Today we fly to Madrid and we’re reminded how much we love to takes the trains in Europe. Between getting there early and the hassle of security taking the train is just so much more efficient. Ok, it would have been about the same amount of time overall but far less stress. On the plus side, I picked up some more Saffron at the airport. In the duty free section they had huge hock of Ham hanging for purchase. All I could think of was the old Sophia Loren movie La Mortadella. (Corny movie but cute.) Needless to say, we didn’t get one. By the time we collect our bags and get a cab to our hotel we’re beat. As it turns out, Ryan was starting to come down with a cold and not feeling his best. Usually we can find somewhere nearby but we really hadn’t had time to do any recon so we just ate at the restaurant downstairs. Not bad but not great either. We should have known better when they said it would take 25 minutes to make my risotto. Of course it does, and since when do you get served any faster in Spain anyways? Basically, it worked because we didn’t go far and we were all getting tired.
At this point in the trip, we all agreed we could have gone home but figures it better to do Madrid rather than make a separate trip for it. with 20/20 hindsight, I'm glad we did as I can't imagine being close enough any other time to make it a convenient side trip.