Missing Lisbon

I got back to my apartment very easily yesterday. We arrived at Madrid airport at 3:00 p.m., and I was home by 4, at a cost of only 2 Euros. I was pretty impressed. There is a subway line that goes through the airport terminals (it has other destinations) - I had to take that and two other subway lines to get home, but it was quick, easy and cheap. Not something I would want to do with a lot of luggage, but fortunately, I had only my one small carry on bag.

It was good to be back in my apartment and cook dinner without adding salt. My ear was beginning to feel full and I had to take extra medicine. Portuguese food was yummy, but eating out always means too much sodium.

So today I had nothing planned. I had a 5 p.m. skype call, so that kind of limited what I could do. I want to make a trip to Segovia and was planning on tomorrow, but skype froze on me today so my 5 p.m. call is now tomorrow. Guess I have another day in Madrid and Segovia will be on Friday. My last day trip from here.

What I had today was a mission. I like having missions because they get me out with a purpose, which is different from getting out and just wandering around. It was kind of a frustrating mission though, I needed to find a Banesto ATM, and I wasn't having any luck.

First I went to Corte Ingles to buy a little food - some salad stuff, tuna, Wasa crackers (high fiber) all to help me get rid of the extra poundage I might have picked up in Lisbon and also to get my sodium levels back on track. I was hoping I'd pass an ATM on the way, but I didn't. So, from there I walked around looking for one on my way home. I found none.

Instead, I think I saw the funeral of the King (or maybe the King's father) or some royal person who I think died. I saw a flash of news yesterday while I was waiting for one of the subway cars until it broke in with lottery results, so I didn't get the full story. I tried looking in Yahoo News (Spain) and the only thing there was some news about a fat baby in the US and Brad Pitt's motorcycle accident, but I swear I saw news about the king dying.

So today I walked down to Plaza Mayor and when I didn't find an ATM for my bank (other banks were plentiful but charge a surcharge, and since I wasn't desperate, I wasn't going to pay). When I didn't find one, and since I was carrying a bag of groceries I headed home, walking past some ministry building. There were a lot of police and a big crowd gathered. I saw some women I thought I saw on TV yesterday - I think they called them the enfantas - maybe the daughters of the king. They were under a makeshift type of building and receiving people who were going up to them and shaking their hands, I guessed offering their condolences. The police were very aggressively doing crowd control, so I was pretty sure that was the Royal Family up there, unless I completely misunderstood the news yesterday (it is like I dreamed it).

Further down the street a church that looks like it was once a mosque had a really long line of mostly women, waiting to go in. They'd go in and come out. The line ran to the end of the block and around the corner. I guessed they were viewing the king's body. Either that or buying lottery tickets (on Monday in Lisbon I saw an equally long line and it turned out they were in line for the lottery).

After lunch, I went out to try again. I walked along major streets and saw all of the banks, but no Banesto. Finally, on Gran Via I found my bank. A woman was taking forever at the ATM but finally I was able to withdraw 300 Euros. I have about 300 left in my account. I have come to the end of my money for this trip and have just about enough to get me through 10 days in Barcelona if I budget wisely (I've already put aside the money for my apartment there).

I headed back towards Plaza Mayor and passed a little alley I had never seen before and I could see a Chocolateria. After my tuna salad lunch, I was craving something else and churros and chocolate on this lovely little alley seemed like just the ticket.

I chose a table away from everyone else so I would not have to eat my churros with cigarette smoke and settled in for a nice relaxing afternoon treat.

Just then, three young guys walked by and bummed a cigarette from an older guy who was walking with a toddler, probably his grandson, who had a pacifier in his mouth. They then stood one table away from me and proceeded to roll something in the cigarette, maybe hash, while having a very loud conversation (often the three of them speaking at the same time over one another) in really annoying, bad Spanish. I could hardly understand what they were saying but what was clear to me was they were not pronouncing things very clearly. I imagined this was a kind of hip, tough, young, street-smart way of speaking, but it was getting on my nerves. Then they sat down at the table next to me and started to smoke.

I was really annoyed, so I got up and moved to sit next to a French family that had 5 boys, the oldest looking very preppy with sweaters tied over their shoulders, and none of them looking like they were going to light up a cigarette at any point before I finished my chocolate (they were too busy enjoying their churros and chocolate).

Walking back, this time with my camera, I walked past the ministry of whatever building to take a picture of the Royals, but they were gone. The line still remained at the church. I thought it was an odd church to lay out the king if he really did die, so maybe it was a lottery or some kind of feast day or holy day like when people get their throats blessed (that was always one of my favorites). I guess I need to turn on the Spanish news to see if I can find anything out.

I got home and had received an e-mail from Tony, an agent from the rental company I am renting the apartment in Barcelona from. He e-mailed me last night and wanted to know URGENTLY, my arrival time on Saturday. I e-mailed him back, and like I did with the folks here in Madrid, asked if I could simply hop in a taxi from the train station (because unlike the airlines, trains are pretty reliable) and they could estimate my arrival time in taxi from the station, rather than calling. And like the folks in Madrid, he said, no, I have to call when I arrive in the train station to confirm my arrival time to the apartment. What a pain! I have tried to find a telephone card to use with public phones but they only have international cards. And I don't know how much a phone call is, but in Seville, I put in 1 Euro, which is like $1.50 and got cut off during my call, which is why I don't want to call. I'm getting really tired of Spanish rigidness and so looking for the sweetness of the Balinese who respond to every e-mail I send them with lovely things like "we are so looking forward to serving you and hoping we can do everything to make your stay pleasant" - instead with the Spaniards, I get e-mails demanding urgent information and no willingness to work with me to make things a little less stressful.

Then on top of all this, when I looked in my yahoo mail file where all of my e-mails I got before I started using my laptop are stored, I noticed they were asking for a 300 Euro CASH deposit to be returned upon my departure. This is not good. First of all it would completely blow my budget, and secondly, it would mean I'd finish my trip with 300 euros that I would not be able to spend.

I was starting to worry because if they insisted I had to leave a 300 euro cash deposit, I was not going to stay there, but then I looked at other options for Barcelona and I couldn't find anything as cheap as this apartment (and I am wondering WHY it is so cheap) - I wanted to just skip Barcelona, and in fact, I wanted to go to NJ where my father is in the hospital right now and then head back to SF to be with my friends for my long-awaited week home.

I wasn't getting a response from the agent, after I sent my e-mail telling him I could not pay the cash deposit, and explaining why, so I called the office (thank goodness for skype). Tony was not in, but the woman I spoke to eventually gave in (after saying she was not authorized to make that decision) when she realized I was only one person (their policy is 2-bedroom apartments or apartments with terraces all must leave a cash deposit - I am not sure why).

So, now I am a little more relaxed and hoping Barcelona will enchant me as much as Lisbon did. While I love the subway system in Madrid, my little walk today could not in any way compete with the walks I took in Lisbon. I walked across Plaza Mayor with Mickey Mouse making animal balloons and several human statues including a guy in a coffin playing a guitar all trying to get money from tourists, and remembered the plazas I crossed in Lisbon that instead of big, hard, gray cobblestones, had lovely little black and white stones arranged in beautiful, complex patterns, with fountains in the middle and the plazas full of life, not feeling cold and lifeless like Plaza Mayor felt to me today. The standard has been set, and either Barcelona will rise to the standard, or not. I'll find out on Saturday.