Madrid Dia Uno

Lessons learned:

Do not, after spending an entire day moving all your worldly possessions TWICE, do NOT try and save money on a hotel by picking one an hour walk from the metro.

Do not attempt to use a wheely suitcase...without wheels.

Do not, after getting a better suitcase, throw out the broken suitcase without checking that you've taken everything out of it.  You might be missing something important.  Like your goddamn passport.

Sitting in the middle of the middle row of seats on a 7 hour flight SUCKS.

Related: If you find yourself in that situation, take TWO tylenol PMs.  Because unconsciousness makes everything better.

But I'm here.  I'm jetlagged, a little sick and a lot confused, but I'm here.  It's a really beautiful city.  Things that surprised me were how different the city looks from anything I've encountered before.  It definitely has an old feel, with narrow streets and cobblestones and all that retro crap.  Also, people in Madrid either don't speak English or don't want to speak English, so you either gesture frantically or spout broken Spanish at them.  Or both.  It's both for me.

I ordered something called a tosta which I can't even really describe.  It's essentially toast, smeared with sauce and covered with something.  In this case, a big heaping slab of cured ham.

Oh, one more lesson: Asking for tylenol will get you a confused look.  Asking for "Tee-len-ol" will get you what you want.  

Work with me, Spain, come on.