I had problems sleeping last night because I was very excited to go to visit my friend Sara in Spain. I was also a little nervous about flying by myself. I finally gave up on sleeping in and got up at 8:30. I was completely packed, so all I had to do was get dressed and eat breakfast. Rick got up extra early so that he could talk to me before I left for the week. That helped me pass the time and calm my nerves. The train from Leiden to the airport left at 10:30. I had already printed my boarding pass and only bringing my backpack as a carry-on bag, so I just had to go through security once I arrived at the airport. By 11:07, I was sitting at the gate and ready to go. My flight left at 1:00.
The plane I was on was smaller than the last one. It had one center aisle with three seats on each side. I was supposed to have a center seat in row three, but the other two women in my row were together and so I got an aisle seat. I have decided that I would rather sit next to a window since I like to look out and enjoy the view. As soon as we were in the air, we were offered something to drink. Then sandwiches were passed out. Everyone got a half of two types of sandwiches. They were interesting. One half was a white bread with goat cheese and walnuts. I tried it but did not like the goat’s cheese. The other half was lamb and rosemary on dark multigrain bread. I liked that one. I also got a small cookie with my lunch. The flight arrived in Madrid at 3:15 but due to many arrivals we had to circle Madrid for fifteen minutes.
Sara met me at the airport and we took the Metro (Madrid’s subway system) to our hostel. We checked in and then walked around and took pictures. In Madrid, there are many painted statues of bulls. They are all over the city in random places. We walked through the jardines de buenretiro which is a very large park. Around 8:00 we went to eat dinner at the museo de jamon. Sara and I both had a half a chicken, french fries, and lettuce and tomato for 6.90 Euros plus our drinks. It was a lot of food for a low price and was very good.
After dinner we went back to our hostel to sit for awhile. We met the people we are staying with. One man’s name was Jeremy. He had lived in Boston, Amsterdam, and London. He was just visiting Madrid for a few days. One girl was born in California but grew up in Australia. Her sister actually went to Grinnell College in Iowa. This girl was spending a long time traveling Europe and South America. The other two people in our room were married. They were from Canada but have spent the past year living and working in Paris. They were doing a little bit of traveling before going home to Canada. All the people in our room were very friendly and interesting to talk to. The hostel was pretty clean and my bed was fairly comfortable.
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