A Day Late/A Dollar Short

Of all the stupid things!! I felt like I was in an episode of I Love Lucy, and I was Lucy!

I don’t enjoy driving in Barcelona, so I usually take a train from Girona when I need to go into town for the day, such as this past week when I went to the hair salon. My appointment was later in the day, so I booked a 6:30 p.m. return. On the homeward-bound train, not too far out of town, I noticed that we were near the coast. I’d never seen that view before, even though I’d made this trip many times. I thought to myself that I must always have been sitting on the opposite side of the train and/or I was involved in my magazine or a word game on my phone and never noticed that we were near the Mediterranean at the beginning of the trip.

It’s only a 35 minute ride, so when it got close to the time of arrival, I noticed (second and MAJOR red flag), that nobody was rustling about getting their luggage down from the rack, putting on coats, pushing toward the door to wait to deboard. I explained that away to myself because I knew the train went on to other destinations after my stop, so I figured everyone in my car must be going farther. Then the time of arrival came and went. The train had departed on time, so this was not right. I finally swallowed my pride and asked the gentleman next to me, “where is this train going?” WRONG answer: Madrid.

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! So I had a four hour train ride to Madrid. Arrival time at around 9:00 p.m. was too late for a train back to Girona. I had to buy a train ticket for the next day and find a hotel room for that night. Damn it! And the worst thing was that the dogs were shut up in the house alone! Luckily, I’d given my neighbor a key to my apartment after I locked myself out twice and he had to climb over a couple of balconies to let me back into my place.

I arrived too late and shaken to really enjoy anything about being in Madrid. Several of my first options for a hotel were booked, so I wound up staying at a kind of hip, sort of expensive place – the kind that provides terry-cloth robes and slippers and your name on the TV when you arrive. The next morning, though, I had time to stroll along the Paseo del Prado past the Prado Museum and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum and the gorgeous old former post office at Plaza de Cibeles.

When I got onto the train to come back, the man next to me asked where the train was going – he just wanted to check. I guess it happens!!

This was just a minor and somewhat expensive hiccup. I’ll be more careful in the future.

And I had another unbelievable sunrise last week. Sorry I keep posting these sunrise shots, but I can’t help it! They’re amazing. This one looked like a volcano erupting. This is from my bedroom window. No filter applied.