No problemo.
We left Mexico (Pencion, that is). at 4:30 a.m. and walked to the Santiago train station, arriving at 4:45 and found it dark and locked up tight. We waited outside until the doors were opened and lights turned on at 5:00. We had no trouble finding an empty seat.
At 5:25 we were allowed onto Vía (platform) #1 after having our backpacks scanned by security. We also found a seat on Vía #1 and waited until 5:45 to board our 5 minute late train to Ourense.
The 20 minute ride was uneventful with nothing to see as first light was at 8:00.
The train change at Ourense occurred seamlessly. We picked up our packs, walked out of our first train across the vía (about 15 feet) and stepped up into our second train and found our seats. The 10 minutes allotted for making the change was excessive, as it actually took less than a minute.
The 2 hour and 15 minute ride to Madrid was also uneventful. A Colacao and croissant from the train snackbar served as a temporary breakfast. We only saw the central Spain countryside for the last 30 minutes as first light and a pretty sunrise welcomed the new day.
We came to a stop at Madrid-Chamartin train station at 8:45, donned our packs and made our way along the vía, up a welcoming escalator to a couple of empty chairs in the station waiting area to begin killing the next 6 hours until our apartment is ready for checking in.
Last night using Whatsapp, we negotiated a deal with the apartment owner of our accommodation in Madrid. Holding firm to the 3:00 checkin time, she agreed to meet us at the apartment to let us drop off our packs at the apartment and to give us the key to the apartment at 11:30 for an extra 10€. This will allow us to spend the wait time eating lunch or getting re-familiar with the area surrounding the apartment, rather than just sitting somewhere with our packs. So step one of our time killing strategy is to wait at the train station with our heavy packs at our feet and not on our backs until about 11:00.
At 11:00, we put on our packs and walked to the area where all the taxis were. When we couldn’t get anyone to stop for us, we realized that all these taxis were letting people off at the station, then going around the building to a new area that wasn’t there last year. So we walked around the building too and saw a million taxis waiting for someone to ask them for a ride. We hopped into the first taxi we came to and showed the driver where we needed to go. It was now 11:08 and we were concerned we’d be late for our appointment.
We monitored the maps app on the taxi dashboard as we worked our way through the busy Madrid, mid-day Saturday traffic. We seemed to be holding the 11:20 ETA on the app and at 11:20, the driver dropped us off at the front door of the apartment.
We waited until 11:35 but no one showed up. So we began sending Whatsapp messages, calling the owner’s mobile phone number and messaging through Booking.com. We finally got a response that someone would be there in 15 minutes. At 12 noon, a lady showed up at the door with a key and opened the door to the apartment building followed by our apartment and began showing us around but dwelling on rules about the apartment, etc. She then asked for the 10€. Jim pointed out that we were disappointed with their preoccupation with the rules (some of which were either obvious expected standards of behavior and insulting or frivolous such as being fined if any linens had makeup stains on them) The owner had also flooded us with multiple messages through Booking.com and Whatsapp during the past week, leading up to our arrival about our need to communicate any problems promptly or be faced with being held responsible at departure. Jim also pointed out that they had disrespected us by not showing up on time.
The lady apologized and said that in exchange for the 10€ they were now going to let us occupy the apartment immediately rather than wait until 3:00 p.m. Jim told her that they had started our contractual relationship on the wrong foot and we hoped the rest of our stay would be better. We then paid the 10€ and took the keys and immediate possession of the apartment at 12 noon, eliminating the need for any further waiting to check-in. Hopefully we have also layed the groundwork for a more pleasant experience for the 3 day duration of our stay.
The apartment is in a great location. It is not modern, but it has a kitchen and gives us a good base to operate from as we wind down from Camino2024 in this great city.
We did some grocery shopping at a close-by supermarket but otherwise crashed for the rest of the day.
Jimandi 