Well not such a good night sleep. I woke at 620 and did not fall back asleep. I should have just got up but I was living in the fantasy I was going back to sleep. I got us at 815.
Usual start to the day. Make coffee in the room. Take a shower. Get packed. I was done before everyone else.
Last night we stoped at the Supermercado and picked up food for breakfast. Save some time and get everyone fed to keep their moods in line. Very important.
We were all packed up and downstairs by 10am. I went out to the ATM for some taxi money. There are two within walking distance. Hey, great, both ATMs were out of order. I guess the tax driver will have to take us to one. If he wants to get paid. And I think he does.
So here we sit and wait. Taxi just arrived. He takes credit cards. No ATM needed. A fine use of technology. We are on our way to Jerez de Frontera airport. The taxi to the airport was €150. Jesus Christ. No Uber in La Linea so I gotta pay.
We waited around for a little while, not long. Enough time to buy some snacks and then stand in line. The Jerez airport is old and has very few services. Not very attractive and a noticeably lax security screening. I don’t mind, I think the whole TSA thing is complete crap.
Well we managed to get onto our plane. Again, no gangways here. Walk across the tarmac and load from the rear. We were in the back row. This being Iberia airlines, we were not offered food or beverage. Though they did announce new food items on their menu. Thanks. Iberia has only slightly better service than Vueling.
The flight was lousy. Lots of turbulence which went unexplained. I guess passengers don’t need to know. At least we arrived on time.
Emily’s bag did not arrive on time. Hers was fifteen minutes late. Yay Iberia.
My children, both adults I think, needed to be fed right away so we ate at the airport. They go psycho when not fed regularly. Can’t have that, it could affect my loose grip on reality.
We had a 30 min drive to the hostel. It’s part of my daily effort to keep all Spanish taxi drivers in clover. Today a success now at $200 in taxis. We walk to dinner tonight.
Everyone collapsed in a bed when we arrived at the hostel. And btw it is by far the nicest one we have stayed at. By far. Did have the desk clerk fix our AC. Took her fifteen minutes but no matter. It works.
We are gonna head out soon for a walkabout and dinner. Michael has a phone interview and wants us gone. And we all want to be gone. So in a few we be jammin.
So the restaurant I chose for dinner is 2.8 miles away from the hostel. So the three of us left Michael for his call and walked off into Madrid. I must say one thing, this city is clean. Not filthy like Barcelona. Noticeably cleaner. Plus, the stores are nicer too. Since Michael was not with us the girls got to shop on the walk. Michael throws a hissy fit when anyone wants to shop. He is an asshole.
The walk took over an hour, not a surprise. We use our phones to navigate which is somewhat problematic as anyone who has used the navigation can tell you. I would rather use paper but that is so last century. The phone navigation is difficult to follow direction and there can be a lot of back and forth walking. Though it is easier than folding a map.
We managed to get to the restaurant about the time Michael finished and got his Uber. So we all almost sat down in the restaurant at the same time. Funny.
The place was great. Recommended online, one thing the internet is good for. The recommended Sangria was very tasty and worth the two pitchers we had. Best so far on the trip. We all ordered something different and shared. All was very good except for Marika’s gambas. Can’t win em all. We did not order dessert. Owner brought us a piece of cheesecake to share. Then he brought out limoncello, 2 glasses each of Italian and Spanish. I recommend the Spanish heartily.
We decided to Uber back to the hostel. I could have walked but the other three weenies could not handle it.
We all hit the hay directly upon return, amazing how a long walk and a big liquored up meal can exhaust you.