It starts underground

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Anyone that's used the subway system of any large city can tell you that it's probably the best way to get around. Why we don't have far more cities with subways, I'll never understand.

We are staying another night at the Maydrit Hotel, here in Madrid, and while it's one of the nicest and cleanest hotels I've ever stayed in, it's not exactly in a prime location. It's perhaps only a kilometer from the airport, but there are no real sights of interest, or very many restaurants within walking distance. We discovered this last night while taking a walkabout after dinner. Consulting the little map I'd picked up at the tourism bureau at the airport, I realized that while we were technically in Madrid, we'd have to spend a small fortune in cab fare or waste a lot of time on local buses if we wanted to see anything while we were here.

I woke this morning, feeling somewhat dejected, and wondering if there wasn't a better way to get around. That's when, thanks to the map on my iPhone, I noticed that we were just a block or two from the nearest Metro (subway) station. While I've never been on the subways in Spain, I have used the London Underground, the Tube in Paris, and the subway in New York, and I figured we'd be ok here, too. I looked through my guide book at Madrid, and found that most of the sights of interest were within walking distance of the stop at the Ópera stop.

After breakfast, we headed out and found our subway station (El Capricho), paid €1 each for one-way tickets, and headed towards the Òpera station. During our 15-20 minute ride, a man boarded at one point, turned on a small, portable PA system, and played saxophone along with a pre-recorded rhythm section. While no one else seemed to care, we enjoyed his music for the 3-4 stops he played before he exited. Rhiannon tipped him with some of the coins I'd given her. (If a street performer gets your attention in a positive manner, you owe him/her some money).

Soon we were off the train and we took the stairs back up to ground level, and found ourselves in the Plaza de Isabel. We spent the next 5-6 hours walking all around, enjoying the view, seeing the Cathedral de la Almudena, the Palacio Real, stuffing ourselves with a great 2-course meal, and just enjoying some window-shopping and people-watching.

Tomorrow we're off to ride the subway of Madrid again, hit the RENFE (major train station here) at the Atocha stop (to activate our EuRail passes so we can go to Granada on Monday), and see a bit more of Madrid. I'd type a lot more about today, but I'm doing all this on the iPhone. Had I not committed to doing this travel-blog, I wouldn't bother typing all I have on such a small (and fickle) virtual keyboard!

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