Goodbye Madrid, Hello Barcelona

Just because I'm a wordsmith, doesn't mean I always have the words.  Today is one of those days.

As I prepared to leave Mercedes Trascasas and her husband, Janero Costas in Madrid today, I felt a bit detached, worried about my train trip with all these (extra) bags and leaving my cousin.

What I had not prepared for was seeing both of them pull my bags down the street, hail a taxi for me and then hop into the car.  These sweet people not only treated me like a princess for a week, but they also led me out of their city every step of the way...with my bags.

When we passed a huge shop named Casa de la Malletas (house of suitcases) I pointed it out to Mercedes.  Her eyebrows shot up and she shook her finger, "No mas maletas..." and she laughed as she motioned that I already had a backpack on my back and a backpack purse on my chest.

When the taxi driver stopped at Atocha Estación, they didn't miss a beat...or let me pay for the taxi!  Janero pulled the big red (new) bag, Mercedes pulled my normal bag and I was swaddled in two backpacks.  Into the station and up to the security gate.  Nope, of course they couldn't go in with me.  After big hugs and kisses, they disappeared and this mountain of baggage was now my party.  It was probably the biggest challenge (except driving El Carro) and that challenge followed me down the ramp, into the train and then out again.  But of course, there was a nice gentleman on both ends, so I am not complaining.  I am just saying...TAKE ONE BAG AND STICK TO IT.

The AVE trains here in Spain are efficient, quiet, clean and comfortable.  Everything about the train trip was great and I complement the Spanish transit system with five stars.  Watching the vistas change from farmland to mountains, trees and small villages along the way made the time slide by.  And then of course I fell asleep off and on, only waking up when my head fell and it shook me awake. Hopefully, I didn't snore and if so, maybe others did too.  It was relaxing and fast traveling at 300 km per hour unless it slowed for a stop to drop off and pick up other travelers.  The Renfe trains are also efficient and not speedy like the AVE trains. During my stay in Spain I have traveled on both types of trains and the bus as well.  I have never been disappointed.

I had nearly three hours to contemplate my visit with my Trascasas cousin(s) and one of the highlights of the visit was the camaraderie that Mercedes and I had with one another.  She had so many papers with Spanish to English words and I had my little book.  On our car trip, both ways, she'd study hers and ask me and Janero questions and I studied mine.  I smile every time I think of our anxiety to learn the other's language and the help we gave to one another.  One of her favorites was "one moment."  I will always remember the lilt in her accent and her twinkling eyes when she knew she'd said the words correctly.  I will miss her.

AND THEN I WAS THRILLED TO ARRIVE IN BARCELONA.  The plan was for me to meet Cristóbal NP inside McDonalds.  He suggested two options.  I knew I'd recognize the yellow arches, so of course, I chose that one.  However, I'd only seen photos of him in a hat and when I got there, nobody had a hat on and I was stumped.  Rolling all the baggage into the place to look for him was impossible, so I planted myself at the door and that is where he found me.  When he and his son grabbed my bags, I was a happy girl again.

...UNTIL I REACHED THE ROOM I'D RENTED through Airbnb.  I flew into panic mode, Cristóbal soothed my feathers, fed me, made phone calls and nearly three hours later, I was in a nice hotel with his Barcelona map in my hand.  I shudder to think what would have happened if I'd taken a taxi and had been dropped off at this awful place with all my bags and... But enough.  All is well.  We had a good visit and big hugs.  I will be forever thankful to have him as a friend --- I've known him over the internet since 2009 as we are involved in the Hawaiian Spaniards transcriptions of ship manifests and finding Spanish relatives of descendants like me...This was our first personal meeting.  At last.  

And I met his nice son at the same time, which was a good idea as he was our translator.  Although I understood many of Cristóbal's words, we would have had trouble without young Cristóbal.  It ended up to be a wonderful day...