'home'.

Madrid in 0.5 + 3 + 0.5 days. Dirty, cramped Charles de Gaulle airport. Frisked after setting off the metal detector. I've learnt to pack light. Beautiful, clean spacous Madrid airport. A friendly face; smoking while waiting to meet me at the gate. A clean(er), cheaper metro than Paris. An apartment with a room and a bed just for me. Dirty dishes (bliss). Spain is poor(er), often ugly and run down: graffiti everywhere and the bright warm sunshine illuminates it. A small English bookshop/bar. Tapas for dinner - blood sausage and for dessert: cheese with raspberry sauce. Back to the apartment - supermarket red wine & a film: Death at a Funeral. Talk of religion results in the gift of a hardback.

Up early, the best shower I've had in years - real water pressure and even standing up straight. Hours walking the city: a protest, a speech, a march; plazas, statues, churches, a crypt; red buildings, yellow buildings, pink buildings, painted buildings. Spanish time is all off kilter: lunch at 3pm. A whole chicken, a chorizo, beer & blue cheese to put hair on your chest. A park, a siesta, a calipo. More walking, more beer, more tapas. Spanish time is all off kilter: dinner at 10pm. A giant mound of seafood: prawns, more prawns, crabs, 'turtle toes', flaming firewater, a yellow digestif. Back to the bookshop-bar, a quiz. We won! I can finally forget who played 'Walk the Dinosaur' - it has served its purpose.





















Spanish time: up late, churros & chocolate for breakfast, fresh squeezed orange juice, the best coffee for years. A shopping expedition - Spain shows off it's colourful fashions and bargain prices but no luck. A pocket picked and the afternoon is abandoned. I siesta and eat chips/crisps for lunch at 5 - 'peasant' flavour, ham flavour. A barbecue on a balcony: Australians, Americans, Spaniards and a lone Liverpudlian; sausages, steak, salad, sauce.





















Normal time: up early. More perfect coffee - homemade tomato sauce on toast, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper all on the table. Giant flea markets, millions of people. A new handbag for 2 euros and a lot of stripes. More perfect coffee, and some grape juice. A picture in front of the bear. Back to the airport, a 'vegetal' sandwich of eggs and cheese. Frisked again. Duty free perfume, a late plane, a bus right to my door cheaper than the train. Postcards on the way.