My flight to Madrid was at 11:20am so I really didn’t put a lot of effort into getting up early. I wasn’t about to move around town when nothing was really open so basically it was clean up, pack up and eat breakfast. I basically had toast for breakfast along with orange juice and coffee. The buffet hadn’t changed much from the day before and I really am not into the cold cuts as a start for the day concept like most of these people seem to be. The fact the hotel is able to survive with how much the majority of people take is sort of surprising. I think they don’t expect to eat again until the next breakfast or something. In any event the whole morning was basically bland. After finishing up breakfast I went back up to the room and surfed the web for a few minutes before heading down to check out and get a taxi to the airport. It was only a couple minutes wait for that and I will say that she was the best looking taxi driver I’ve ever had. Ironically I had female taxi drivers in both directions here in Ibiza. Interestingly the cab fare was even cheaper to the airport ringing in at about 11.50Eu. From there it was a quick check in. I don’t think Iberia does a lot of flights to and from Ibiza. The line was non-existent and the security check moved quite fast. I did ring off the metal detector but I am not sure why. Either my buttons/zipper on my pants or perhaps my chain did it? Never has before. I was fairly early for the airport as is my usual. I don’t like to show up late. So I had a lot of time to kill before the flight. The airport was small of course and there weren’t a lot of shops to look at. I did find a book store with a really interesting non-clubber’s guide to the island and would have bought it if it was not a paperback for 26Eu. That means it would have been in the range of $40. It was not worth that by any stretch. It did have history though so I read it for a couple minutes. As I suspected there were all sorts of folks that lived here from pre-Roman times on. I am fairly certain it is that way for all the inhabitable islands in the Mediterranean.
Of course I was on the one flight that was delayed. The weather was basically perfect out so it was something causing the plane to come in late from Madrid. I think it might be the regional airline of Iberia that is perpetually late as that was the only late departing flight when I headed to Ibiza. The flight was delayed departure at least half an hour. We were late for boarding for more than 40 minutes. We also arrived to the airport at least 50 minutes later than scheduled. I can honestly say that this was the worst conceptual flight I have been on yet. Why? Delays are one thing but they must have surveyed the passenger roster and asked themselves which person dislikes children on planes the most and surrounded him with as many children as they possibly could. That person was of course me. They were loud and obnoxious from beginning to end of the flight. I realize it was only an hour and change on the plane but it seemed like an eternity. I really question why people travel with children under 3 years of age all over the world. One couple was doing 26 hours of flying to get somewhere they said. That with 2 children. Basically the flight could not be over fast enough for me. It was not unpleasant by way of turbulence or anything though. After we finally landed I was able to get my bag and get to the taxi stand and on my way to my hotel, the Best Western Atlantico on Via Gran. The ride was bearable and about 35Eu, so I guess it was cheaper than I was expecting. I always think the taxi is going to cost 50Eu. Of course I would prefer not to pay for a taxi but I was not fighting with trains or buses by this point.
The weather was a bit chillier than in Ibiza. Though it said it was 21C out there was definitely a chillier wind on the air (apparently it was 14C so the thermometer I saw must have been wrong) and it made sense that people would be wearing jackets. It also went from sunny to overcast during this flight so I may have left the good weather behind too. Check in was a snap and the hotel room is small but nice although I would prefer a view better than a very tight alley. I must be on the inside of the building which is a tad depressing. I got into the room at about 2:15pm without having had lunch. In theory I should have arrived around an hour earlier. I got settled in then decided I would have to forage for food. I was very hungry by this point. Foraging became walking next door to the Burger King and having a XXL Bacon Double which was probably more than I should have ordered. I didn’t see anything normal sized on their menu. I did notice the chicken tenders later but by then I had already eaten the burger. I will say that the burger was better than the McDonald’s fare a couple days before but that will be it for American fast food for me on this trip I hope. They had Pepsi products to drink so I ordered the lemon soda which turned out to be a carbonated lemonade. Not at all what I was expecting. This was possibly the most busy Burger King I’ve seen in my life. Odd for about 2:45pm on a Wednesday how busy it was. There were people flowing through like crazy. The lines never died. I wonder if 2:30pm is lunchtime around here?
After eating I decided to walk around a bit and see what I can see. I am going to reserve judgment on whether Madrid is a clean city until I can see it under the sun. I know I have an unfair assessment right now because it was cloudy and darker than it should be which makes all the building seem darker and the place in general more dirty looking. I did not see much trash on the ground. I can say that for certain. But things looked grimy probably because there was no sun. Plus they are starting into fall season now. It is a bit behind home as the leaves are just starting to turn it appears. That’s also going to make things seem more grim. Overall I don’t think I walked very far but there are a couple main streets and a huge messy maze of side streets it appears. I am on one of the main streets of the city on Gran Via. That means that in general it should be hard to lose my hotel. The fact there is a spider web of cross streets up and down hills and in all directions definitely does make it a touch more difficult though. I tend to like cities formed up like this though. I just didn’t feel like pushing too hard as it was getting later and the weather wasn’t looking like the dryness was going to hold out. After pushing around a little bit I headed back to the hotel room to relax for a while then consider trying out the bar/cafeteria at the 9th floor a bit later on.
First I headed downstairs and purchased a tour of Avila and Segovia for Thursday. It is more Grey Line Tours. I did these in Hong Kong and in Prague. Obviously the ability for them to vary country to country is great but I figured I could take the risk and if I liked it I would book a couple more. After that I headed upstairs to the 9th floor. It basically turned out to just be a bar, and not a busy one at that. I was the only person there for a while. I had two beers. The brand was Mahou (no idea how it is pronounced). The label said 5.5% alcohol. They weren't bad but nothing to write home about either. Better than a Bud or a Corona. It was on towards 7pm but I was still full from the BK and decided to just call it a night sans dinner. The late lunch early dinner was probably a bad idea, at least it being fast food was. I should have tried to find something more enjoyable. Giving up for the night I headed back to the room and watched The Mechanic which is probably the worst Statham film I've seen in entirety. I will admit I haven't seen Dungeon Siege and don't intend to. But The Mechanic was basically nonsensical and didn't even have that much action. Not sure who thought it was a good idea.
The pictures from day 4 can be found here.
No comments:
Post a Comment