I am still in Madrid - and not in San Sebastian where I am meant to be right now - enjoying the seaside.
It has not been the greatest of days - starting with the roommates at the hostel clattering around the room and putting the light on at 4 am. mutter mutter grumble grumble....
And then when I got to the train station to catch my train to San Sebastian, the information person that I asked to point me to the correct platform sent me to the wrong one - so I ended up on a train to San Sebastian de las Royes - which is an outer suburb of Madrid (a bit like catching the train to Penrith...) which meant I missed my train - and the only other train to San Sebastian today was already full. Which meant I had to get a ticket for tomorrow, find somewhere to stay tonight and contact the pensione in San Sebastian and let them know that I wouldn´t be there til tomorrow. ¨Not happy Jan¨ Mutter mutter grumble grumble seeth & swear....
Anyway I am now safely ensconced in a B&B (without the second B - guess that makes it a pensione!) and have recovered my ... hmmm... sense of proportion if not my sense of humour. Mutter grumble.... AndI´ve had a restorative shower and siesta and now have a room and ensuite to myself ( I think I am officially over sharing rooms with strangers...) and I have had a chilled out afternoon in a park lying on the grass and staring at the trees. It is very very hot here and there is not a beach (or even a pool) in coo-ee. (The Spanish have a more civilised attitude to sitting on grass in parks - I dont think its officially allowed but it seems to be tolerated!) And as I was planning a chill out day tomorrow I guess I´m not too off schedule
And hey! I know what train not to catch tomorrow... mutter grumble... ANd it occurs to me that its not nearly as dramatic as when Bel & I had our Eurrail passes confiscated by the Danish train conductor for using erasable ink pens and altering the dates of our travel....
Yesterday I spent most of my day at the Thyssen Bornemiszia Museum - they have some great art there. Lots to look at and think about - and lots of works that I was unfamiliar with - so great to see some less well know works by artists such as Van Gogh ( a work in mostly greys... and not a swirl in sight!) And I went to their temporary exhibition on Avigdor Arikha - which was just wonderful - especially his paintings of his flat - which (based on the painting of the view from their window) I think must be in Paris.
Susie - I didn´t get your guide to the gallery - it was a 3 volume hardback publication and more than 1500 pages and about 150 Euro!
Also spent part of the afternoon in the Retiro Park watching ducks and black swans float around a pond and sleep in the shade. And I saw a man walking his ferret - and even better (or more bizarre) a woman taking her well fed orange and white tabby cat for a ¨walk¨ in a stroller! while five park attendants were busy trying to help an injured bird! (I dont think the tabby cat was involved...)
There is a big Mexican festival promotion happening here at the moment - and last night there was a mariachi band playing in the Plaza Mayor.
I´m going to see a film tonight - not in the mood for chatting to strangers - and there are a couple of comedies on that might help restore my mood. Guess everyone has one bad travel day - and today was mine....
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