Monday afternoon- Deja vu

Here we sit in the Madrid Chemartin train station - exactly where we sat at the beginning of our journey as we waited for our night train to Lisbon. Caitie had warned us that the trains to/from Alicante sell out, but we have not yet experienced a problem getting on a train when we wanted. Until now. We arrived at the Avila train station at 11:00 for a 12:17 train direct to Alicante to find that it was "Completo" which Mike was savvy enough to figure out meant, "Sold out- should have planned ahead". The ticket officer told in Spanish to get on the train destined for Madrid pulling in immediately and worry about getting to Alicante from Madrid. Running down the stairs and up again at the next set of tracks in order to get a train from which people were already streaming out was a challenge but we made it. Even this train was almost full, so we spent much of the train wedge into backward sitting seats across from a young couple that provided what little entertainment available on this pokey little local to Madrid. We got to see her apply her make-up while he sheepishly held her mirror for her as part of an overall morning grooming session. A soft spoken Spanish man, he sat wearing a shirt prominently displaying a Camp Pendleton logo, although he probably had no idea where this spot, nearby to my childhood hometown, resided.

After arriving in the main Madrid train station we stood in line (once again, divided lines for future or "Anticipata" tickets, vs the long line we needed to stand in for tickets for "hoy/immediata". Here they also have lines for international trains. Above the hoy line was the not very promising sign listing "completos" and all trains to Alicante until 7:00PM. Which is why we find ourselves sitting in the train station today in the same waiting room as we sat in a month ago, eating the same sandwiches, working on the blog. Deja vu.

Although we have gained a lot by not following the pre-planned itinerary (things like the ability to travel to cooler locations, to spend more time in a location you love, like Portugal or Northern Spain) we have also spent time in train stations waiting around for unpopular train times because we did not reserve ahead, or paid a slightly higher hotel rate because the lower rate hotels were "completo". Nevertheless, I think we are quite happy with the trade-offs we have made.

We talked to Caitie last night and she is expecting us today. We are so excited to see her and have her show us around the city she loves so much.

I'll write after we get to Alicante and let you know how it is. The weather report predicts two 90 degree days today and tomorrow, so let's hope the air conditioner we paid extra to get in Alicante is working and the jinx has passed.

Deanne