Madrid, Spain

Spain became sort of a love-hate relationship for me....
This was my VERY FIRST time traveling alone. And because of the language barrier and the fact that I had only a small concept of where I was going, it was absolutely terrifying up until I arrived at my friends place in Madrid.

EVERYTHING STOLEN.
I was done studying in Sweden, and now needed to buy a flight home, and the cheapest one was actually a flight from Madrid to Miami, so without much thought, I booked it. Little did I know that bringing all 6-months worth of my luggage to Spain would be the dumbest decision I could have made.
I had to take a flight to Barcelona, Spain, then a 7-hour bus ride to Madrid, Spain, where a mutual friend of mine was letting me crash at her flat for 3 days. Sounds easy enough, right? Wrong. I had a suitcase on wheels that weighed about 180 lbs, a 40 lbs duffel bag that I lugged around on my shoulder, my computer case that had all my electronics in it, and my boho style shoulder bag with my passport, cash, and credit cards (which I kept in front of me on my person at ALL times). Needless to say, I was completely sore for about 2 days. So when I was in the Puerta Del Sol, waiting for my bus departure to Madrid, I wanted to contact my friend Vicky from a payphone to tell her when to expect me and meet me when I arrive. So I turned to tourist information desk, which the employee did NOT speak English! I was completely amazed at how useless he was. And as I was trying my best to translate, Perdon senor, donde esta el telefono....? I had my hand reached out behind me holding onto the handle of my luggage. Once I finally was pointed into a direction and wheeled my luggage to the nearest payphone, I then panicked. my ENTIRE laptop case was gone. These Spaniards are seriously ninjas. I did not even feel anything, and within seconds my laptop, blackberry, flipcam, and webcam were all taken from me. So instead of reporting anything because my bus was leaving within the next 20 minutes by this time, and also there was not a single security guard on duty, I just sat on the bus and cried until I fell asleep on the 7 hour bus ride to Madrid.


FRIENDLY TRAVEL TIP: Do not travel with a bag you physically cannot lift and carry, invest in a carry on with wheels so you dont break your back finding your destination, and most importantly, always keep ALL your belongings not only on you, but in FRONT of you, so your eyes are on it the entire time.

Dinner with my host Vicky, who took us to a local tapas joint where we enjoyed a generous amount of  Chirizo (spanish sausage) and Sangrias.