Normally when I arrive at a place in Europe, the first order of business is to make arrangements for my departure to the next place. When I got off the train at Madrid’s Atocha train station I went over to the ticket office and took a number. The line at Atocha is always long and slow, but some reason it was particularly slow that day. After half an hour the counter had hardly advanced and I was still 30 numbers away from getting called, so I decided I would come back later and I left. I walked to my hostel, which was the same one that I had stayed in during the second time in Madrid. To pass the time I did a lot of miscellaneous things like buying groceries and trying a different sandwich at the Museo de Jamon bar. When it was early evening I walked back to Atocha and the line at the ticket office was now much shorter. The next city I was going to was San Sebastian, in the northeast Spain. There was no reason to extend my time in Madrid and I opted for a train that left Charmatin Station at 8:00am. It would mean getting up early, but I could always get more rest on the train ride and leaving early would mean more time in San Sebastian. Back at the hostel I ate a late dinner, though I guess in Spain it would have been a more normal dinner time. I wound up not going to bed until after 2:00am because of how long it took to upload photos to social media and the time I spent writing.
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