We started well in Toronto airport by being entertained for an hour by a Spanish olive oil salesman who gave us the complete story on the olive oil business. His product is available in Canada, and is said to be the only square bottle with a metal label. It sounds like a product to search for – all organic, and a family business.
All trips to Europe start with an exhausting overnight flight, making you on your first day tired and stupid. We arrived in Madrid at 7:30 AM, the middle of a sleepless night for us. After spending an interminable 4 seconds while immigration stamped our passports, and boldly walking through the ‘Nothing to Declare’ doorway we were in Spain. Would that the world’s longest undefended border were that transparent. I guess the EU has nothing to fear from Canada, such as the US does.
The first order of business, as last year, was to get Vic a working SIM card for her phone. Right in front of the terminal exit was an entrepreneur selling a no-name card at more than triple the going price. After Vic abused him for his business practices we moved on. The skinny on the internet (including some from the never wrong Rick Steves) says there is a store in Terminal 2 that sells them. After a lot of discussion with various store clerks and information desks, we find that the store does exist in Terminal 2, but it is behind Security. If you arrive at Terminal 1, you can’get there. Rick must have gotten his information from the internet too. We were also assured that there was absolutely no store anywhere close to the airport that sold SIM cards.
So, it was off to the hotel, a couple subway rides away. It is not easy breaking in an unfamiliar transportation system when you are tired and stupid. Since it was now only 9 AM the hotel wouldn’t check us in yet. They also assured us that there was absolutely nothing close to them (in a train station,yet!) that sold SIM cards either. So, it was off to downtown Madrid. The Apple store girl assured us that the best way was not by subway, but by train. Breaking in another unfamiliar transportation system that has different ticket machines reinforced the tired and stupid.
Anyway, we got the card, saw a bit of Madrid, checked into the hotel, had someting to eat, and off to bed after some 30 or more hours on the go. I don’t handle time zone changes as well as I remember I did when I was younger.
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