Day 1: Madrid

Note: Marc and I took turns writing blogs describing our trip. Some are from my perspective and some are from his. Enjoy!


On day one of my whirlwind tour through Europe, I woke up early to go to the airport and check a suitcase. Marc was arriving in Madrid about an hour before I was to arrive, and he had the number of my Spanish cell phone. My flight went very smoothly. Shortly after I arrived in Madrid, I got a call from Marc. We had originally planned to meet at Customs, but we decided instead to meet at my baggage carousel for a variety of reasons. I told Marc that I had just landed and would be with him shortly.

My journey to the baggage carousel took longer than expected. The Madrid airport has many signs, some which are slightly misleading. I ended up leaving the correct terminal, taking a tram to the wrong terminal, then taking the same tram back to the right terminal. I eventually found my way over to baggage claim, where Marc was already waiting with my suitcase. It was wonderful to see him after 4 1/2 months away, especially right after getting lost.

We navigated through the rest of the airport and opted to take the 2 euro Metro rather than an expensive taxi. The Madrid Metro is simple, clean, and fast. We quickly found our hotel and settled in. Then we went out to explore our neighborhood. We found what we thought was a tapas bar and Marc had his first sangria. We then found out that there were no tapas, we were in a drinks-only cafe and my guidebook had mislead us. With the strong Spanish wine from a tiny little glass of sangria hitting our empty stomachs, we set out in search of Spanish food.

We eventually found a lovely place with a very inexpensive fixed-price menu. Marc had his first gazpacho and tinto de verano. We went back to the hotel to nap, and when we woke up it was time to find a restaurant for dinner. We tried to find a tapas place and searched for an hour or so, but eventually settled on a little restaurant with some traditional dishes. We had a sandwich and Spanish tortilla.