I arrived in Madrid on the August 18th, 2011—the day after the pope.
From the second I boarded the metro to head into the city, I regretted my decision. There were so many people on the metro that I could barely breath! When we got to my stop, I was nowhere near the metro door and I politely asked, in Spanish, if someone could open it for me. My response? “No.”
So after the Catholic mobs finally decided to open the doors, two stops further than where I wanted to be, I decided I would walk to my hostel. Even that seemed like a bad idea though; the streets were clogged with so many people that it was hard to read the street signs or even find a good place to stop and consult a map.
Photo: Plaza de España
My second hostel experience was much more sanitary. The price? It was much harder to meet people. In fact, the only two people I met during my stay were the two guys I shared my room with, a German and an Australian. Having previously stayed in an all girls room, it was quite a shock to me when they burst into the room as I was changing! I’d forgotten it was a mixed gender dorm!
Photo: Plaza de España
I had dinner that night with the German, who was equally annoyed by the masses of Catholics there for the pope. Then, in my best attempt to escape the craze, I spent the next day in Toledo.
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