First off, I'M BACK! Finally in a place with functional internet, though I don't think my family will be happy to see me using it so I'll have to do everything in a really rushed way. Now I'm super far behind, especially on all your thoughts and adventures, but I've been filming every day.
So I'll take you back in time to my journal of when we left Madrid and headed north to Asturias.
We packed up, said goodbye to our Madrileño apartment, and walked downhill to the Atocha train station. It has a beautiful forested atrium but is confusing to navigate. I had to ask for directions three times to find the rental car offices.
Our rental car is a cute, albeit scratched-up, Skoda Spaceback. How cool is that name?
I was able to find rental cars for around 250 € a month, which would have been 2 € per person per day. However, my dad wanted to go with Hertz and automatic transmission so this rental costs a lot more. Because of this, my dad says that he’s paying for it, and I don’t know the final price, so I will just be estimating it at $5 USD per person per day.
I navigated while my dad drove. On the way north out of the city, we passed a race track with packed grandstands where they were racing semi-trucks of all things.
We stopped in the small town of El Molar outside of Madrid. It looked like most people were enjoying a drink in the plaza outside the bar, but there was no food in sight even though it was still lunchtime at 3pm. We found a pizzeria and ordered a large cheese pizza. Even with two men complaining of hunger, we could barely finish it!
Spain’s highway system is fantastic, with smooth and easily navigable roads. I can see why it’s so popular for road trips. We spent our time trying to figure out all the new road signs and icons. Most were self-explanatory, but we had a few questions. Like, why do they tell you every time a factory/industrial area is coming up?
But the most pressing question was: Where do you go poop on long road trips?
In the United States, there are rest areas with toilets every so often, and we saw signs for “Areas de Descanso”. The icon looked either like a guy sitting at a bench or a guy sitting on a toilet using a newspaper. But when we pulled off, we found out that it was indeed only benches with no restrooms. There was just a ditch that people peed into. I suppose you just have to buy something at a gas station to use the toilet - not too crazy.
The yellow rolling hills gave way to green rolling hills. Then the ocean appeared, sparkling blue under the sun.
Finally, after four hours of driving, we rolled into Asturias and found our new home for the next 10 days, an apartment on the outskirts of Llanes.
Sonia showed us around the place. She doesn’t speak any English (“I’m a one-language person, and I plan to stay that way!”) I got my first big test in the role of translator as she spilled out a bunch of house rules and warnings about the water heater and flies.
Since all supermarkets are closed on Sunday, we had a light dinner on the terrace, talking well into the night. The sun set behind the mountains and fields of grazing cows. I think I can get used to this. :)
My Expenditures
Lodging: $14.66
Transportation: $5.00
Food: $2.95
Entertainment: $0
Total: $22.61
I don't know how I'm going to manage catching up with posts. Nash is already telling me off for being on my computer and my dad just told me to get off again... And they're right, it's beautiful outside right now! I'll see you around, Steemit.
- Katie, @therovingreader