Yesterday, Friday, was a tough day. Note to self, Economy Plus bears NO comparison to Business Class and zero sleep happened, in spite of our efforts.

I did manage to catch up on quite a bit of work on the flight to Toronto where we met up with Ken and Cathy for our onward flight to Madrid.

Coming through customs and immigration was a piece of cake. All our luggage even arrived as planned. Then our driver Juan Carlos was there to meet us at the exit holding a sign with two of my favourite words after a long flight “Janice Foerster”.

After a short, and very comfortable ride to the hotel, we were able to check in and go to our rooms. What a relief. After a quick shower and desperate to avoid the possibility of sleep, we headed out into the world of Madrid and a wee wander.

My directional brain was wrong at every turn, even with a map (sleeping I guess). Huge appreciation for Ken who managed to keep us on track. We ended up at Plaza Mayor, so close to the hotel, and yet so easy to miss on the tiny streets going every which way.

We did what everyone else was doing on the square that day, drank sangria in the shade and watched the world go by. It was lovely break and felt like the perfect way to begin a Spanish holiday.

Afterwards, strolled back to the hotel for a rest. And by that I mean that 3 of us rested; I had two zoom calls about budgets.

The wifi in the room was unusable, which means the calls were taken on my phone. My greatest fear was that an exhausted Rick would begin snoring in the background, or a slight shift in my seating position would reveal him snoozing on the bed in his boxers.

Somehow I made it through without any of the above actually happening. I did not put my foot in my mouth, nor did I forget how to do basic math.

While 3 of us were slightly refreshed by naps, I was just happy to have my calls finished. We headed back out looking for something for an early dinner. “Early” really means anything before about 9:00 or 10:00 p.m.

There are restaurants everywhere. The challenge was not finding a place, but rather agreeing on what the right place might be.

We popped into the Mercado San Miguel, which I remembered fondly from my most recent trip to Madrid (2019, pre-COVID). The market was jammed, noisy, and standing room only. Of course it was a Friday night, and there were still a surprising number of tourists about. We eventually agreed it was too much for the first night, but we would at a return at a future time, more rested.

Just beyond Plaza Mayor we found a great little tapas place where we had some Cava and Sangria and a variety of little snacks like croquettes, calamari, grilled vegetables and some paella. It was a lovely meal, lots of variety and not too heavy.

Our walk back to the hotel was slowed by the many open shops that needed to be poked around in, just a tiny bit, to assess their future potential of course. By this time the sky was dark, the lights were on and the streets were filled with throngs of people.

We were all feeling quite desperate for sleep by this time. IRick and I were in bed within minutes. In spite of that, I laid awake for an hour or so before drifting off. I guess that is not surprising given that it was midday back home.

Finally, gratefully, sleep found me. ZZZZZzzzzz.