5/14/09
Okay, a fairly quick update. I’m not a big fan of Madrid…I didn’t see much of it, but here is the deal. I arrived at around 5 pm, went to my Couchsurfing host who had kindly left his keys under the door for me. Then I tried to take care of my paypal account and figure out how to get to Frankfurt. No luck with paypal, they keep sending me automated responses.
My host arrived back around 11 and then this morning, I left pretty early. I’d decided to try to hitchhike and if that failed, I would catch a bus to France and then hitch (or autostop as it is called in Europe). So I showered, grabbed my bags, and took the train to a gas station near an onramp that an online source said was good for rides. Nothing. Not a single lift.
I went back to the metro and took the train to the long distance bus station where despite the 20 bus companies there, none were going anywhere but Barcelona before tomorrow. Barcelona was an option, since I could sleep on the overnight bus, but by this point I just wanted out of Madrid as soon as possible.
I didn’t bother to take a single picture in Madrid even though from my host’s balcony I was able to watch creepy Spanish guys picking up ugly transsexual prostitutes. Interesting, but gruesome and taking a picture didn’t occur to me.
So back to the bus station where a bus to Frankfurt was going to run me about 140 Euros.
Fuck this, I thought. I’ve had enough. So I took the Metro to the airport, looked at who was flying to Frankfurt, and knowing that it takes a little bit of time for the bank to find out about a transaction in Europe because they are in Hawaii, I used an ATM and pulled out 250 Euros that I don’t have since my account is already overdrawn by $50. It worked.
I caught a Spanair Flight at 6 pm to Frankfurt. 190 Euros. So 50 Euros more than the bus, worth every penny. Thanks banks.
Of course I’ll have to pay the bank back at some point, but it’s nice to be robbing the banks for once.
The flight was a couple of hours of sleep and a white bread and cheese sandwich. No charge, but honestly it was like jail food. Reminded me of the Shelby County Jail in Tennessee but no kool aid to go with the sandwich.
Frankfurt International Airport is like a space port. My first impressions of Frankfurt are that it is incredible. Maybe the most modern city I’ve ever been in. Silent, fast trains, beautiful architecture, clean…so incredibly fucking clean. After dirty dusty Madrid, this is like arriving into paradise of the future. It’s expensive though.
Booked into a hostel for the night with my ill gotten euros. 30 Euros for a dorm bed. Ouch. Will be couch surfing for the next couple of days and then flying to Dublin on the 18th on Ryan Air. From there it’s to Quebec City.
Anybody want to offer me a job? Anywhere?
Vago Damitio is the Vagabond in Chief. He is also a writer, blogger, traveler, adventurer and teacher. He has spent his life mastering how to have incredible adventures on minuscule budgets. Someday he hopes to have the option of using gigantic budgets for miniscule adventures.
