Twelve hours in Madrid before Andalucia

I caught my first train to Madrid, but missed the connection to Cordoba.  Unlike airlines, RENFE, the national rail company does not put you up for the night.  So, there I was, 10pm in Madrid, and I had to catch a 9am train out.  Where to sleep?  In the US, I might have considered spending the night in the station, but they would kick me out.  I called Ana in Burgos to see if she had anyone who could put me up last minute, but she didn´t pick up.  The nearest net cafe told me that there was a campsite just outside the city.  Camping is a totally different experience when you´re just a couple hundred yards from the airport and the highway...

 

Getting to the campsite required stopping regularly at bus stops to check against the city map making sure I was on course.  This was no place or time to get lost.  After an hour of that, I made my way to the campsite, just on the edge of the city map.  Next obstacle was to find food, and that was an easy one, because the campsite was neighbors with a bar.  The nice bartender made me two tostadas (toasted fench bread), one with paté and raspberry sauce and the other with goat cheese and red peppers.  Along with a beer spritzer (I figure that as long as the lager on tap is as bad as it is, it´s not a crime to cut it with some tonic water to add flavor), the meal was ideal.  The whole thing was made better when the bartender changed the music to some early 90s rock.  Nothing like Spin Doctors, REM, and early U2 to top off a night.

 

The hour-long morning ride to the train station, basically a commute into the city, was not too bad, although dealing with such intense city traffic was a bit of a shock to the system.  It was also cold and dark, but I made it to the station just in time to stand in line and get my ticket, and make the train with about 5 minutes to spare.  Being a slave to a clock is also a bit of a shock to the system after so much liberty of coming and going as I please.

 

Destination: Jaen.  This is the furthest south that the train will take me and my bike, and one day´s ride from Cordoba, which is where I wanted to be.  My day in Jaen was nice, and I am now in Cordoba, but those adventures will have to wait for another day because I am out of change, and my internet is out of time.