TRAIN # 10 – 21:00 Lisbon to Madrid (Cont.)
We got another beer and sat on the floor at the end of the carriage looking out of the wide open door at the back. There was a magic to it all. The night sky, the noise from the diesel working away at the front of the train, the clickety clack of the rails and the single track stretching back into the distance.
Eventually we were joined by a Finnish girl and a Spanish guy. We all sat there sometimes chatting but mostly silent. It was past 02:00 before we decided to go back to the compartment.
I tried to climb into my sleeping bag whilst sitting in the narrow seat. Everyone had hysterics as I slipped from the seat and ended up on the floor. Even I had to admit it was quite funny.
An hour or so later, we got lucky. Three of the other people left the compartment leaving us with the guy and his socks. We put our rucksacks in the space between the seats. I actually got a reasonable amount of sleep. When I woke up around 09:00, the first thing I noticed was the smell of sweat.
I soon worked out from the names of the stations we were passing that the train was still around two hours late. After traversing flat countryside with sun-parched grass, we eventually began to close in on Madrid’s suburbs. We arrived at Atocha station at 10:45 about ninety minutes behind schedule.
MADRID
We already knew that there was no left luggage facility at Madrid Atocha but we had heard there was one at the station we would be departing from, Charmartin. We picked up some maps of the city at the information desk and then jumped on the metro.
We arrived at Charmartin to discover there were no left luggage facilities whatsoever. We were told that the only option, short of booking into a hotel for a night, was to carry out heavy rucksacks around the city in the sweltering heat.
I queued to get the reservations on that evening’s train to Cerbere which cost a total of 1200 pesetas leaving us only around 300 pesetas each for the rest of the day. We decided that a lot of that would have to go on drinks to keep us cool.
We set off on the metro to the Opera, walked past the Royal Palace and then met some English women from Cambridge in a shop. They were surprised when we told them we were not so impressed with Madrid. We bought ham, bread, biscuits and milk and ate lunch in a park opposite the Royal palace. We walked down to the Plaza Mayor with the rucksacks feeling extra heavy on our backs.
We walked towards the Puerto de la Sol and then went back on the metro once more to the Puerto del Toledo. We were too tired and soon it was obvious that we would need to change some more money. We went to Atocha station only to be told that the nearest open bureau de change was back at Charmartin.
With no more money for metro tickets and unable to face the walk, we thought we had got lucky when we saw there was a RENFE train heading from the low level station at Atocha to Charmatin. We knew it was in theory covered by the Interrail pass. We jumped into the first carriage.
Unfortunately, a ticket collector came to us as the train was approaching Charmatin. He insisted that not only was the train a supplementary express but we had been standing for our ten minute trip in a first class doorway. We explained that we had no money and I produced my book of traveller’s cheques to show we were actually on our way to get more funds.
Shouting at us in Spanish, he ripped one of the cheques out of the book and signalled that we needed to follow him. We were led to the bureau de change on the main concourse and watched as he presented the cheque to the teller. He took 300 of the pesetas we received and stormed off.
Throats parched, we went for a Coke at the station buffet but were bothered the whole time by a pregnant woman trying to sell hankies to us. Close by the police were in attendance trying to calm down some German tourists who had been robbed by beggars. Madrid was, we agreed, the absolute low point of the trip so far.
Feeling a little better but still carting the rucksacks, we left again on the metro. We walked around the Plaza de Cibeles, along the Paseo del Prado and to the Art Museum where, temporarily relieved of the luggage, we paid 300 pesetas for another two Cokes.
We found a supermarket and got enough supplies to last us for the first part of the long train journey to Rome. We bought bread, jam, cheese and salami and then walked into Retiro Park for a rest.
Retiro Park with its beautiful flowers and lovely lake provided a veritable haven. We sat on a bench for an hour avoiding the ants and watching passers-by. Then, with the time approaching 20:00 we carried the heavy rucksacks via Independence Plaza back to Charmartin Station. We were happy to be leaving Spain.
TRAIN # 11 – 22:20 Madrid Charmartin to Cerbere
The 22:20 overnight ‘Costa Brava‘ express heading for Cerbere left Charmartin bang on time. We got an empty compartment. The carriage, another RENFE one, was essentially the same as the previous night. The toilet was slightly cleaner, perhaps.
The train made its first stop at Guadalajara and still nobody came. Our passports were carefully checked by a National Guard officer for reasons we didn’t quite understand. We finished off the salami and bread and then took it in turns to wash in the toilet and settled down around midnight to try to sleep.
Forty Years Later….
- Euro banknotes and coins replaced the Peseta on January 1, 2002.
- A tropical garden concourse was installed at Atocha in 1992 when the station was remodelled for the introduction of Spain’s high speed AVE trains.
- There are currently still no official left luggage facilities at either Atocha or Charmartin, but there are private alternatives close by.
- I have returned to Madrid many times, mainly on business, and have come to love the city. I often entertained my Spanish hosts with the tail of my terrible first day walking around.
