Getting ourselves settled in

When we left you last, we were sitting at a coffee shop in Madrid airport. We had some time to waste because we weren't able to get into our accommodation until 12 noon, and it was only 8am. 

We left the airport at about 9:30am. The express bus from the airport would be able to take us to the Atocha train station, and then it would be a 2.5 km (about a mile) walk from there to our apartment.

The airport express bus cost €5 ($7.85 CAD, $5.70 USD) each. We were able to tap and pay with a credit card upon entering the bus.

Didn't bother taking any photos out the bus window. We'll be doing lots of walking over the next couple of days to show you some highlights of Madrid.

It was a nice enough day here. Mostly sunny, with a high around 18C (66F). Very pleasant.

Arrived at the Atocha train station and found a couple of seats to just watch the world go by for an hour. Then set off walking to our apartment. Had no trouble finding the building. We were supposed to meet someone there at 12 noon to give us the key, but he was about ten minutes late showing up.

Regarding accommodation, Madrid is more expensive than we were expecting. For the first three nights, we are paying €75 ($118 CAD, $85 USD) per night for an older small one bedroom apartment about 5 kms (3 miles) from the city center. 

View from the bedroom window.

The living room.

The facilities.

The kitchen is fairly well equipped.

And it has a washing machine.

Like I said, it's in an older building, and most of the furnishings are old as well. But, it's fine. Anything better would have been at least €125 a night, so we're okay. And although it's old, it's very clean.

And, it's got super fast WiFi!

Of course the overnight flight and eight hour time change messes with your system, and neither of us sleep well on airplanes at the best of times. With regards to jet lag, we find it's best to immediately put ourselves into the local time at our destination, and that meant it was time for an afternoon nap!

But not too long, because you want to be able to sleep at night. So after an hour and a half it was time to go do some grocery shopping. Luckily, there is a big Mercadona grocery store only a five minute walk away! 

The Canadian dollar is currently very weak and is hovering near a ten year low versus the Euro right now. So everything is about 10% more expensive for us compared to the last time we were in Europe. And of course you can add inflation on to that. Not an ideal scenario for Canadian based world travelers, but it is what it is. 

Although groceries are more expensive than Mexico, they are far cheaper than Canada even with the poor exchange rate.

Here's everything we bought.

And here's the bill.

We remembered from the time we spent in Spain with our motorhome Max, that Mercadona sells a bottle of red wine that we like... La Mancha... and it's only €1.30 ($2.05 CAD, $1.50 USD) a bottle! What a deal.

We brought our portable backgammon game and use the game board to play Yahtzee as well while we're having dinner.

Ruth is really well organized and knows to bring a lot of her kitchen spice collection with her when we travel. She packs them all into tiny zip lock bags because most short term rental accommodations don't supply much more than salt and pepper, and that's if you're lucky. She made us a nice chicken dish with broccoli and carrots and a popular Spanish tortilla that is made with potatoes and eggs.

By 10:00pm our eyes were closing trying to watch a show, so it was time to hit the sack. Out like a light, but I was wide awake at 3am. Slept on and off after that, and got up at 7:30am.

We're off to do some exploring! Because it's the first Wednesday of the month, we are going to try to make it to the Royal Palace for their 12 noon changing of the guard. It's supposed to be quite something with over 400 people and 100 horses taking part. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Record low deal on this Samsung Galaxy Watch 7.

And in Canada...

Check out the deals at Amazon.ca.