Madrid - Stop 2 in Spain
The trip to Madrid started with an early start to get to the train station on time. Just before the sceduled 10am start, people lined up to get on the train. It would be a few minutes more before we got underway. The train actually pulled out of the station around 10:15.
The ride - this was the High Speed Train between Barcelona and Madrid. Not really knowing how far we would be going, I didn't think too much about it. There was a display in the front of the car which, at times, indicated a speed just under 300km/h. It really didn't look like we were moving that fast. Even with several stops, we covered the around 600 km between Barcelona and Madrid in around 3 hours.
Madrid itself is a beautiful old city. Within two blocks of my hotel was a city square with restaurants and plenty of activity. I ate a late lunch and walked around a bit.
After a good nights sleep, I got up and walked around 5 blocks to a larger city square, again with lots going on. This square also has stops for both routes of the HOHO bus. One route is to Old Madrid, and the other to New Madrid. I rode both and got a really good overview of the city. A little more walking around, then back to the hotel due to an earlier day tomorrow than yesterday.
The trip to Madrid started with an early start to get to the train station on time. Just before the sceduled 10am start, people lined up to get on the train. It would be a few minutes more before we got underway. The train actually pulled out of the station around 10:15.
The ride - this was the High Speed Train between Barcelona and Madrid. Not really knowing how far we would be going, I didn't think too much about it. There was a display in the front of the car which, at times, indicated a speed just under 300km/h. It really didn't look like we were moving that fast. Even with several stops, we covered the around 600 km between Barcelona and Madrid in around 3 hours.
Madrid itself is a beautiful old city. Within two blocks of my hotel was a city square with restaurants and plenty of activity. I ate a late lunch and walked around a bit.
After a good nights sleep, I got up and walked around 5 blocks to a larger city square, again with lots going on. This square also has stops for both routes of the HOHO bus. One route is to Old Madrid, and the other to New Madrid. I rode both and got a really good overview of the city. A little more walking around, then back to the hotel due to an earlier day tomorrow than yesterday.