We had an early train, and were told we needed an hour by bus to cross town to the train station, so after a quick breakfast buffet, we strolled downhill with our luggage in tow about 1.5 blocks to the bus stop in front of Alhambra. A bus arrived quite shortly and although it was a different bus number than we were told, Zeke asked and they said they went where we needed to go, just in front of the cathedral. This time we got the bono tickets that allowed us to transfer, and very shortly were in front of the cathedral and quickly located one of the city buses that said they headed to the train station. Turns out they meant near the train station as they never did make the turn. We were only alerted to our stop by a couple of people on the bus who could see we were travelling with kids and luggage and were kind enough to speak up. Another lady on the street gave us more specific directions and after a short 2 block walk we were there. Awaiting us were our friends Bob and Trisha from North Carolina who were heading to Madrid and then south to Toledo. We enjoyed swapping stories with them. I particularly enjoyed our kids telling them stories and was impressed by how much our kids had absorbed from our trip. Especially Zeke and Jane, though Theo even participated too.
We knew we had 1st class tickets (thanks to Gerri our travel agent) but weren’t sure whether that included a meal. Sure enough, our Granada to Madrid leg included breakfast. OK kids, eat up. I not wanting to waste anything, stuffed in what they had left. We arrived in Madrid at around 2 and revisited Attoche train station, finding these big baby head sculptures in the arrivals (llegados) area of the station. Both Theo and Maeve wanted to pose with them (the poses they struck were uniquely their own)
Again, we were uncertain whether a meal would be included in the Madrid to Barcelona leg of the trip. And since this leg was on the AVE, the 200 mph bullet train, we arrived at about 6:30, much earlier than a normal Spain supper. Even so, Kate asked at the Renfe info booth in Madrid. Nope. no meal. So we set out to get food in the kids during the 1 hour layover in Madrid. Kate watched the luggage and I took the easy route locating a Burger King in the far corner of the courtyard. I didn’t really want to eat there, but knew I could easily find stuff for the kids and order in near English. Zeke finished early and headed back to guard the luggage and give Kate a chance to find something. The rest of us headed out a little later, and just in time as our train had already arrived. We boarded. I pointed out to Theo that this was the bullet train and had him pose by the AVE signage on the train.
I wanted the kids to experience the bullet train, but mostly they didn’t notice. Theo continued to claim we were at bullet speed, even though we were still slowly rolling out of town, because I’d put that clause on him getting to play the Ipod Touch. What I will say about the AVE is that it was noticeably faster, but not so much that it was an experience for the kids. I noted that it was hard to actually focus on something in the near distance. It was gone before you could really focus on it. Other than that, you got used to it. The tunnels in the mountains also seemed like they were cut larger, I assume to allow for more air passage around the train. Because of this, despite the increased speed, the pressure change at the tunnels didn’t seem as severe as the regular trains. We arrived in Barcelona and now as veteran Metro-riders, easily navigated the metro ticket dispensers and easily found our line and ramp. Even transferred easily to line L2, with the wisdom to know that we’d arrived at L2 somewhere in the middle of its run and needed to select one of the legs of the L2 run to get on, which translated to one or the other side of the tracks and usually meant 2 different access points via the escalators. The Barcelona metro was the best we’ve seen. Each train has a little map on it above the doors with each stop indicated and the stops light up as you arrive at them. So you’d know exactly how many stops to your departure stop. The only thing they seemed to lack were the down escalators, having only up escalators. We arrived at Tetuan plaza and struggled a bit finding our place. First off, our address was not a street address but a plaza address. All of Tetuan plaza was circled by buildings that were numbered Tetuan plaza. hmmmm…. And secondly, despite the metro map clearly showing the left stairs surfacing near one road and the right stairs surfacing near the other, we had to take the elevator because of our luggage (actually, we found out later there was an escalator on these stairs). And third the block was completely symmetrical with no road signs, not even on the building. A quick question to a passerby would’ve likely solved the problem, but lacking those skills we forged on. In the end, I asked that the luggage and the family sit still while I circled to find the apartment. I circled the entire square before stumbling upon the pattern that the square had its own addresses. We got the keys to our apartment from the man waiting for us and were pleasantly surprised by our accomodations. Kate was extra happy to see a wash/dry machine (all in one). Jane and I headed out for groceries, and after asking a few passers by, found a store about 3 blocks away. What Jane realized too late, was that the store did not have a bathroom. She spent much of her time fast-pacing around the store as I rushed to finish our shopping so we could get home.
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