Watch out for Pick Pockets

After making a fool of myself on the train from Paris to Madrid by opposing the ticket inspector after he wanted to keep my passport overnight we finally made it to Madrid an hour late. It was not until the kind English speaking gentelman sitting beside, told me that he would collect everyone's passports, that I settled back into my seat red faced under the bemused glare from the rest of the carriage.
Once negotiating the Metro with the help of a lovely old lady who persisted with this lost Kiwi by speaking Spainish a million miles an hour and dragging him by the hand to the entrance of the Metro, I found a hostel to stay at.

Much to my horror there was a football game in town and no accommodation to be had anywhere, infact the hostel already had people sleeping in the common room and kitchen. However I think I must have drunk enough Guinness in Dublin to still have the luck of the Irish as a room came free while I was using the internet.

While cooking up my 60 euro cent pasta I met three Canadian girls Laura, Lauren and Kristen and a couple of Australians, Adam and Anna. After a quick round of drinking games it was off to the metro to go Flamingo dancing. As we walked down the stairs the call went out "has some one got the address ........." yes at least half of us replied. Soooo after half an hour walking around Madird trying to find the dancing without an address it was into the first bar we came across for Tapas and 1,30€ Cerveza.

Next morning I bumped into Laura and Lauren so it was off to the El Rastro which is a huge flea market stretching at least 1km and branching off into the side streets also. Dave's key buy was Ipod speakers.

During the Day Laura had been telling me how she had been pick pocketed the previous Friday and what a hassle it was to get her credit cards sent to hostels futher along on her trip. Long story short, we get back to the hostel only to find that Lauren's wallet and passport had also been stolen. When we went to the pub where we were the night before we where told: " you are in Madrid, what do you expect!"

I have just got an email from these girls, it looks like the pick pockets just about got the Canadian hatrick, Kristen discovered a man with his hand in her handbag on the Metro and Adam also lost his wallet that night.

Madrid turned out to be okay, a very modern city. I am now off to Lisbon on the night train, wallet in tack.