1980 Torrejon again (7/25/1980)

Friday, 25 July 1980

Slept until fairly late, and soon arrived in Madrid about 11:00. During the last leg of our trip from Lisboa we saw some typical Mediterranean countryside -- rocky hills with scrubby growth; fig and olive trees, prickly pear and century plants, and cork trees "stripped (up) to the waist." On this trip, our car bounced so violently we know there were no shocks and felt the car would leave the track. The Spanish trains have given us some very jiggly rides. Took the local train to the Chamartin station where no train schedule was posted, just like in the U.S.! So we joined the international ticket line as Terry went to see if she could exchange the remaining 20-escudo bill from Portugal. The money-changer relented to Terry’s sad face, and gave her the 20 pesetas (about 30 cents!). We finally got our seat reservations for the 21:55 train to Hendaye on the northern coast at the French border.

Madrid to Hendaye seat reservation

Then we wandered around the shops to see if we could get flowers or something to take to Kathy J, but found nothing appropriate. So we boarded the local train to Torrejon on which we had a brunch of cookies and gasossa, and chips and water. Arrived in Torrejon about 14:00, and took the bus to the J's. Kathy J had the ingredients for an iced tea party, and as we took turns showering, we recounted to her our trip so far as we munched melted chocolate chip cookies and pound cake. Finally at about 17:30 we took off across the field with our bags and took the bus, then train, to the Chamartin station. On the train coming to Chamartin, Terry was bothered by two guys who waited for the chance to sit across from her when the seats were abandoned by a couple. These two also noisily banged on the window to get the attention of two young girls outside in a station. Terry concentrated so hard on staring out the window that she missed it when they left, and when a gang of four boys came running in to gnaw or knife the edgings of the seats to pull out the cords inside. They collected 5-6 from our car, and even one from the seat across from Terry.We checked out the self-service cafeteria menu, and the meal of the day looked good. We went to sit among the shops where it was air-conditioned; the shops were not very busy. At 20:00 we returned to the cafeteria to find they had changed the menu of the day. But we went in anyway and pointed out the foods we wanted. We had a cold potato salad type appetizer. Then main dishes of tortilla Españole (potato omelet), a fish (bacalao a la vizcaina/Biscayan cod) in an oily tomato sauce, and calamare rings (we later found out they were squid!), all microwaved. We finished off with strawberry yogurt and a cinnamon rice pudding. After our experimental Spanish dinner, we bought some pastries with the last of our Spanish change, and boarded the train. We were the only three reserved seats in our compartment. Unusual for Spain as was the on-time 21:55 departure. We noticed big clouds coming, and as we left Madrid, it began to rain.

Next: Éire/Ireland.