Madrid
We had one day in Madrid. Our arrival was early in the morning, but by the time we got a bus into town then a taxi onto our hotel, time was getting on. I was exhausted and feeling pretty terrible from my cold. Marty was ready to go sightseeing. We reached a compromise. I had a couple of hours to sleep while Marty took care of some emailing and travel details. Once he was done we would join a 3pm bus tour of the city, then walk around a few of the more famous sights before having dinner in a tapas bar. That was exactly what we did. Marty had to wake me from a deep sleep when he came in. I didn't want to get out of bed.
Once we were on the bus tour I found it almost impossible to keep my eyes open. Halfway through they stopped for a coffee break. After a double caffeine hit I was ok for an hour or so before the tiredness swamped me again. The tour operator was busy translating from Spanish to English to French to German. We whisked past grand palaces and mansions, universities, commercial buildings and past the bull fighting stadium. The tour took us basck to our hotel. From there we meandered through cobblestoned streets past buskers playing accordians and glasses filled with water down to one of the city squares. A big marquee was being set up but the show looked a long way off so we went away in search of food. We found a cozy little tapas bar and shared plates of prosciutto and cheese and roasted vegetables with wine and water. Romantic jazz played in the background and the lighting was a romantic golden yellow. We finished and walked on to the palace with winter trees framing the beautiful white lines of the building. Sculptures and statues adorned the parks and street corners everywhere - a photographers dream. At last the early spring cold was too much for me, I was beginning to feel feverish, so we walked back to the hotel.
I started to burn up in a hot fever but still managed to sleep well. Marty battled with the hotel heating system but in the end we slept with a window open to cool things down a bit. In the morning the fever had broken though I felt quite weak and tired. We caught a subway out to the airport, then were put on a bus to another terminal. From there we checked in then caught another train back to the boarding gate. We caught our plane to Heathrow with relief.
