First day with a flight in it

Wednesday 8 May is a milestone because it marks the (slow) start of my journey home - today I fly to Madrid, where I'll have just over 24 hours before I start the long haul tomorrow afternoon. It's odd to be at this point, time has felt very stretchy, but I'm feeling balanced about it all. I have had a wonderful time in Spain. I am having a wonderful time in Portugal. I am excited to return to my wonderful life in Tasmania. It's bloody rosy wherever you look!

Between quite a lot of metro trips (five transfers) and the flight, not a lot else happened today to be frank. I got a calamari sandwich that I'd believe was the best in Madrid, and I worked out the takeaway window saving me a very long time in the table queue. I wandered as per. I reckon if I'd come to Madrid straight from Camino I'd have fainted, it's so busy. I'm glad I had Portugal as a warm up.

It is nice to be back with Spanish though, I was feeling really dumb with Portugese it's such a tough language. I was even helpful to my dorm mates - unbelievably the thing I needed to tell them (she'd left her room card behind on the top bunk) involved some of my most commonly used words, the only way it could have been more perfectly suited was if she'd also forgotten a small coffee with milk.

Real Madrid is playing Bayern Munich tonight in the semi final of the European Cup and the city lets you know about that quite quickly - chants keep breaking out and those glorified traffic wardens are back, nursing their guns. I entertained notions of going somewhere rowdy to watch it but everything caught up with me at 6pm and I had a nap and continually refreshed the score at the rooftop bar instead. This was on a lag from the screams from surrounding buildings, but it did help clarify them.Read more