Ladies and gents, chicos y chicas, I made it to Spain! It was a long journey, let me tell you that.
My layover from DC to Madrid was supposed to be almost 3 hours, which was bad enough. Then it turned into 6 hours, and then 8, so clearly I was about to get comfortable with Dulles. In short, I met a very nice Vietnamese man during my 10-minute manicure (had to kill time somehow) who, upon me leaving the 'salon', said he hoped he would see my picture one day. I hope he meant that one day I'll be famous. Otherwise, not sure what to think of that.
I need to mention that my plane had individual touch screen on-demand TVs. Definitely got some 'How I Met Your Mother' in on that flight. Thanks Aer Lingus (don't ask why I flew an Irish airline to Spain). Fast forwarding a few hours (/half a day), I arrive at Barajas airport. Customs was a breeze, and so was baggage claim. Despite my doubts about having my dad pay for my bags to be wrapped in neon green cellophane in Miami, I think it was the right decision because my bags both came out within the first minute. Changed some cash to euros in no time. Everything was going smoothly.
I was going to grab a taxi to meet Justine at her apartment when I realize that my phone does NOT work at all, contrary to what the Verizon man told me at the store. Nor can I find a wifi spot anywhere in my vicinity, and my 30 lb bookbag (coupled with two rolly bags) are just getting heavier by the minute. Oh, and all of this is an issue, I forgot to mention, because I only know Justine's building number and not her actual apartment number. Plus, since my flight was so delayed she didn't know what time I'd show up. I spend upwards of an hour trying every pay phone in sight, using a mixture of cash and credit with a look on my face that is just begging passerby to give a girl a hand. I still swear that the machines were messed up, but who knows whether I was doing something wrong or not. I switched the SIM card from my old Spanish phone into my Droid and THAT doesn't work because I can't remember the code. I decide I've had enough and hop into a cab, hoping that the guy will just let me use his móvil even though theyre pretty stingy about that here. You guessed it, turns out he didn't own one.
When I get to Justine's building, it's even bigger than I imagined. There goes the option of clicking on every buzzer until she magically answers. Once my dismay starts to trickle in, I look to my right and see Justine coming towards me. I honestly don't think I've ever been happier to see her!
After laying down for a minute, I take a shower and get ready, and we go to Parque Retiro to hang out and people watch. I was determined to take on this jetlag full force, and I did. We had some lunch at a bar near there (I had gazpacho and pollo con salsa salmorejo), then laid down in the park, then had a drink and sat down for 2 hours. Things are pretty laid back here in Madrid. So far, at least. We walked around Salamanca, which has the reputation of being the nicest barrio around. It was. I loved it. We came back to Justine's piso pretty late, and at around 11 PM I recommended we go downstairs to get some tapas at the bar. At this point, I think I had been awake for nearly 36 hours so... not sure what I was thinking. Nothing crazy happened there, and I fell into a delicious slumber not too shortly after.
What a day!
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