Wednesday afternoon, I flew from Berlin to Madrid. I really couldn't wait to leave the German capital and go back to the Southern European country where I seem to feel very much at home.
In the plane, I got to talk with an Italian woman, who was sitting next to me. It made the flight feel somewhat shorter. I usually feel pretty crappy in planes, due to the (lack of) air circulation. Totally dehydrated, with a stuffed nose and a headache. No matter how much I drink. This time around it wasn't much different.
When I arrived in Madrid, I sent a message to the owner of the Airbnb that I booked, to let her know that my plane had landed and that I would slowly head towards the apartment.
Her reply wasn't at all what I expected:
Hola Vincent,
Te has confudido
Yo tengo la reserva para el mes de marzo
For those of you who don't understand Spanish:
I think you've made a mistake.
I have a reservation for the month of March.
Long story short, I had booked a week in Madrid, from the 21st to the 28th of March, instead of February.
It was the 21st of February, early in the evening and I was standing in the Metro station of Madrid airport. The metro that would bring me from the airport towards.... towards where? What metro should I actually take? I can tell you one thing, I wasn't thinking of booking a flight back home. No way!
When all this confusion took place, I had actually just met my italian airplane neighbor, again. I informed her about my situation and she must have felt sorry for me. I told her not to worry about me. That I would go towards the city center to find a place with WIFI, some food and drinks. From there on, I would see if I needed to find another place or if I could arrange something with the airbnb that I had counted on.
An hour later, I had settled down in a cerveceria. I didn't have any wifi, but I had food, a drink, warmth - yeah, the nights are chilly in Spain these days - my phone was charging and it seemed like I could actually change my reservation and go to the same apartment that I had booked (a month later, haha!)
I just needed to wait an hour or two. No pasa nada.
I had a beer or two, some tapas, the bread you see on the picture and a coffee. I was starting to feel alright. I had decided to walk the last half hour or so to the airbnb. I could definitely use some fresh air and a walk, after having spend most of the day in the metro in Berlin, on Berlin's stuffy airport, in a plane and then on the airport and in the metro of Madrid.
I enjoyed the walk and around 9:30 PM, I arrived at the apartment. Everything worked out fine. I was very tired but I told myself that I still had to write my daily (movie recommendation) post. When I had managed to do so - from my bed - I was finally able to relax and sleep.
TO BE CONTINUED...