Madrid to Malaga...planes, trains and automobiles

Madrid Train Station Atrium
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Our plane ride from Philly to Madrid was an absolute nightmare! All that could go wrong, did! We had a screaming baby 2 seats in front of us and we were sitting next to the galley (aka the kitchen that serves the Fat Cats in First Class)…..the first 3 hours of the flight sounded like we were in the Camellia Grill.  (For the non-Louisianians, the Camellia Grill is a VERY loud diner and staple of New Orleans)

As you can imagine, it was not the best atmosphere for sleep. We took sleeping pills and more sleeping pills but alas, the sleep never came. Matt picked on me the entire flight because I was so prepared….I went to the tiny closet they call a bathroom and washed my face, brushed my teeth….my normal nightly routine and settled in to sleep in the most uncomfortable seat ever and of course didn’t sleep a wink. And to top it all off, we had a really creepy guy sitting behind us that started at me the whole flight. He was all dolled up with his USA souvenirs—a red bandana tied around his neck and a blue Union Soldier hat…Matt referred to him as Ulysses S. Grant (General Grant).

Matt Waiting for Train to Malaga
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We finally landed in Madrid and had an uneventful trip through Customs. Next stop—train ticket booth…..however, one slight problem…..the ticket agent didn’t speak any English. Matt did a great job with the “un poquito” of Spanish that he knows. We got our tickets for our trip to Malaga and we were off.

We went outside to hail a cab and the first cabbie that saw us was just shaking his head….we had 1 large suitcase (all of my meeting supplies) and 2 mid-size suitcases and he was driving a tiny Peugot….but, he was a trooper and fit everything into the trunk. He did not speak a LICK of English but was quite chatty! As soon as he heard our English, he said “London?, London?” and Matt replied “No, Estados Unidos” to which he replied “Oh, California!!!”…..I guess they think all Americans are from California…it was quite funny….he was very excited at the thought of us being from California. I think he was a little let down when we told him we were from Washington, DC. He then went on speaking in Spanish about Baltimore…he talked for a good five minutes and all we understood was Baltimore. He kept saluting like a soldier would so we assumed he might have been in the Navy and somehow tied that to Baltimore. We just kept nodding and replying “Si” like we understood what he was saying. As we were driving into the city, we passed a massive cemetery and I said “Matt, look at that huge cemetery” to which the cabbie chimed in “Adios, Adios” and kept waving to the sea of graves….I think he was trying to tell us that it was a cemetery and his way of saying dead was “adidios”….it was hysterical! The cemetery reminded us of the ones in NOLA….all of the tombs were above ground.

Em on Train Ready for Malaga
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The cabbie dropped us off at the Gran Melia Fenix hotel (where we will be staying while in Madrid). I had arranged ahead of time to drop off the large suitcase full of meeting supplies and have them store it for us so we didn’t have to schlep it down to the coast. The hotel is beautiful and we can’t wait to stay there…right in the heart of all of the wonderful shopping (Prada, Ferragamo, etc)….too bad the dollar is SOOOO weak! We had a quick breakfast/lunch at the hotel and then took a cab to the train station to catch our train to Malaga. The train station is beautiful….a massive glass topped atrium with beautiful plants all around….and very well organized to boot. We had no problems finding our platform. We took the AVE train—the high speed luxury liner…we sat in 2^nd class but it felt like we were in 1^st class. It was the most comfortable and relaxing way to travel.  Along the way we passed some of the most beautiful scenery….acres and acres of beautiful olive groves…really reminds us of Napa. Traveling by high speed train is miles and miles apart from traveling by air in coach….I wish we could take this train back to the US! The best 115€ we have spent so far.

Town with Castle on Way to Malaga
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More from Malaga to come.

Adios for now,

Matt & Emily

P.S.  We will try and post our pictures as soon as we can locate a USB cord....stay tuned!!