Madrid, Spain: ole?

The flight from Argentina was supposed to leave 28 hours after its scheduled departure. Nearly 30 hours later it finally took off. Fortunately, I had a bulkhead seat with no one next to me, and I was able to sleep for 7+ hours of the 11+ hours of the flight (this after my half hour nap in the airport). All these time changes and season changes make me unable to tell time anymore. I finally arrived in Madrid one and a half days late, still on April 1. It felt like my luggage was going to arrive on April 2, because, well, someone's luggage has to be near the end of the baggage claim belt, but fortunately, everything worked out. No more Aerolineas! (That is, unless I earned enough frequent flier kilometers to get a free flight somewhere...)

Since I have been to Madrid before, I didn't feel the need to play tourist and do any excursions, leaving really early in the day and getting back around dinnertime or later. So, I was able to take advantage of the little(r) time I had to see the friends I have in Madrid and take it easy. I stayed with my friend Rachel, whom I met several years ago in Sevilla when we both studied abroad there, and though she had to work during the day, we are good at catching up in short time spans, as that is what we have been doing for years. I also hung out with Maria, another of my friends I know from Sevilla who now lives in Madrid (she is from a town called Zafra, in a province called Extremadura). Last time I came to Madrid, she wasn't in town, so it was the first time I'd seen her in four and a half years. Also hung out with some of Rach's friends, including Carlos (a Spanish friend of hers whom I have met on a few occasions), Estrella (her Spanish roommate) and a couple of her friends, and Gerard (an American friend of hers who has spent time living in Paris and who recently met his Spanish half-sister for the first time). (We actually stopped by to pick something up from the half-sister, a flamenco teacher who danced with Al Pacino in The Devil's Advocate ; she was giving a class when we stopped by, so we watched for a few minutes and then walked away feeling a little less confident in our flamenco know-how.)

All in all, a pretty low-key couple of days in Madrid. I'm glad to be back in the swing of civilization and away from Aerolineas, but I do miss the Bahian pace of life.

Tomorrow, I'm going to check out Salamanca, which is a new place for me. We'll see how it works out.

ole?
missy
http://andsmilestogobeforeisleep.blogspot.com/