Travel blues

I've been in a somber mood all day. Not ready to leave Europa.

I got to the Lisboa airport two hours early only to find out that the flight was delayed three hours due to mechanical difficulties. Turns out they had to fly in a new plane from some other country.

Flight time to Madrid was only 55 minutes. Met a girl from Budapest in the food court and we kind of hung out during the wait. Was nice. She was here visiting friends that go to the University of Coimbra specifically for the eight days of festivities of the Queima das Fitas.

After we landed in Madrid I hopped on 3 different metro lines to get to the Way Hostel. With all these hostels I've stayed at (Los Amigos Sol Backpackers Hostel, MuchoMadrid, Mad Hostel, Paraiso Travellers Hostel, Mediterranean Youth Hostel, White Nest Hostel, Sevilla Urbany Hostel, Shangri-Lagos Hostel, Yes! Hostel, Way Hostel), another deep-thought I've been having is what I would name a hostel if I owned one.

As soon as I dropped my stuff in the Picasso room I headed straight to the Tierra shop to buy an earthy necklace that I've been thinking about for 3 weeks. Once I did that I wandered through the Plaza Mayor to a Café & Té chain for a vitamin rich smoothie. It was delicious. I then wandered into the Mercado de San Miguel for some over-priced yet scrumptious little tapas. I had a brie cheese with peppers on toast tapa, and a goat cheese & apples on toast tapa. Satisfied with those and my smoothie for dinner, on the way out I saw a croquette stand and so I thought I should check the types they had. Sure enough they had two veggie ones. Finally! Blue cheese and spinach. I got both. Yum.

I've decided that I love having my last night in the same city where I started. When booking this trip and my Italy trip it felt nonsensical to backtrack to my starting point to fly out. But turns out I love it. It's nice to reminisce on my time in Madrid, see some of the sites that I saw (what feels like) so long ago, and to just be in a place where I kind of know where I am when wandering around. I could easily live in Madrid. A very special city.

And while an overnight connection on the way home is generally no bueno, the fact that my cousin Sarah and family live in Dallas is, just well, perfect! Am excited to eat some Mexican and finally get my rice & beans fill.

The guy behind the desk just told me about the Pub Crawl tonight. I laughed. No way Way Hostel. Am going to pop some NyQuil and head to bed shortly. My body still aches from Lisboa and my throat and ears wouldn't let me sleep at all last night. Am hopeful that the 3 freshly squeezed OJs and that smoothie I had today will help a little.

España & Portugal - Te amo. Até a próxima!