Mad for Madrid

Its now 9:45 am Wednesday Sept.2 It was such an insane travel day yesterday that I had to get some sleep before I wrote about it.
As you all know my travel days are usually hilarious and hectic and I mess it all up and then have a laugh. Humph!
Before I got to Madrid I had been trying to figure out which train to take to Valencia, from which station, how to get to that station etc. I didnt' have much luck figuring that out really so I decided I'd get to the tourist office in the Madrid airport.
I arrived in Madrid at 8:30pm I was directed to the train office in Terminal 1 and told to hustle because they closed at nine. I got to her desk just in time for her to tell me there were no more trains that evening. The next train wasn't until 6:40am the next day. I said, well now what do I do? She said go to the tourist office. Guess what? They were closed! So now I'm standing there, having no reservations for a hostel, no trains to catch...the airport info guy tried to direct me to the bus station so I had that in hand. Finally i asked a Police guy if there was WiFi and he sent me to a cafe, I figured I could get online and get oriented but the Wifi wasn't free and I didn't want to pay. I stopped at another info desk and asked the gal something about hostels and she finally understood. No one else in the whole place knew what I was talking about. So she wrote down the name of the street she'd seen some on, the Metro stop I would need and the number to the bus station so I could call and see about getting a bus if I wanted to. Well, I'd run out of credit on my phone, so no phone calls. I couldn't seem to get my phone topped up at the machine so no luck there.
At this point, I haven't eaten in like 11 hours (no food on flight) I'm tired and absolutely couldn't think this problem through. I just wanted to cry, I had to try really hard not to!
I found the Metro and got my ticket headed into the city center. I figured it was like the girl said, lots of hostels. So I wandered around a while and found one hostel where the stairway was unlit, a little dodgy...the guy didn't speak any english, he took one look at me and wrote 50 euro on a paper and I said no thanks! I'd seen them cheaper online (where I'd looked and not booked) so he threw up his hands and ripped the paper up. By this time its 11 pm. I'm on a bench in the Madrid city center really starting to freak out. My friend Noemi had by this time called to try to help me. She said there was a bus leaving at midnight and that it was about a 9 hour drive but if I hurried I could make it. So I got myself to the Metro again, only to discover that the Line I needed has been suspended for work. So there wasn't a metro to the bus station, somewhere along the way I was supposed to catch a bus they had designated for that purpose. Yeah right. I am even worse at buses!!
So I wandered back up the street, found a nice looking hotel and gave up and booked a room for the night. That would about midnight. I went and found some fast food and then off I went to sleep.
Right next door to me is a Museo de Jamon, Museum of Cured Meats basically. I'm going to go in and look around, its meat as far as the eye can see. I've never seen such a thing.

So after all that drama I could have just booked a hostel, gone there, got some sleep and started fresh today, but no. Lesson learned!! This whole thing could have been avoided by my just paying the extra money and flying into Valencia in the first place. Seriously! The train to Valencia (which takes 3 hours instead of a 9 hour bus) will cost as much as the extra to fly to Valencia. Shoulda looked that up better. Ugh!
Despite all of that almsot everyone I encountered here in Madrid was really nice, very helpful and earnestly sorry I was such a mess!
The Metro here is 90 years old this year! Its really nice too. Pretty cheap! I'm thinking about staying another night and walking around the city a little bit.
Yesterday as I flew out of Tenerife I had to laugh that the flight of 2 1/2 hours would undo my 6 days of sailing. Wow!
Getting to the airport on the bus (which I nearly missed) was pretty smooth, usually I go wrong there too. I got there, found my counter, checked in my bag (12.5kg) and got threw security (no line) and then waited at my gate. That should have been a sign that things would be difficult on the other end. Ha!
So I think I covered everything. Next time, remember that cities most helpful offices close early so do it yourself before you arrive!! Also buy an ice cream before you hit the airport because the price doubles! Sheesh!
One more thing, pack your silverware with you all the time because buying a really cheap snack at the market sometimes means you need a spoon or plastic knife. Just a tidbit.
I'll get some photos taken.
This hotel will be the nicest place I've stayed so far obviously! No room mates, no noises, big bed! Deluxe compared to how I've been living! So, I'm staying here until they kick me out :) ha!
Not really, its off the train station after a while I think. Noemi works until 5 ish anyways. Then I can see Valencia and plan some cheap bus trips from there.
Karen