We are leaving tomorrow. Our bus leaves at 6:05 a.m. The early mornings are awful. I don't know how I ever got up for work and did so much in a day. It will be hard to go back and have to work every day.
December 2, 2003
I hate early mornings. We were out of the apartment by 5:45. We walked to the center of town and waited for the bus which was 15 minutes late. The ride was nice because it was still dark out and the lights were off in the bus. It was nice and warm so it was easy to close my eyes and relax.
We got into Granada about 9:30. We weren't in any rush so we went into the cafeteria for something to eat.
We caught the city bus outside the bus station to take us close to the hostel. We went to the same one that we stayed in before. Except this time we didn't get one with a bathroom to save a few euros.
I took a shower and then Laurie and I went to go do our wash. At least this time we didn't have to wait for him to open. We stayed and did our wash. The room was so cold I was wearing gloves. I didn't have my fleece on because I threw it in the wash.
After the wash, Laurie and I did errands. We went to the post office and then to the train station. We were checking the train times to Madrid. We also knew that we would have to pay a supplement on top of our Eurail pass. It was 9.50 euros. They didn't have any trains going to Madrid that were free.
We stopped at the cafe next door to our hostel and had something hot to drink. Later we went to eat at the pizza place that we had gone to before. I got the menu of the day which was soup, beef stew, and peaches. I was quite full when finished.
December 3, 2003
Laurie and I walked to the train station about 7:30. We sat and had something to drink while waiting for the train which was at 7:55.
The train was a nice one. We even had movies, but they were in Spanish. One was a Clint Eastwood movie that I had never seen or heard of. The second movie was "Sweet Home Alabama" which I had seen before.
We arrived in Madrid about 2:00 and stopped at the information center on the way out of the train station. Then we headed for the hostel we had picked out. It is called the Hostel Lido.
Laurie wanted to find the movie theaters because she really wants to see a movie. We walked all over looking for them. We saw a bunch, but they were in Spanish. We finally found the theaters with the English movies. We wrote down the times and we will go when it is raining or when we need something to do. While we were walking, there was a street vendor selling corn on the cob. It looked good so I got one. They cook it over a charcoal fire. Roasting chestnuts is also big here and also sweet potatoes. Laurie and I keep saying that we will get chestnuts to try. The vendor here gave us one to try while we were waiting for our corn. I don't think I would buy them, but they might grow on me.
Laurie and I quickly stopped at the Easy Internet to check for messages. We then stopped at the Kebab place for dinner. We were back in the room by 8:15. I fell asleep reading.
December 4, 2003
Laurie and I walked to the train station to catch the 9:00 train to Cercedilla. We had wanted to come here because it was to have some good hiking. The information place said that the places to stay would be closed but we could get a nice train ride from Cercedilla to Los Cotos.
The train stopped in Cercedilla and we had an hour wait so we walked around. It is very chilly out. We saw a hostel, so we checked to see if it was open. It was and they have rooms available, but not until Monday. The week-end is a holiday, Constitution Day, so things are full. We walked further up the street and came to a Youth Hostel. They only had rooms for Monday. So Laurie and I walked down to the first hostel and told them we would take a room for next Monday and Tuesday.
We walked back to the train station and our train was ready to go. It was a beautiful ride. It brought us up into the mountains and the trees were covered with snow. It was like a winter wonderland.
I saw a man on the train dressed for hiking. I asked him if he spoke English. He did, so I started talking to him about hiking and where he was going to hike. When we got off the train he showed us a trail that goes up to a glacier lake. Laurie and I hadn't planned on hiking and didn't have all of our stuff, but I thought I had enough. So I asked Jose if he minded if we joined him. He said no so we had a nice hike up to the lake. It is called Laguna de Penalara. When we started hiking the sky was blue. By the time we got to the lake, the clouds covered everything. We didn't stay at the lake long. Once I stop hiking, I get cold pretty quick.
It was a great day and a beautiful hike. When we got to the train station it was early. We had to wait for an hour for the next train. There was a little cafeteria there and that was about all there was in Los Cotos. I had hot chocolate to warm me up. We were at the bar and Laurie was sitting next to a man. He started talking to her in Spanish. Laurie told him that she only spoke a little Spanish, but he kept talking and making gestures. He was humorous. He was showing is tricks and having fun entertaining us. After awhile he got to be much. I think he had a little bit to drink.
We got on the train and this guy was in it. After awhile he left us alone.
We stopped at the international train station to get our tickets for the 11th. That is when we start heading for Paris. I talked to my Aunt Dimp's nephew, Don. He lives in Paris and we will be staying with him. He will only be there a few days while we are there and then he is going to the states for the holidays. He is letting us use his place. That will be nice to have a home place for a couple of weeks.
