Madrid

I got up very early this morning, and to my dismay, had to walk through a torrential downpour to get to the train station. The train was decent, and had a cafe on board, which was a nice touch. Fifteen minutes after leaving the train stopped for fifteen minutes due to ´water´ on the tracks. We finally got going, although the train was painfully slow. When it reached an electrified line it did speed up, and I arrived in Madrid at 2:30. The Atocha train station is impressive, as it contains a small tropical forest. I took the metro and arrived at my hostel, where I was informed that I had been moved to a second branch. I found the second branch with no problem, but there was no sign on the building, and so I did not know which buzzer to press. Thankfully a resident of the building showed up and told me where to go. The hostel is new, and interestingly enough is nearly empty. I have a four bed room to myself. Apparently Madird does not get the volume of tourists that the south gets at this time of year. As the museums are closed on Monday, I went to the Palacio Real to enjoy the short part of the day I had left. It is a typical European palace, but has a couple of particularly garish rooms, including one with walls made entirely of porcelain. Afterwards I went to the store to buy some socks. Everything is on sale here for the entire month of January.