Day 8 - Trains

20 December 2021

Slept 13 hours last night. Feel good this morning.

We are meeting a friend in Logroño tomorrow afternoon.

We don’t run a schedule. No real plans. No destinations. Day to day. 

When you make an arrangement you suddenly have an itinerary. Obligation. That is OK, but not ideal. I like the freedom of no plans.

Out of the fog will be nice. Feel rushed.

Breakfast at Cafeteria JAUME I. Not bad. Not great. Eggs on a roll. Something Sweet. Coffee.

Late checkout. Train leaves at 3.35 pm. Arrives around 6.00 pm.

Lleida Pirineus. Train station. 2.30 pm. Our train departs at 5.48 pm. Not 3.35 pm. Lost in translation.

“It ought to be plain how little you gain

by getting excited and vexed.

You'll always be late for the previous train,

and always on time for the next.” ― Piet Hein

Secure tickets. Wait. Eat three kebabs from across the street. Harass ticket lady because the train does not show a platform. She is patient. For the first six times. I read the room. Cease harassment.

As promised. 20 minutes before train arrival, platform announced.

Helped on by a train employee. He patiently guides us the entire way.

Relaxed journey. Read a book for the first time in two weeks. Le Carré. Tinkler Tailor Soldier Spy. Nice change.

Arrive in Zaragoza. 8.00 pm. Purchase tomorrow’s tickets to Logroño.

Walk to our place.

Breathtaking city. The pictures do not do it justice. People everywhere. Lights everywhere. Stunning architecture everywhere.

Wish I had a week here. A month. A year.

Lock up bikes. Dump bags and head out. 9.00 pm.

The cold in Lleida oppressed. The place had a darkness. The people reflected it. Cold can be like that. Zaragoza is the opposite. Alive. Happy. Beautiful. Vibrant. Its people reflected it. The cold felt different.

“This was how it was with travel: one city gives you gifts, another robs you. One gives you the heart’s affections, the other destroys your soul. Cities and countries are as alive, as feeling, as fickle and uncertain as people. Their degrees of love and devotion are as varying as with any human relation. Just as one is good, another is bad.” ― Roman Payne

A place I don’t want to leave. A place I want to return to. Not since Pushkar have I felt about a city like this. Like Zaragoza, we departed Pushkar before we were ready. To keep an appointment.

Hotel at 11.00 pm. No dinner. Zaragoza dreaming.