A Bullet Ride to Barcelona!

The Madrid train station is huge and has a series of platforms, on two levels.  Coming in, you take the escalator down 3 levels to a really big area that looks a bit like an indoor tropical rainforest,  with palms and trees, it is actually rather well done.

Running round the tropical rainforest is a large area, chokka full of tortoises!  We must have stood and watched them for a good 45 minutes as they made their way up and onto the little rock islands where the sun was shining in from above.

I have discovered that delight and anticipation is the same in any language as all those watching saw tortoises struggle to climb up, struggling, struggling, nearly making it............. but no!  Splash back into the water!  There were several incidences of collective ahhhhh and hahaha and vehement cheering as the tortoises did their thing, completely disinterested in all the people watching.  We gave a commentary in English, while an Asian couple had the same convo next to us and a Spanish man held his child up to see and explained.  It was nice.

I am sure they also said in all those languages, 'that water needs a clean' and 'man there is a shed load of tortoises!'  For those of you learning Spanish, if you ever need the phrase it goes 'Hombre, hay una cargo de tortuous derramadas'

I am nothing if not helpful.