After just over 50 hours of traveling, by car and plane, as well as wait time in the airport, I finally made it to Spain. My first glimpse of Spanish ground had snow on it, which on one hand completely disappointed me and on the other reminded me of home. A few minutes later, when we were closer to the ground and I get a better view through the clouds, I realized I was looking at a mountain range, and the rest of Spain was green and brown, much like the end of March in the North Country, once all the snow is gone but the ground is saturated, and the grass is trying to grow back. We finally landed, and Spain didn’t seem to me much different than anywhere else I’ve been, with the exception of the ocean and the rain forest. After arriving at my hostel via taxi, I immediately found my friend Liz, checked in and took the most needed shower of my life; only to discover that water doesn’t actually flow continuously here because of government regulations of water conservation. After about the first two 30 second sessions, not wanting to waste the water I resigned to it being freezing and got wet…then it warmed up; and despite only having water for about 30 seconds at a time, it was rather enjoyable. My first night in Spain, I went for a walk to the Plaza Mayor, ate some tapas and had sangria at a tiny little tapas bar, and bought a towel at El Corte Ingles. There are two here within a few blocks, both multiple stories high, one with food, clothing, perfume, sports equipment, and virtually everything else, but towels, which was what I was looking for...so I went to the other one, which had everything you could possibly need for home decoration, including a wide variety of towels, and more. On the walk back, I saw a store that sold only tights (nylons, stockings, whatever you want to call them) but only them; it amazes me how they have El Corte Ingles which is infinitely better than Wal-Mart will ever be, with the exception of price, and has EVERYTHING and then there’s a store that sells ONE THING ONLY. (Yes, I know, my first bits of culture shock) I was more jet-lagged than originally expected (considering the 50 hour long journey was entirely unexpected) so I turned in early and had a wonderful night’s sleep :)
I slept a lot, and woke up just in time to go on a walking tour of Madrid...that lasted about 4 hours. I was pretty cool, our tour guide was entertaining; it was a free tour so this guy walks around Madrid a few times a day and lives on tips. With basically one day to be here, I think the tour was a good use of my time. Here are a few pictures: Calle Gan Via, El Catedral, y el Palacio Real...
The next day I woke up just in time to shower, pack, and check out on time. Apparently the least expensive to get from my hostel to the airport was to take a subway to a bus station....since I couldn't even find the subway and looked like a pathetic tourist with my massive amounts of luggage and my map, I was very glad a taxi stopped to offer me a ride. I made it the airport and after walking around trying to find my group, my group leader found me. After a 2 and a half hour bus ride through the mountains, reminding me of the Adirondacks covered with snow, I arrived in SALAMANCA!!!
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