Madrid and Portugal

Hello again...I have been reading the comments and I guess it wold be a good time to mention where the photos are...If you look at the right side of the page, just under the maps, you will see and link called TRIP PHOTOS, and that is where they will be. Once there ,the slide-show icon is an easy way to check them out if you don't feel like clicking through them all, and they are arranged into sets by location. I very quickly realized that it would be difficult to add the photos to the blog also, so they will probably be there exclusively, unless I witness something earthshaking that I feel the need to share immediately. That said, let me rewind just a tad....back to the plane flight from New York to Madrid...

So, what has happened to air travel in the US? This flight was el cheapo (brushing up on my Spanish)...as cheap as they get ...and this is what I got: LEGROOM...hot towels...dinner... free beer, wine, or drinks (I had all three)...breakfast...newly released movies I would actually want to watch, etc, etc. My hat goes off to Jet Airways India. Any of that sound familiar?, cause it didn't to me...

Anyhow, I didn't sleep much due to all the free drinks and entertainment and Indian babies, so I was pretty tired upon arrival to Madrid. Even with my brain working a bit slow, the Madrid metro was simple compared to New York and we arrived at our hostel in the Puerto del Sol square with no real trouble; save mentioning my back and shoulders from my pack. I have a feeling that some "essentials" might start getting "accidentally" left behind here and there. That night we slept with two Asian girls at the hostel, and I have to say, I have never heard anyone breath so lightly. For someone who can not sleep through snoring, this was very refreshing and better that I was expecting from the hostel stories I have heard. The following day we explored Madrid, got used to fumbling with language, saw the sights and found a grocery store. The food here is incredibly cheap compared to what I am used to...a bottle of Lemonchello: $5, and large jar of pesto: $1, a can of "gourmet" olives: $.60, a liter of decent beer: $1...so much for losing any weight while on the trip.

Late that night things started to go a little less smoothly as we boarded the train for our first gig in Portugal. There were two trains on the track, which one was ours?...got me...anyone around to help?...nope.  So we picked one, and got settled in. Luckily the dice rolled my way and we were on our way to Vigo. Upon arriving, there were no clear directions on how to get to the bus station to get to the town we needed to be in...I did my best to ask a security guard,  and understood almost none of what he said. We sat wondering what to do and I decided to try to call our first host. Nope. Could not work the payphone...which is a little humbling. The guard was nice enough to come back with a map to the bus station with a walking route drawn out and we were off. Once at the bus station i somehow found the right bus and we got on, and unfortunately stayed on well past out destination and got dropped off in the countryside of rural Spain. I wish I had a picture of the scene and my face, but my mind was on other things. The driver, realizing this, phoned another bus and had it come by and take us back to town for free. This was about the time things started looking up. There our hosts picked us up, and we arrived in Portugal to a beautiful accommodation, a stocked fridge, and a cold beer...Things are looking just fine...