Upon reaching Madrid at 8:35 am, Friday morning, the next challenge was to locate the Renfe (train) vending machine that will issue a complimentary shuttle train ticket called “Combinado Cercanias” that will take you from Madrid Barajas airport to the main train terminal at Chamartin. This machine can be found only in terminal 4 of the Barajas Madrid Airport where the shuttle train can be accessed. My pre-purchased speed train ticket from Madrid to Leon has a 5 letter code or a QR scan code that, when entered into the machine, will issue out this “Combinado Cercanias”.
With this ticket, I then took the complimentary shuttle train from the airport to the Main Chamartin train station. The shuttle train is the best practical option since it cuts across downtown and avoids Madrid traffic.
At the Chamartin train station, it took five hours wait before I could board the train from Madrid to Leon. Then it took about 2-1/2 hours train ride to Leon.
Leon is fascinating city full of life. There were people all over the plaza interacting in harmony despite the fact that life is hard and income is less. I was looking for a heavy dinner but when I look around at the plaza, I never saw anyone gorging on any plateful of meal like I see in the US. They were mostly eating toast or thin pizza slice and/or small plate size dish called “tapas” or none at all, except perhaps vino (wine) in most tables. It is as if they learned how to eat less (as compared to the abundance of single servings in the US) yet you do not see any emaciated look amongst the population … Full of beautiful cheerful people.