to visit the Museo de America, which is located near a university -- Fernando should like that.   We'll have to figure out the best way to use the Metro.  It's supposed to take 25 minutes to get from El Capricho (where the hotel is) to Ventas (where the bullfight ring and restaurants are).  That seems like a long way to go for dinner.  And to go from El Capricho to Moncloa (Museo de America) takes 40 minutes.  Oh, my.  I guess we are nowhere near downtown!  It's sort of like getting from Silver Spring to Downtown DC.  Fortunately all the travel is in zone 1 so we shouldn't be charged extra for staying out by the airport.  On the other hand, it would take 20 minutes to walk from the aparthotel to Pans & Company in the shopping mall across two major highways.  But I need to check out the shopping malls too...

Marrakesh in four days; Madrid in one...

Talk about whirlwind tours!
Fernando has a EUSIPCO Conference in Marrakesh, Morocco the second week of September.  Since it is at the beginning of the fall term, we have to limit the visit to one week, as usual.  Last year I didn't attend the conference with him when it was in Romania because I didn't have much vacation time left.  This year I have no such excuse.  We are spending a day in Madrid since our flight from Marrakesh connects there and the layover is 18 hours -- not one I'd like to spend in an airport.  So we are spending two nights in an apartment hotel close to the Barajas airport and then taking the metro into the city.

In Marrakesh, we are staying at the "highly recommended" hotel on the EUSIPCO website called LE MERIDIEN N'FIS.  I can't find it anywhere else so I hope it really exists...  It looks like a swimming pool resort but it is only a 10 minute walk to the Palais de Congres where the conference is being held so I think we will survive.  It has wifi and   I have a Cadogan guide from the library called Marrakesh, Fez & Rabat, and a cookbook called A Month in Marrakesh (so we'll know what foods to look for) and I just ordered the Eyewitness guide: Top 10 Marrakech (it better arrive by Thursday like they said).  That's all we'll have time for, if that, but the Top 10  should include a map.  I just hope we can walk to places from the hotel.  I tried locating places on Google Maps but unfortunately they don't offer a street view so I can't see what the neighborhood around the hotel looks like.

I watched the Jamie Oliver Food Escapes TV episode on Marrakesh on Amazon Prime and made Fernando watch it too because I found it very interesting -- naturally Jamie talks a lot about food. 

What can we see in a day in Madrid??  I have a list of mercados de Madrid -- we have to visit at least one.  And we picked up a map and another Eyewitness Top 10 guide to Madrid at Barnes and Noble this evening.  And I used to scoff at those New York Times 36 Hours In... columns!