Madrid

Well, the plane got in fine, and then we all filed off onto our bus (yes, really) and then once again queued up to get through customs. Given we were coming from Korea, and it was late at night, there were about 100 of us trying to get through customs. It took a while but I got there eventually. Without too many troubles I got through to the taxi rank, and onward we went. For 10 yards. Then once the taxi driver had figured out what number the hotel was (180, which I've forgotten the spanish for, I think uno oche) and we headed off. Madrid was interesting as it has a lot of cars (duh) and a transit lane on all the streets I went through. This is shared by taxis and buses. When a bus stops the taxis all jump out into normal traffic through the gaps in the barriers, and then rejoin the line once they are past the bus. Most of the time they check to make sure there is a large enough gap. They always do this at speed. The older guy driving was not too crazy, so I wasn't worried. Got to the hotel without any problems, paid the man (digital numbers are great) and checked into my room. Luckily the girl their spoke English, which saved me having to ask 'is breakfast included?', which is a handy phrase I had prepared myself for. Tiny tiny room, which I neglected to get a photo of. Instead, here's a photo of my room in Seoul. I swear I could have had a party in that one.

The room itself.


And the view from the room.


So waking up early was good, and had a really nice breakfast. It seemed like a normal house type kitchen, so nothing fancy, but they had a guy their making toast and coffee. So I had toast, coffee and a banana for breakfast to fortify myself till I got to Antequera.

The taxi driver to the train station WAS crazy. Unless that's normal driving, in which case I am never ever ever driving in a major European city. Speeding, changing lanes and all round crazy driving. I feared for my life once or twice. Obviously i survived, but it was interesting. One thing I have noticed is that most European train stations (and Airports) make people leaving go up above the platform, and then check in and go down stairs. Makes it very easy to get off a train as you stay on the same level when you get off, and separates things nicely. I think it's more a cultural thing about thinking about building up, instead of spreading out as tends to happen in Australia. Anyway, the train to Antequera was 40 minutes late leaving, and there were some very very irate Spaniards abusing rail staff. Like it was their fault. So we all queued calmly, and then cause we were late they opened another gate. I now know what it is like being caught in a lemming stampede. And also the complete disregard for lining up patiently. If you leave a small gap, they will get into it and cut you off. Not so bad in England, but similar. Definitely much worse then Australia. But they had a movie on the train, which was nice. Of course it was in Spanish, so I couldn't actually listen to it, but it was a nice touch.

Train tracks. Because I can.