Espana - el malo

In my last post, I talked about some of the highlights of my trip to Spain. Up next, the lowlights!

Crime
Even before my trip to Spain, I had heard lots of negative things about the security in Spain. A lot of guidebooks mention areas where you shouldn't travel. Similarly, my friend who went there for his honeymoon felt that the impression he got was that people were always scoping him out for a score.

However, the issue was thrust dramatically into the spotlight when, on the very first day that we were in Madrid, I almost had my wallet pickpocketed! While I wish I could say that I was very clever and that the theft was only prevented by my sheer brilliance and quickness of mind - the truth is much more pedestrian. The reality was that I got lucky.

What happened was thus...

The missus and I had just arrived in Spain and were on the way to the hotel from the airport. Rather than taking a cab (which would have been prohibitively expensive), we decided to take the metro as our hotel was within 5 minutes walk of the underground station anyway.

In many ways, the metro in Madrid is similar to the London underground system. There are a plethora of different colored lines and to change lines, you need to wander around for 5 mins walking up and down stairs. Considering that I had to carry the suitcase during this process, you can imagine that I was pretty tired. In short, a prime candidate for an agile thief.

Anyway, we had just hit an interchange point and had wandered over to the platform for the next train. As the train arrived, I grab the exceedingly large suitcase that we used and bundled it onto the train. Except that the bitch lady in front of me stops in the doorway just after getting into the train. I naturally bump straight into her.

At this point, I am inside the train - but only just. I put down the suitcase and for some unknown and unexplained reason swing my arms around. Not in a very dramatic manner but just very slightly. And just enough to bump into another arm right next to my trouser pocket. Next to my trouser pocket?? wtf!?!?

I immediately turn my head and see the bitch lady run off. As she runs off, the lady in front of me also gets off the train. By this time, I finally realised what was happening and check my trouser pocket. Luckily my wallet was still there so I just stand and watch them run off.

As I said - I was lucky.

Not exactly a good start to the holiday though...

Cost
I can't believe how expensive things in Spain are. Granted, London is probably more expensive. However, I'm coming at this from a Hong Kong perspective.

That nice paella I talked about in my last post? Equivalent to HK$480. After factoring in the cost of water and bread, the meal came closer to HK$600 (we didn't order any starters or any dessert). Criminey! This was for just a reasonable looking restaurant (ie not at a nice fancy restaurant). At the price I paid, I could get a 3 course meal at a nice restaurant in HK!

Weather
In my last post, I talked about how good the weather was. Or rather, to be more specific, how good the weather was in Madrid.

You see, while the weather in Madrid was brilliant, the weather during our side trips (ie in Toledo, Segovia and Sevilla) was less so. The problem was that the temperature was a bit too hot which makes it extremely hard to wander around these small towns and really appreciate the culture and architecture there. All you end up doing is leaving a trail of sweat showing the various tourist traps you were at.

This problem was especially bad during our two nights stay in Sevilla where, even at 9:00pm at night, the temperature was so hot that it felt stifling. This meant that even when we tried to have our tapas at night (which is something we did and highly enjoyed in Madrid), we were never able to really kick back and enjoy the meal as the heat was just too oppressive. Which is a shame as this would have been the perfect way to relax after a day of abuse from the Sun.

Conclusion
Despite the above, I really did enjoy myself in Spain. Although I'm not sure when, or even if, I would go back, its a place that I would very much recommend to people if you have never been. Just remember to take lots of cash with you.