Timeless Classics

I know the feeling well.. sweaty palms, shortened breath, increased sense of anxiety. Something was off on my travel radar. All of this equipment I´ve never seen, what´s going on? There are luggage checks, security checks, and coach attendants at every entry way, people scrambling to make it onto the train.

M:´What do you mean, NEED a reservation? We have never needed a reservation for this train before.´

´Reservation. Must.´


M:´Why?! Since when?´


´No. You need.´

Ten minutes before the train leaves I am in the back of the Departuras ahora line. At the front the worker was CONVERSATING with a group of people he should have been helping. Not just briefly, either. They were all so jolly and relaxed they were hunched over and laughing. Whose idea of funny is it to put the chatter box as the worker for the departing in less than 5 minutes line. WHY SPAIN, WHY?! For just one day, could you have even a small fire up your ass? If they had a line for train departing in 1 minute, I'd probably be helped in 15. I try my best not to get angry, and I almost always understand the concept of traditions. I can wait in line at the grocery store behind 2 people and reach the front in 20 minutes. I can stand in line at a bakery waiting for a 5 minute conversation to wrap up. But today, now? When I have a night train and a place to stay in Lisbon already lined up and no easy way of cancelling either? Nope.

I´m sure blood vessels were popping, so a man working another line thought he´d be nice and help me. We had the identical conversation as the one above.
M:´Okay, then, 2 reservations, por favor.´

´Oh sorry. All full. No planes. Reservations needed.´


M:´Can we stand instead?´

´No´


M:´What if we buy a reservation and stand?´


´No´

M:´Next train?´

'8:45 p.m. business class only. 78 euro.´

Now it was my turn to say no.

I looked down at my watch. 5:45. Goodbye train to Madrid. Who to complain to?!.. ´hi yes, it seems as though you´ve done that thing again. That thing that always happens. That thing where the rule isn´t enforced until it becomes a necessity, then without notification it becomes the stand by Bible. There until the crisis has cleared and it is no longer an issue; however, no one would know, because it is discretionary and could happen on any day. No, I wouldn´t like to have a coffee over it, or take a nap to settle down.. How is it that the same person who whispered ´you don´t need those (at our reservation tickets)´is now the same person who won´t let us board? You have no set rules! How is it possible to lose this badly?!´


Here´s how the snowball became an avalanche. Many major airports were closed in Spain. This sent the railways into a tizzy, and because their passenger flow probably went up by 2 million percent, they started enforcing the concept of reservations. Erik and I have been riding trains for the last 6 months, we realized reservations weren´t needed around 3 months ago... And just like that! Loyal customers kicked to the curb! All of the people who aren´t Spanish natives and who don´t know when there is a rule to the rule are the first to go.-Maybe that´s why natives get separate tickets from tourists. They have asterisks with detailed instructions for days like these.- Naturally, we didn´t, so that meant us. Eventually, it will become unspoken that reservations are no longer mandatory and so the cycle will continue.


We packed all of our things up, got in the back of two very long ticket lines, exchanged tickets, bought reservations, got on the buss and went back to the hostel, and had an exceptionally hard time getting in contact with our Lisbon hostel.
While I was upset, I wasn´t surprised. In Spain, there is one pace, that´s an ´in the know´slow. You can accommodate it, or you can fight it, but it has been that way for thousands of years and won´t be changing for you or me.