On the Rails Again ...

Today was a travel day ... five hours on the train from Madrid to San Sebastian. We 'reserved' our Cabify ride (like Uber only the Spanish version!) yesterday. A lovely driver named Alberto picked us up in his Tesla! It was a wild ride to the airport ... 6kms of high stress for me as he darted in and out of the traffic. I was leaving finger marks in the old boy's thighs as he was chuckling and having fun with the driver!!! Eeeeek. At one point, the driver spotted some open road and put the pedal to the metal. Both the boys in the car were delighted with his Mario Andretti moves!! Me ... not so much. 🥴

The good news is that we arrived safe and sound! We found our way to the cafeteria in the train station. I ordered a paella ... then asked if I could have some of the scrumptious looking veggies added on top. I was very firmly and undeniably curtly informed "no". So ... no extra peas or carrots for me today.

I did find 3 ... count them 1, 2, 3 ... peas in my paella. Imagine my shock when the old boy accidentally consumed TWO of them. It was a 5/10 paella ... so ... it was not the end of the world but ... close. 🤣

What was far more interesting, was the lone fancy French lady who was holding seats for her "colleagues" at the two tables adjacent to us. Collectively, they had six big pieces of luggage ... and ... she was busy on her laptop the whole time. She hadn't purchased anything from the establishment, not even a coffee!!

It was super busy in the cafeteria and several customers asked if they could sit at one of the four empty chairs. Over a 30 minute period, she insisted, "No. My colleagues are in the line." She even refused to move when the staff member pointed to the sign (right on the table) saying that between 12:30pm and 4:00pm that the tables were reserved for people consuming food. She did not budge.

Then, they sent the manager over to coax her to move. She refused ... indignantly and quite frustratedly contending that her colleagues were "in the line" for food.

She was bold-faced lying ... her colleagues were not in the line. They went to Burger King. How did I know?? They finally arrived with a whole bag full of food with the Burger King emblem on it! And, she reamed them out royally for being so long while she was defending their seats!!

It was certainly interesting to witness her defying all attempts to move her out. I would never have been so bold as to defy the restaurant rules. I'm not sure if I admire her or think her lack of concern for the people who really were eating and needed a table was just downright arrogant???

Her colleagues finally arrived and they purchases a salad and a couple of drinks ... perhaps out of guilt?? At any rate, all this drama helped us pass the time while we waited for our train.

The train ride was completely uneventful ... except for our BET! I had been watching the Weather Network and noticed that it is supposed to rain for the entire four days were are here in San Sebastian. The old boy hates it when I look at the weather forecast. He contends that we always have good weather when we travel.

So ........... we placed a bet on it. He would win if there was no rain while we were here. I would win if there was any rain. It seemed like a really safe bet to me ... but ... we have also been surprised when rain was forecast in the past ... and ... it never happened.

I really, really, really, really, really wanted to lose this bet. I would much rather be enjoying the ACTUAL veranda that we DO have here in San Sebastian than be right about the forecast for rain.

However, it didn't take but 30 seconds after pulling into the train station for me to win the bet. We had to pull our raincoats out of the bag in order to walk the 7 minutes Google said it would take to arrive at our new home for the next four nights.

Once we arrived at our destination ... we had to do something new. We had to use a virtual locking system. Well, despite my best efforts, I could not make it work. There we were, outside in the rain ... and couldn't get into our place. I tried and tried ... and finally .. it occurred to me that I must be missing something. I eventually noticed that the "Accept cookies" button was on top of the "Next" button that led us to the subsequent screen that let us into the building.

It's ironic, because we are renting a place called "Always Easy" ... but ... I beg to differ. It actually took us nearly an hour to get into the building and into our accommodation. Once we go into the space, the old boy even had to go out and practice coming and going from our room to alleviate the fear of struggling to get in again (if/when we left)!!!

Good grief! THIS is exactly why I do not want to be the 'tour guide' anymore. It is simply too stressful for this old bird. I really don't ever want to have to stand in the rain outside my accommodation and not know how to gain access ... ever again.

The good news, however, is that we eventually figured it out ... and ... we are here. I am too nervous to go out in the dark in search of supper ... so... the old boy used a couple of the eggs we bought for breakfast, to make us a nice snack before we head to bed.

Once again, I am grateful to my hyper-vigilant self who nudged me to pick up eggs and croissants and cheese and salami before we left Madrid. It has been a blessing to have some food to fill our tummies before breakfast tomorrow.

Here's hoping we get some nice breaks from the rain tomorrow!! We have a really lovely large terrace to enjoy while we are here!! I hope we get to use it ...and ... may our travel 'mountain' tomorrow be a whole lot smaller! 🤞

Warmest hugs, k&j ❤️Read more