a train like a plane

so today i woke up very early. so early, in fact, that i missed the free breakfast again! i had to settle for a machine coffee which i drank on my walk to the metro. yesterday i managed to buy my ticket - using spanish only. carlynne, who missed her second train for the day, went back with me so i could get a ticket (no sense in waking up early only to find that the train is full). it was a bit like the deli, you take a number and wait for your number to be called. just as my number was called and i was approaching the counter and a woman rushed in front of me. she tried speaking english to the teller, and the teller just said "no english". so the woman left and i stepped up, took a deep breath and said: granada manana. she started typing away. then i said: ocho. she asked: a las ocho? si. and it was done.

so this morning bright and early, i was up and ready. we arrived at the train station in plenty of time, i went down to my platform and waited. only a couple of minutes late the train rolled up. there was barely anyone on it, and not that many more people got on. i was lucky enough to be standing on the platform directly in front of the car i was assigned to. the seats were very spacious, i didn't have to share my 2 seat section with anyone. as we pulled away from the station a man came around and was handing everyone a little box. like a welcome gift.

i opened it up and inside there were some little headphones. eventually on the tv screens place throughout the car a movie began to play. so i plugged my headphones in and got ready for some entertainment. of course i should have known it would be in spanish, dubbed, it was an english movie though. (not sure what - a grisham one with robert downey jr. and kenneth brannaugh.) instead i opted to listen to some music - there were like 3 music stations - and "rest my eyes".

after a few hours i went to the food car to get something to eat. i picked a ham and cheese sandwich, which seemed like a safe bet. there was something ooky about the cheese, though, so i ended up pulling out the filling and just eating the bread. another movie came on, this one was something with john travolta - not something i recognized - and i didn't even bother to check if it was in english.

arriving in granada i was feeling sufficiently brilliant enough to walk to the area i was headed, instead of taking the bus. simply follow one large road and then turn onto another large road. easy-peasy. well, not so easy-peasy. somehow i got waaaaay lost and ended up off the map from my guidebook. luckily i found a large map in one of the plazas and was able to find my way eventually.

nearly two hours after leaving the train station i finally settled into my room - my *fourth* choice hostel. but it's in a great location, i have my own sink and a balcony that looks out onto the plaza below (though i suppose that means it could be very loud, oh well). i'm off to find some food. hasta manana.