Hope you are feeling better CT.

HowardR:

Your standard comment (definitely unsubstantial and worthless) whenever you don't like the original poster's query or report is getting tiresome.

I guess when I started reading your story about being "scammed" at a restaurant, I'm thinking of someone being charged twice for their order, or being charged for something they never got. But being required to pay a 1 euro "cover or bread charge" for some breaksticks, hardly sounds like a "scam" to me. Nor does being charged over 3 euro for a coke in a sit down restaurant. Sounds fairly average in most of Europe to me!

I had the same reaction as Patrick and always find that bread charge is such an issue with many. I have noticed that wine lovers rarely complain about, France, Italy and Spain. It probably cost as much to serve coke as it does a red wine in these countries. Especially if you want ice in the glass.

HELLO. Apathetic hypocrites you should, LIKE, let the poster have its "fun". NOT!! And most of you aren't even, like, effluent in Spanish, like, after living 5 years in South America.

You should have done your homework before leaving the United States.In Europe there are many different things from the U.S. Don't come to Portugal then because the bread they put on the table is always charged if you eat it. If you don't eat it, they won't charge it. Just leave it or say you don't want it. That's not a scam! Your post is a joke.

Oh, yawning, I guess that's your payback to me for my daring to make light of your American Idol posting with a similar comment.
I'll match the quality of my total contributions to the forums to yours anytime.

"effluent in Spanish"...that's a good one.

It sounds to me like ctheworld had a collection of negative and unexpected and disappointing experiences, combined with the climate and who knows maybe even the terrorist attack last week that really put a damper on things. I find this type of report helpful, because it reminds me to be on guard to set some positive experiences in motion, should I happen to have some bad ones. I've also seen other reports here also where it seems like minor disappointments just snowball and end up ruining the trip. ctheworld, thanks for posting your report.

ctheworld

I take it that given my ineptitude at conveying sympathy and a pep talk, that you will not be renewing my contract as your therapist. :) If you think I'm clumsy with words, you should see me with a paint brush.

However, in my defense, I would say that not only are most people here vigilant (i.e concerned and attentive) about their budget, they take being so as a point of pride, their means of ensuring that they can travel more often. However, at times watching expenditures can be tiresome and even out of one's control from time to time, which is why everyone needs some portion of their budget for mistakes and crummy experiences.

Second ira - I hope you're feeling better. Bon Voyage (or whatever that is in Spanish.)

Ummm... maybe since you were sick this was NOT the weekend to go away.

Attitude is 99% of everything and yours appears to have been bad.

Let's see I have been billed for bread in Paris and paid that much for cokes there so I don't think Madrid has a lock on that and I would NOT call it a scam.

I think "ctheworld" is just another one of our run of the mill, not so clever, Trolls.
With especially Bad timing if you ask me.

Good riddance, as I see the name has been de-registered.

ctheworld--I know your account has been deleted, but I will reply to you anyway in case you are still reading this, or in case anyone else can benefit from what I have to say. I have had all of the same experiences you mentioned, only in different parts of the world. I've been charged for breadsticks I didn't want or order, I've been overcharged for Coke and other drinks, and I've been robbed, although nothing of any real value was taken. All of these things were upsetting at the time, especially being robbed. But after I had a chance to think about it, I realized that I learned valuable lessons from these incidents. Now when they bring breadsticks, I send them back (unless I do want them.) I look at the price of drinks before ordering. Most importantly, I learned not to leave anything in the car that's visible from the outside, unless you want to find a busted glass with your stuff gone.

I do not go around bashing the cities where I learned these important lessons. I am now a much more savvy traveller and a wiser person for what I have learned. None of these experiences, even being robbed, ruined any of my trips. Please take with you this knowledge you gained in Madrid and your next trip will go more smoothly. Your luck could have been much worse.

ctheworld, I don't think you are a troll. You had a bad experience in Madrid, and you obviously wanted to get it off your chest! I, for one, have no intentions to ever go to Madrid. I have heard about so many "mugging" reports there (and other parts of Spain) that I wouldn't go on a bet. I will stick to France, England, Switzerland and points north of Spain. Besides, where I live I hear enough Spanish in a day to last a lifetime.

I want to say that this thread was entertaining, but I have to agree with those who say this is a troll.
The OP claims to have gone to a country that has just seen the worst terrorist attack in their history, but doesn't refer to it at all. You mean to tell me, there are no signs in Madrid at all about what just happened there?
...really in poor taste...

I, for one, have just come back from Madrid last night, and I must say, although I did find it kinda boring, it was interesting in it's own way. I am a born and bred NYer, so I am always on my toes, and was fortunate not to be robbed; don't speak a stitch of Spanish, and was fortunate not to get ripped off on anything I purchased; and since I work for a museum, had no desire to go to a museum, instead, enjoyed walking around everywhere, and had a good time of it. Only complaint? Don't walk into the high end stores around Salamanca, they treat you crappy. My friend and I were able to find paella for 1 near Sol (since she was having paella, and I wasn't). Sounds like you just had a string of bad luck. Hope you decide to give Madrid another chance in your life. I, for one, found it boring initially, but then met up with my friends from Madrid and found it fun and exciting.

To the people who didnot like spain because they found madrid boring etc., are you aware that there is much more to spain then madrid. ie: el escorial, granada, toledo, cordoba I FINDSEVILLA etc. etc.. this is like saying the U.S. is not worth visiting because i didnot like D.C. i find your reasoning somewhat perplexing.

sorry my typing skills are terrible.

It's really not WHAT "ctheworld" said, it's HOW she said it.

Folks, ctheworld, was putting you on. It had time waiting for a flight and decided to tease you. I use "it" rather than a gender because I couldn't find any indication of such and certainly having a boyfriend is no longer an indication.

Look at some of the deliberately provocative statements:

"don't know what I was thinking booking a trip to Madrid(just wanted to see the world), when I didn't really have anything to see here."

"I know about what art is displayed in each museums, what does that have to do with anything?"

"I didn't enjoy too much of the religious Italian and Spanish art."

"The "Guernica" was interesting.
The rest of the Museum was not appealing to me."

"I hopped over from Paris for a short weekend." followed later by
"And everywhere else in Europe, they DIDN'T charge me for the bread. It's always free in the U.S."

"before my flight out to Amsterdam."

I can hardly wait.