Directions to Platform 0 via Vodafone

I went to Madrid last Saturday.  It was a cold, windy and wet day so the plan was to spend some time indoors; in a museum perhaps, maybe one which I had not yet seen.

When I got on the Metro, I was delighted to see an ad for Metro’s two museums; Anden 0 (Platform 0) & Nave de motores (Pacifico Engine Shed).  That reminded me that I had been wanting to go to Anden 0, an old metro station closed and boarded up in 1966.  To get there, I had to change trains in the Sol station.  But I could not find it on the metro map. 

I finally found it after I realized that the name had been changed.  After over 90 years of existence, the name of the most central and significant station in all of Madrid’s metro system is now called Vodafone Sol!   So, I took a picture of this anomaly with my Movistar-operated phone (NB:  Vodafone and Movistar are competitors).

The entrance to the museum is a rocket-shaped, silver structure instead of a regular metro entrance near the Plaza de Chamberí; actually the station was called Chamberí but the name of the museum is Anden 0; hard to remember, harder to get directions to it without calling it the Museum of the Chamberi Metro Station.  But, once inside, I was pleasantly surprised to find a sign for Sol metro station!  

I remember the tiled metro stations from the 80’s when I first got to Spain.  The trains showed in the museum film were still in use too.  Friends complained to me about the old trains on Line 5 until about 10 years ago.

New trains zoom by the old platform on their way to the newer, remodeled stations.   The new stations now lack the old coziness and the artistry in advertising tiled on the walls.  I feel more comfortable here, despite the leaky ceiling, than in the modernized but style-less metro stations and, from here, I can find my way back to Sol.

Link for Anden 0 (Platform 0) & Nave de motores (Pacifico Engine Shed) - http://www.metromadrid.es/en/viaja_en_metro/anden_0/

Follow me on Twitter @sharonlinapearc
Tiny URL: http://tiny.cc/Platform0