Yesterday I accompanied my friend Terrence to the train station. He is leaving Friday to visit family friends in northern Spain, and only has 45 minutes between the end of class and when the train leaves. So, being the smart, plan-ahead type he is, he decided to do a practice round to get all the kinks out for the big day. At first, the line we were on (Linea 10, light blue) was moving unusually slow. So far, my experience with the metro had been extremely pleasant. It still got us there on time though! I suppose I should have had a little more patience and assurance in the system. It turned out that it only takes about 20 minutes to get from school to the train station, which will give him lots of cushion time before the train leaves.
Chamartín is the metro stop where the train station is conveniently located, and it is by far the most impressive station I have yet seen. As soon as you disembark from the train, you are immediately overtaken by an entire wall of a mechanically-created, blue and transparent waterfall. The walls are freshly painted and extremely clean--maybe even cleaner than my bedroom at any given point in time. The signs were easy to read (even though I didn't know what many of the words meant, it is a wonder what universal signs for food and bathrooms can do for a traveler!) Some important words to know, though:
andén: platform (for example, on the metro)
línea: the metro line
Con la dirección: in the direction of
Estación: station
Ave: the "fast," not as cheap train service to and from cities throughout Spain
Overall, I was extremely impressed with how simple it was to get to the train. I'm hoping my experience with Barajas Airport will be just as easy, seeing as I live literally five stops from the airport (and I don't have to do any transfers!) We shall see...
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