This is part 2. Part 1 is still on my iPhone and i will upload it later.
Sunday, September 26.
Arrived in Madrid around 7 in the morning. We were one of the last to exit the plane and had to wait for someone to get mom to escort her and her wheel chair to customs. The walk to customs was something out of a Steven King movie, the one where folks find themselves all alone at an airport. The handicap escort told us to walk down a long tunnel and he would meet us at the other end since he had to drive mom to the customs station. During the long walk there was literally nobody around, making me question if we took a wrong turn somewhere. We just kept following the signs to luggage pick up. 10 minutes of walking we found the customs station. We had to wait a couple of minutes for mom to arrive via shuttle.
In the movies, going through customs is a major undertaking. However in Spain, it was a mere hiccup. I just handed them our passports, they opened them up, stamped them and gave them back to us. No questions, no looks, nothing. Heck there was no line to wait in to be passed through. It was much different than going through customs via Canada or Mexico.
Since we were late getting there, our luggage was waiting for us we walked up to the carousel which was kinda nice. I did laugh because next to the luggage was a cubicle where people could light up their favorite tobacco product. OMG, these Spaniards love to smoke. Luggage in tow, we made our way to Alamo to get our vehicle. I had reserved two vehicles because I wasn’t sure which type would be best for us. For those who haven’t been to Europe, it is a bit of a quandary to figure out what they have against automatic cars. Perhaps they get some masochistic thrill of driving stick shifts, but, yeah, all the vehicles they had were stick shifts which meant that for the next two weeks I’m the only one who will be doing the driving.
The first vehicle was a 7 passenger van which was just that – a van for 7 passengers, 7 passengers WITHOUT luggage. Really Alamo, you rent out a vehicle at an airport and don’t consider that maybe they will have luggage? Would it hurt for you to add 4-6 inches of cargo space? Since option #1 was out the door we had to settle on option #2, a Opal Jumpie 1.8. It seats 9 people and their luggage. The down side it is tall and not that smooth of a ride. I bring that up because mom was unable to get into the vehicle on her own and the drive was painful for her. Have I mentioned how much I hate round abouts and hidden speed bumps?
Since we weren’t able to check in until 3:00 p.m. We decided to go and check out Segovia. It is a small and old town with a rather unique castle that inspired Walt Disney when he built tinker bell’s castle. The drive was very windy through the mountains which made for a lot of gear changes. I couldn’t help but recall the phrase ” if you can’t find them, grind them”.
We made it to the town and was able to see the castle from a distance. We were hungry, so I punched in a restaurant that uber travel guide Rick Stevens recommend and off we went. What I didn’t anticipate was that the route would take us through the old town. Okay, if you are driving a mini Cooper, this would have not been a problem, but I was in a full sized van, driving on cobblestones. We never did find the restaurant but did come away with an exciting story. Since the roads are small, many of them are one way roads meaning you can go back. I bring this up because I came face to face with a one way road that went between two buildings. To put you in a better state of understanding the situation, I’m driving a stick shift van, going down hill with no way to turn around.
Before I go any further, I wanted to tell you of the time we went drove to Oregon and had the opportunity to drive through a redwood tree. It was kinda fun to drive through it as the walls of the tree were inches from our van. I bring this up because I was now forced into a similar situation. This time the stakes were raised as the space between us and the buildings were less forgiving. We are talking less than an inch on either side of the van, not to mention I had to swing both mirrors inward to fit, forcing me to drive blind. Since this damn van was a stick shift, their was literally no redo. It was as Yoda said. “Do or do not… there is no try”. Inch by inch I made my way through with the boys in the back exclaiming “oh no, oh no!” in anticipation of the sound of metal scraping stone. But alas, we made it through unscathed. It was my first indication that there was someone looking out for me, which wouldn’t be the last time before the days end.
We decided to head back to Madrid to check into our hotel room. We decided to take a longer route back that didn’t have roads that were so windy. I guess I should mention that with the exception of the 2 hours before we left for the airport, I’ve been awake for 40 hours. With the driving taking its toll on me, I was starting to feel the effects of sleep. I pulled over and took a shot of my Stackers 5 hour power to give me a pick up so I could make the two hour drive back to Madrid. In short, it took awhile to kick in. Unfortunately before it kicked in I started dozing off. I was doing a pretty good job of staying awake, thanks in part to those roundabouts and hidden speed bumps. But once I got onto a major highway, the effects caught up with me.
In Spain the roads don’t have those grooves on the sides to alert you when you are drifting off the road but thankfully Spaniards have mastered the use of their horns, which saved me from running off the road and into the median barrier. All I remember was being in the #3 lane and waking up in the #1 lane. It is a miracle in itself that I didn’t hit anyone in the process. I will say this much, after the awakening, I was fully awake for the rest of the way to the hotel.
Prior to coming to Spain, I read up on the driving habits and was at awe at how accurate the write ups were. When driving in Spain, you take the attitude that it’s you against the world…and everyone is out to take your lane from you. Counter this with the fact that street names are not on signs but on the corner of buildings in very small font, not at all unlike driving in Boston. Now you get the idea of getting around in Spain. I did mention how much I hate roundabouts, right? But the thing that just made me say WTF, is that locals use the right lane as their own parking space. You’re driving along and the car in front of you stops, puts on his flashers and the driver high tails it to where ever they need to go. In a span of 2 miles I witnessed this seven times.
We did make it to our hotel safely, and thankfully there was a parking space right in front of the hotel! Saved me 17€.