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Published: August 16th 2008
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Me and the Madrid Bear
Finally enjoying myself a bit after I had some cash in my pocket Currently I am waiting at my hostel in London after spending two days in the spectacularly impressive (sights and prices!) city. The last blog post was all fluffy and warm and everything was roses. Oh how quickly the tide can change. Upon arrival in Madrid my wallet was promptly stolen as me and Shannon crammed onto a crowded bus strapped down by our bags. We thought we were going to have it easy as the tram line went straight to our hostel, but no such luck as construction halted tram services exactly from where we were to where we were going. So it was onto a transfer bus were a few stops in I reached in my pocket and felt it a bit light. It was my front pocket but the shorts were a bit loose, and the heavy bags were slightly distracting as I shifted constantly to try and allow people to pass and not slam people in the head. At first I took the whole thing fairly well, I still had my passport, and back up cards in my hip belt thing, and I was more upset at the multitude of contact information (names and emails) that were
The Palace
It was very impressive, the biggest in all of Europe if I remember the tour right. gone than the cash. However from there the road got rocky, and my will started to crumble. I tried and failed several times to call my bank and cancel all the cards, my back up debit card and credit card were not under the pin I had been using and I was told (in a broken frustrating conversation) that no pin information could be changed over the phone. The next day me and Shannon went to a half dozen banks trying to get a cash advance with my credit card and passport, to no avail (despite my slight grasp on the Spanish language I feel there was still several gaps in understanding). So then I panicked a bit, canceled my reservations in Portugal (how would I train down to Portugal with no cash? How would I eat? The hostels won't be able to swipe my credit card I won't have a place to stay! Etc...) and booked a flight with Shannon to London. At least my credit card without pin will work most places there was the logic. Truth be told I was several clicks away from going from London back to Denver, and just calling it a trip. But
The oldest door in Spain
No joke, that's what the tour guide said I decided I had to talk to mom or dad before making that leap. After more frustrating attempts at using my computer and skype to make broken barely audible calls, I found a spot in the hostel with good enough internet reception and got a hold of my father. What a comfort he was as he talked me down from the ledge, told a few jokes, and generally made my life better again. We decided I would have the bank send the pin to my parents address in Denver, and I would wait in London until it came. Upon calling my credit card division through my bank the second time and first being told no pin changes could take place over the phone, I would have to go to my bank, I mentioned I was in Madrid. The lady asked, 'Oh, are you traveling?' to which I replied 'YES'. 'Oh, well then we can set up a new pin of your choosing over the phone.' !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it was as easy as that to get cash after a day of struggling to communicate and being generally totally overwhelmed. Me and Shannon and Kate (an Aussie we met in Barcelona and
Cervezeria Cien Montaditos
What a great place. Me and Shannon's tour ended here. coordinated to meet back with in Madrid with her travel partner Jess) celebrated with a delicious kebab and then went to a swinging jazz club close to the hostel with about ten other people who were staying with us. The next day me and Shannon took the walking tour and actually saw some sights in Madrid, but cut it off short when we stopped for a break/snack at a place called Cervezeria Cien Montaditos (roughly the bar of 100 montaditos, little sandwich tapas served with crisps, of which they have one hundred different kinds, it all makes sense now huh?). We decided to stay here because it happened to be Wednesday and everything was 1 Euro, including the large beers, and me and Shannon were both pretty worn out. After a few beers and several types of montaditos (chorizo and green pepper, duck mousse, salmon and cream cheese, Spanish omelet, and pork loin) we headed back to the hostel, rounded up Kate and Jess, grabbed some bottles of wine and went to another spectacular park (Realito I think) to play cards and wait until me and Shannon would head to the airport to catch our early flight to London, and
Una Montadito
There's the salmon and cream cheese montadito. All that for two euro, excellente. Shannon's transfer flight back to Vancouver and school and her job. After she left I made my way to my hostel and took a good long nap. I booked several nights in Newcastle and Edinburgh and then found a pub and had pint and turned in fairly early. The next day I was up early and booked my bus ticket to Newcastle and made it for a Royal walking tour. I saw the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace (barely, there were heaps of people because it was Friday, and it's only every other day now that its August) and got my picture taken with a royal guard (unfortunately I still can't get my pictures off my camera and I am going to have to buy a card reader in order to do so). We hit Trafalgar Square and Westminster Abbey and now I believe people when they said London was a pretty cool city. After the Royal walking tour was over I went on my own, taking the tube over to London Tower and walking down the Thames Walk to see the Southwark Cathedral, the Globe Theater (Shakespeare's Globe it said on the outside) and St Paul's Cathedral,
Retiro Park
There's the back of Kate's head as we walked into the park for some wine and cards and let me tell you I was certainly impressed. I stopped at a place called Fuzzys Grub and got the best sandwich I think I have ever had (and I worked in a deli on and off for three years). It was deliciously tender top side of beef on a big roll with butter and horseradish sauce, then it was fixed up with stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas, carrots, and gravy poured over, and after talking to the girl building this magnificent delight, she threw in a bag of Yorkshire pudding, no charge. It was an exhausting day of almost constantly walking, but I felt like I had gotten a decent bite out of London without completely braking the bank I had just recently regained access too. Now I am in Hyde Park writing this and reading a bit as I wait for my bus to leave at four for Newcastle. It has been a roller coaster of a week, but I think were back on track, and I am pretty stoked to go see northern England and Scotland, before figuring out a ferry over to Ireland. I am still a little homesick, and the bumps in the road haven't helped,
Cool tree
Shannon being a goofball in the crazy tree but everyone was right, it's not time to come home yet as there is still more I want to (and need to) see and do.
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