Madrid Arrival & Summary

Train (Iryo high speed) from Cordoba to Madrid. On the way to Madrid, olive trees gave way to wheat fields and then more stubbly plains with some cattle. One could not appreciate the gain in elevation. Madrid is in the middle of Spain and is the 2nd highest elevation capital in Europe (2,130 ft). We are staying in the suburban area of Charmartin, almost at the end of the Line 1 subway from Atocha station. So got into Atocha by rail, figured out where to take subway from, bought a Lisbon transportation pass (26E for 5 days) then the 30 minutes to our station stop and then navigated to the apartment. Doug had to do all the pre registration in Spanish (no translation) via email before we left and had to download an app which then was set to unlock the front door and apartment door virtually. All is spacious and clean and quiet but there is always a peculiarity with each self catered place we've been in. For this one well equipped but the nonstick pan does not work well on the induction stove and at any rate the lining is peeling off and can't be used...one small example of what I mean. Cooking has to be kept to a basic level here (aka "how do you turn on this oven??) but accepting that we get groceries and plan on breakfasts and dinner in and lunches out. Navigating new grocery stores an exciting task in itself; Doug usually done picking out his beer and bottle of wine and coffee before Nancy is done. Coffee is interesting...we've now got a collection of Nespresso pods, ground coffee, and this apartment's machine requires yet another pod type. Guess this will be Doug's souvenir collection of the trip!

Madrid is a 'grand' city and has very wide boulevards and everything looks large, modern and impressive. Also extremely clean, people even are seen mopping the tiles outside their business establishments ... something we've seen thoughout Spain.Read more