Travel Log
Posts Tagged ‘hostel’
I arrived in Madrid at Estación de Chamartin almost exactly on time. Trains so far have been very punctual for both local and long-distance travel. The US airlines could sure learn a few things about scheduling from these folks.
The train station is in the northern part of Madrid and my hostel (MAD Hostel) was in city center. The trip into town was easily accomplished by metro with only one line change. Coming up out of the metro station I pulled out my trusty directions and the required city map I’m ready to head off for the hostel. I’ve started collecting a city map from each Tourist Information office before ever leaving the train station. Unfortunately, the streets around the metro station were nothing like what I saw around me. Okay, now what? Just start walking is my usual method of figuring out where I am. I’ve discovered that there are so any small streets in the historic sections of town that the tourist maps only depict about one out of every six of them. That, coupled with a distinct lack of street signs, can make navigation a challenge. This particular adventure was quickly solved. After wandering down the street for a couple of hundred yards I came upon another entrance to the same station. Ooooops… I exited the station at the wrong place. After locating the correct exit it was easy to follow my directions the 8 blocks to the hostel.
After a miserably hot train ride from Nice to Lyon, my friend Hayden from Montreal Canada, who I met in Nice, and I arrived at the HI Hostel in Lyon late in the afternoon. The hostel is a bit of a trek from the train station but it was well worth it. From the Metro we took the funicular (a type of cable car for going up very steep hills) up to a point a little bit above the hostel. We agreed that walking downhill is always preferable to climbing upward. The hostel had an absolutely awesome view out over old Lyon (View Lyon). There was a terraced area behind the bar with tables and chairs that had the best view of anyplace I have stayed so far.
Glorious Paris
Paris, wow…
I have to admit that Paris is one of the few cities so far that not only lives up to its reputation but also exceeds it by a large margin. Paris is an incredible city with something new and wonderful around every corner. I was in Paris for eight days and it wasn’t nearly enough. There is so much to see there that I could have spent my entire 90 days in Paris and still not see everything.
