I arrived in Spain last Thursday, in Madrid. I hadn’t bothered to book a bed in advance, since it was mid-week during the off season. And of course I arrived in Madrid after a late night and a day of travel to find that all the hostels were booked up on account of some art show. After calling around a bit I found a bed, but only for one night. The morning I had to go through the hunt again to find a hostel with a single bed free, and again only for one night. Two days of that was enough for me and I left Madrid for Valencia, which is a nicer city anyway, and my friend Maria lives here.
Other than the stress of finding accommodation, I’m enjoying Spain. I met some nice people at the hostel in Madrid. The weather is a lot warmer than it was in Ireland too. My Spanish is coming back to me, though it needs a lot of improvement. But I guess I’m in the right country for that. Madrid I wasn’t all that impressed with. Too much of a big city. Valencia I like more. Though I’m surprised that the streets are so wide here, and that there are so many cars. Maria told me that there are so many cars in Valencia that it’s legal to double park. The person parking double has to leave the emergency brake off so that other people can roll the car out of the way.