View outside of our hostel
Where to start...where to start...How about at the very beginning???
Blake and I flew out of Atlanta on June 24 and we had a short layover in Paris. After about an hour in the Paris airport, we expected to hop on another flight to get to Madrid. What actually happened was something a little different.
We did fly out of Atlanta, and Iīd like to note how many soldiers we saw at the airport! It was amazing. I felt like there was an army base right next door. But anyway, we got on our Air France flight to Paris just fine.
The flight was going great until up around Quebec. Just as we started heading to the Atlantic Ocean, it started getting really bumpy. It was bumpy off and on until we got to Paris. Nevertheless, I tried to sleep as much as I could so the time difference wouldnīt wear on me. I did get to sleep about 4 hours. Blake wasnīt as lucky. For the most part, the ride was pretty comfortable.
Once we got into the Paris airport, we had to ride a bus to another terminal. We only had about 45 minutes to get to our next flight. The bus ended up going around the entire Paris airport, and made stops along the way. Once we got off of the bus, we had to wait in a pretty large line. Iīm still not sure what it was for, but there were a few guys that looked at our passports.
When we finally got to the correct gate, we realized that we missed our flight. Let it be known that Air France ticket agents stop taking passengersī tickets a half hour before the flight takes off, but they stand at the podium until the plane leaves.
Apparently, there were a bunch of people in the same boat as Blake and I because we waited in line for 2 hours to get our tickets adjusted.
We ended up leaving the Paris airport at 10:30 am, and our flight got into Madrid just fine. Our luggage on the other hand, was a different story.
As soon as we got off the plane, we went to baggage claim. The first thing that came out on the belt was this cheap guitar that Blake brought with him. This guitar is worth about $30, and because he didnīt want to bring a guitar case, he just checked it in an extremely awkward triangular guitar box. This thing could have easily been smashed to pieces...but it made it! Eagerly, Iīd say!
We waited there for our other two pieces of luggage to come out, and they never did. I will never know how the guitar made it because all of our luggage was supposedly together.
We had to give the luggage attendant our address and they had someone drop it off at our hostel. They ended up dropping it off alot later than they said they would, but we got it in the end, so Iīm not complaining.
The next day, we walked around the city...did a little shopping, etc. One of the main things that we had to accomplish in these first few days was to get an apartment, so we did a lot of searching.
Pretty much, the last few days, thatīs actually all weīve done. The first night here, which was a Saturday, we didnīt even really go out and party. That day, we just wanted to get used to the time difference, so we went to bed at a good hour.
As far as apartments go, weīve had quite a hunt. We decided that instead of getting a regular apartment for just me and Blake, weīd get a piso compartido (shared apartment). This way, it would be a little cheaper, and we would get to meet people. Also, most of the time, you donīt have to worry about setting up utilities, etc. Overall, itīs just less of a headache.
We called around, and looked at a bunch of places. We thought we found the perfect place, which was in a really great part of town. The location of this shared apartment is in Huertas, which is where alot of bars and restaraunts are. Basically, itīs within walking distance of everything! The roommates also sounded really nice. We met them, and they seemed very social. They should be...because they are all actors. There was one spanish guy, and a german girl, then, there would have been Blake and I. We were extremely excited about the apartment, and when we said we wanted it for two months, the guy who was renting the apartment kind of shrugged and said he had a couple that was interested in renting it for 3 months. I guess they were supposed to call him back later that night and he was just using us as a back up. He told us to call back in the morning to find out whether or not we got the place.
Blake and I wanted that apartment so bad! It had a really big kitchen, and we would have gotten our own bathroom, and the best thing by far was the location! We really loved it. So, we held our breath until the next morning, and when we called him back, he said that he was pretty sure we had it. He told us that he had to check with his one roommate about something, and he told us to call back at 8pm that night.
The entire day, we were really exited! We didnīt know how we could be so lucky. So, the whole day, we just kind of walked around, ate, saw sights, and waited for 8pm to roll around.
It rolled around, and we didnīt get the apartment. He said the other couple called to confirm it, and we wouldnīt be able to move in. We had wasted the whole day for nothing. Such a shame.
Well, the next day, which was yesterday, we told ourselves that we werenīt going to let that happen again. Blake and I got a paper, and we started calling all of these apartments. We went to look at a few, and we found one that seemed too good to be true.
The location of this new apartment is in Puerta del Sol. Sol is probably the most touristy part of the city. This is one of the major shopping districts, and itīs only like 2 streets away from Huertas. The specific street tha the apt. is on is called Calle Carmen. Out of all of the streets right in Sol, this one is probably the most crowded. There are tons of terrazas, highend stores, etc. Itīs kind of like living in an apartment building right on 5th Ave. in NYC, but itīs a little less nice. Anyway, there isnīt any driving on this street, only walking. And itīs a really rich section of the city. The fact that this is apartment is the one that costs the least amount out of all of the ones weīve seen makes me a little skeptical.
We went to go see the apartment, and itīs pretty nice. Itīs in a guarded building, and the aparment itself is in the shape of a U. If you think of a U, our room would be in th bottom, right hand corner, overlooking the Calle Carmen, (I think that deserves a 'not too shabby'.) We met one of the roommates, and she is in her 20s...she is a student at the university here, and sheīs American! Her name is Marisa and sheīs from Berkley. She seems pretty nice, and she was the one who showed us around.
It turns out that there is like 6 rooms in the apartment. One of the rooms is used for the landlords belongings, and there are two that are empty, possibly three. The rest are used for the other roommates. So far, I know that there are two guys, and Marisa. They are all students and they all are in their 20s. (Not too shabby.)
After seeing the place, we called Maria - the landlord back and we are meeting with her today at 3pm.
Weīve been looking at some other apartments aside from the one that we said weīd take, just incase this one falls through. Blake and I are still a little skeptical. Weīll know for sure today at three.
If it does fall through, we have another place in line. So mark my word, we will have an apartment today.
Please view Part 2