A Madrid

Left the hostel today and took the train to Madrid - the last stop (pics from train below). Can't believe the trip is almost coming to an end. Did a lot of reflecting on the train. It's funny how different of a perspective people have on travel in Europe. Traveling on your own, hosteling, couch surfing, it's all part of the norm. One person asked me how else would a young person do it when I said people back home were surprised I was traveling this way. It's been such an expanding, eye opening experience for me. Funny though, I recently heard that 80% of your lived experience is from information that already exists in your mind, and the rest is up to external events. So I can claim that I created 80% of what I got out of this trip. Seems like a lot, but I believe it. If you want to hear, you listen, if you want to learn, you pay attention.
The lady I'm staying with in Madrid is a super hippy, India-loving person, so we got along immediately. We had a nice long chat using broken English and Spanish over a vegetarian Indian dinner. I like this place already. And her cats have crazy light blue eyes (attached).