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| Sunset in Quito, Ecuador |
On the bright side, there were no major delays or cancellations. Who else gets to experience 5 different airports in one day? Yes, 5. We left Buenos Aires, transferred planes in Lima, Quito, and had to disembark to get back on the same plane at Guayaquil (we didn't know about this one), then finally arrived in Madrid. At each airport, we had to go through a separate security check point, but at least they were not as strict with the shoes and liquids as the US airports are. The security process of transferring to a different flight at Quito was interesting. We had to wait for a LAN Airlines representative to escort us through a bunch of locked doors to get to our departure gate. No such thing as just walking off the plane and finding your own gate! Oh, and we got a cozy pat-down before boarding our final plane in Guayaquil.
Considering the marathon, we didn't feel too terrible after 30-hours. We loved LAN Airlines - the biggest South American operation from Chile. No matter how short or long the trip, every seat had its own screen and a full menu of movies, games, music, etc. Full meals were served with real plates and silverware. And, the flight attendants were very attractive! Iberia Airlines from Spain was nothing special. It was our long-haul leg and we didn't have the nice amenities we got used to with LAN Airlines. We thought we were stuck on a school bus with so many children on board. The only major snafu was not with the airlines at all. We already griped about the problem with trying to exchange our excess Argentine pesos into Euros in another post titled, Warning About Trying to Exchange Argentine Pesos. We're still fuming about it.
The Madrid airport is humongous. We walked and walked forever to get to the tram that took us to the main terminal. The architecture was very beautiful! We were pleasantly surprised at how easy the immigration process was - no fingerprints, no pictures. The guy barely looked at us before stamping our passports. During the flight, we wondered why we never received the usual customs forms. Our question was answered when we got to baggage claim and there was no mandatory customs declaration. Since we didn't have any checked bags, we breezed through and got on the Express Bus.
It's nice to be back in a first-class, modern city! The Express Bus was so easy and cheap. It comes every 20-40 minutes and runs 24-hours a day, costing only €5/pp, which is a big savings from taking a taxi. We got off at Plaza Cibeles and walked about 15 minutes to arrive at our budget hostel.
Our hostel is nothing special. It was the most reasonable accommodations in a decent area that we could find in an expensive city during the summer peak season. At $60/double/night, we have a room that has a funky smell, no A/C (but a good fan), construction going on outside, shared bathrooms, and we're hand-washing our clothes (because the laundromat is on their summer vacation until August 20th! Welcome to Europe...); however, the hostel is clean and the owner is very nice and helpful. There's a full kitchen to share, use of refrigerator space, and great wifi! The location is only 5 minutes from the main square, Plaza Mayor, and a minute from Puerta del Sol.
For our first meal in Spain, we shared a paella and washed it down with several Spanish beers, Mahou. We started feeling the exhaustion from all the traveling, so we decided to buy some boxed wine and take it back to our room for a nightcap. We didn't know the cup situation at the hostel, so we decided to pour the wine into a couple water bottles. Unfortunately, the box wine spout is not conducive for pouring elegantly into a water bottle! Lol. We were getting wine all over the place, until Akiko McGyver created a funnel for pouring the wine and the world was saved, one sip at a time.
