Friday, September 11th - Madrid to Pineda de Mar, Spain

I woke up around 6 a.m. this morning and very quickly told myself to go back to sleep as I didn't have a wake-up call coming.  I did go back to sleep and finally got up around 8:30.  What a luxury.

I got ready to face the day and got everything packed up.  I then went down the street to get something to eat before going back to the room to check out.  I walked to the corner with my suitcase and caught a cab from there to the train station.  The fast train is new and the cars are very modern.  I'm on the train right now as I write this and there is lots of leg room and the chairs are very high and comfortable with adjustable headrests.  They even have a movie playing.  I didn't get headsets as I assumed it would be in Spanish but I see it has Spanish subtitles so perhaps it was in English.  I don't know what the movie is exactly but I'm guessing it is Diana as there are references to Princess Diana and newspaper articles.  She is definitely not with Charles so I assume it is Dodie.  I don't think I've ever seen it but I'm probably better off getting some blogs done instead.

The countryside between Madrid and Zagabota was beautiful.  I tried to get some pictures but when you are travelling very fast and shooting pictures through a tempered glass window I'm not sure if they will really turn out.  Hopefully a few of them will.  There were rolling hills and higher hills in the background.  Leaving Madrid the countryside was very dry and there was just sand and a few shrub brushes dotting the landscape.  There were lovely valleys with a bit more green in them, obviously river beds and therefore more water available for plants.  In some places they had green fields and orchards and the area looked lovely and lush.  The green is such a contrast to the almost white sand or rock that shows through beneath.  I don't know exactly what crops are being grown but I do recognize corn and wheat.  I also know that some of the orchards will be oranges because they grow a lot of oranges and their fresh-squeezed orange juice is delicious.

Every once in a while you see a town in the distance.  They almost always have a church tower as their highest point, and the buildings are almost always white with red roofs.  Sometimes there are what look like castles on higher hills nearby.  Generally though, the landscape is just unending barren land as far as the eye can see, but dotted with vibrant green patches from time to time.  Oh yes, there are also some industrial zones where quarries or mines have dug out the sides of the hills - not that pretty but there are a few of them around.

The scenery was much greener as we got closer to Barcelona.  There were trees everywhere, and fields of green and orchards in between.  It is still rolling hillside and the soil is still light underneath but perhaps more tan than white now.  It's cloudier now too but I think I see some higher hills or mountains in the distance.  For quite a while it looked very forestry with no farmland at all.  Then it went back to a mix of both.

I arrived at Barcelona Sants station and had to switch to a regional train.  I found it easily and there was a gentleman right at the ticket kiosk to help me buy my ticket.  I had just enough time to buy a sandwich and an ice tea before boarding.  A lot of the trains that went by on the track were very crowded but when mine came along it was virtually deserted.  My bags and I had four seats to ourselves, which was quite enjoyable as I ate my lunch and enjoyed the scenery.

  

Going from Barcelona to Pineda del Mar, the only scenery you really notice is the Mediterranean Sea with its sandy beaches.  The coastline is beautiful and the train runs right along side it.  The only thing between you and the Mediterranean is the sand and some sun bathers.  This afternoon there were not many people on the beach at all which was surprising.  I expected them to be quite busy as it was getting later in the day but there were very few people on most of the beaches.  Of course I later found out it was a Catalan holiday so that should have meant there were even more out enjoying the sand but perhaps they were at other festivities.  It certainly explains why there were so many Catalan flags around on the buildings and being carried by the people.  The broad stripes of bright red and yellow certainly stand out.

I walked from the train station to my hotel and went several blocks out of my way to get there.  The hotel is right on the main square so in a very popular and busy neighbourhood.  My room is okay.  i have a balcony, which is really nice.  And the room is probably four times the size of my last room so that is good.  However, it looks pretty old and run down and smells very old and musty.  Neither the deadbolt on the main door or the lock on the balcony door work, and the water run brown for the first while when you turn it on.  The weather is very humid here and the room feels the same way. However, after a while with the air conditioner on it seemed to get better.  I'm sure it will be fine once I get settled in.

I spent some time getting settled in and then went out for a walk around the local area. I went to the tourist office to get some maps and brochures.  Their suggestions are for me to go to Girona and to Andorra and to Tassa de Mar.  If I do all that and see some of Pineda de Mar, this might not be much of a week off at all.  

The hotel gave me a coupon for a welcome drink so I went out to the patio and had a free sangria, which I drank while people watching in the square.  I then went further down one of the streets to a local outdoor restaurant for a dinner of chicken, fries and salad with an ice tea, and it was all good.  After that I went back to my room to do some blogs and internet work but found that I was falling asleep so decided to go back up to my room and go to bed.  Oh yes, I thought there was internet everywhere in the hotel but there isn't.  I have to go down to the lobby area if I want internet.  It's a bit of aa pain but at least it's doable.  And I may change rooms on Sunday and move down to the first floor as apparently you can pick up the signal down there.