SPAIN - PART 3 - MADRID

I was glad to get on that bus and see the last of Benidorm out the back window. After 5 hours I arrived in Madrid and got slightly lost on the metro system. It was only 1 Euro 50 to get anywhere in the city which in itself puts British public transport to shame. The hostel was one of them places that you got a great first impression of (apart from the bloke on reception). I had a basic explore and retreated to the great downstairs bar to watch a football match. Unfortunately the previous few days in Benidorm had caught up with me and I ended up having an early night (pre 11pm). The following morning I did the guided walking tour as I had done previously in Paris and Dublin. I suppose if I had to choose between Barcelona and Madrid I think Barcelona but only just, they were both great cities. It was a lot hotter than the previous 2 places but I somehow managed to stop myself getting burned. The tour itself was good and finished mid afternoon, after a group of us went to eat at a place that we had been told about by our guide. After a few hours sleep I went down to the hostel bar to watch another football match and signed up to the pub crawl which most of the others were going on. Typically we didn’t head out until just before midnight. It started off well even if the only people who spoke English were the other backpackers. As it got later on the bars got more crowded and it became easier to lose people. The club we ended up in was good but the crowd of about 20 had gone down to a handful, I finished the night at around 4AM. The Saturday was my final day in Spain before heading home and since I had to be up very early there would be no late night. After making some recovery I headed out to 2 places I seen that were of interest. The first was a cable car ride but unlike in Barcelona it seemed to be well away from the city center and the view while good in itself couldn’t compare to the previous one. The second was to the football stadium, I wanted to go to the one in Barcelona but didn’t have the time. I wasn’t sure what it would be like visiting an empty sports stadium but it made for an interesting hour or so. The trophy room had to be the most impressive part, there seemed to be loads of them........ That evening the whole city seem to come alive as Spain were playing Portugal, unfortunately I had to stick to non alcoholic drinks watching the game in the hostel. It was a pity since there was a good crowd going out later on. When I left at 4:30am to catch the shuttle bus the streets were still full of people.