I'm getting into the habit now of typing on the commute, and it seems to be going quite well, so it will probably be a habit I'm into travelling with Nick too… although, when you have someone else to talk to I guess you don't need to find as many ways to entertain yourself… lol.

So, as I depart from Spain, it's time to award my favourite place award (for Spain anyways!)… I think in this instance it has to go to Madrid. Cat's was by far the best hostel I stayed in, the people I met there were fantastic, and Madrid just had such an awesome party life… part of me wish I was staying there over the weekend, but I think there'll be another trip there before I come home, so all in good time. I'm also hoping to get to Alex's birthday drinks tonight, and hopefully get some cheap new singlet tops to travel with, so best to be back in London!

Let's do a nice tie off for Spain as well, like I did for South America… so what did I learn…

·Madrid airport - being a girl and crying will get most problems fixed for you

·Barcelona - always check the time on your own ticket

·Valencia - if you have friends staying in a nice hotel with air conditioning where you can't hear all the construction you should take as much advantage as you can!

·La Tomatina - big crowd + tomatoes + lost shoes = great day!

·Palma de Mallorca - always have a written copy of the address of your hotel. Or at least know the name

·Alcudia - buses don't run everywhere on Sundays! (lol)

·Valencia - always carry your passport and credit cards with you when enquiring about a ticket - where possible look really lost so locals take pity on you and are nicer

·Madrid - the best cure for a hangover is Guernica and a sleep in the park

Who gets a special mention?

·Maria and Khaty- I'm so glad that you made it over to Spain!!! Had such a brilliant time with you ladies, and I'm so glad the bags were finally recovered! It was great seeing everything from Picasso to Paella to Playas and Partying with you chicas! Looking forward to seeing you in NYC!

·Troy, Jay, Piper, Craig and Kellie - thanks for letting me gate crash your plans!!! And for listening to my "When I was in South America…" stories! Had a brilliant time with you kids, was just like being back home, and gave me a taste of what London will hopefully be like!

·Raquel - had a great time dancing up a storm with you girl! Looking forward to hopefully making it to Italy with you at the end of Oct!!! Don't forget to download iTunes so we can get you Coffee Break Spanish-ed up!

·Niall - thanks for crazy times in Madrid and for helping me get to Guernica, the park and always back to the hostel. Good luck apartment hunting in Madrid, fingers crossed it comes to pass by Sunday!

Now on to my silly stories! As per every where else in Spain there was a disaster with getting to Madrid… I had a soft copy on my computer, but not a print out copy of my ticket, so decided to head down to the train station to see if they could issue me with another one. The train didn't depart until 4:30pm so by midday I was there trying to sort it out. I took down the train times, and the ticket number that was written on my soft copy. When I got there I was told I needed my passport and credit card I had booked with… so I walked the 15 minutes back to the hostel and collected passport and card, then walked back to the train station… only to be told they couldn't find my seat so I had to go to another counter… who sent me to another counter… who told me my ticket number was wrong, but used my credit card to find the ticket. PHEW! Getting quite lazy by now, and seeing as it was 37 degrees I got a cab to the train station (after having walked back to collect my bags), then waited for the train. I slept most of the way to Madrid anticipating a big night after all of the good things I'd heard from Alex. From the train station I opted to get a cab, which seemed like a great idea until we circled the train station three times, then he asked a police officer for directions… 12.50 Euro later I made it to Cat's Hostel.

The hostel was much more in the spirit of the ones we stayed at in South America, with massive open spaces, and a communal bar area downstairs (Cat's Cave, which is really kind of like a bomb shelter!). As soon as I got to my room I raced to the showers then got ready for some drinks and to make some friends! Surprisingly the bar was quite empty when I got there (forgetting that Spanish life doesn't start til 1am or so!) around 9:30pm, and found a table to chill out at with my BIIIG sangria. Now, let me start by saying that I thought the BIIIG sangria was only 500ml not a litre, AND that I was expecting it to be the same strength as the one at La Tomatina, or the one from the supermarket… which it definitely was not! After some encouragement from Niall (a Scottish boy I met who moved to Madrid for an architecture internship) I made it onto my second BIIIG sangria. Not a good move. From the bar a free tour left which took you to another bar and included a free beer… of course I ended up on that (as did Niall, serving to profit from my lack of interest in beer!!), but only made it through about an hour there before I had to get home… Niall was done as well, so we decided to head back. Let's keep in mind both of us had a fair bit to drink before leaving the hostel, and I had been in Madrid for all of 6 hours by now, and I hadn't been watching where we had come from, but knew it was only a 5 minute walk… which took us about 25 minutes. After asking several locals for directions to the main street the hostel was off, we gave up and got a cab a total of 2 minutes… my first night in Madrid was definitely living up to expectation!!

The only tourist thing that I really wanted to see in Madrid was Guernica, and Niall not having seen it came along, despite both of us being incredibly hung over! Luckily the museum was nearby, I still had to stop a few times for diet coke on the way though! Guernica was absolutely AMAZING - I knew it was big, but had no idea it was so impressive, and there were some photos which documented the progress of it was well, so it was really interesting to see. There were some other brilliant Picasso pieces there, so I feel like I got some culture between there and the Barcelona Picasso museum!

Having done my tourist deed for Madrid it was time for a siesta as the locals do, so we headed up to the park and slept for a few hours in the warm sunshine. In the middle of the park was a big lake (thing) where you could hire row-boats. The thing that was confusing though is that you could sit on a barge which just took you around the circumference of the lake… which would have been more exciting if it wasn't easily walkable, and if you couldn't see from one side to the other quite clearly… maybe if there was an island in the middle, but other than that… lol. The walk back to the hostel was a slow one, which involved stopping for a drink and some dinner (where I ordered chips and managed to get 'crisps' for dinner!!), while gearing up to head back out for my last night in Madrid!

Back at the hostel I tried to ditch Struggle Street and get myself in the mood and decided to stay as far away from the Sangria as possible. My first port of call was to pack (for once not leaving it to the last minute!!) so that I could sleep in as long as possible the next morning… I even laid out my clothes for the next day I was so prepared!!! Hahaha. Down at the bar we met two German guys and once again we were all back on a pub crawl, this one was 15 Euros though and got you entry to two clubs, two shots, then entry to Kapital apparently the biggest night club in Madrid… after the vodkas at the bar, then the caramel vodka shot and a tequila shot, I had little hope of making it to Kapital… probably not too bad a thing though, as it was already 3am, and 8 hours away from checkout!

Being me and loving my sleep as I do (when I manage to get some!) I got up at 10:55, got dressed and checked out of the hostel (not actually making it there til 11:05 though… lol). From there it was down to the Plaza Major for a calamares bocadillo (which did not sit very well with me at all!) which is apparently the local favourite (it's just fresh calamari in a bread roll). I got lazy again, so paid the 30 Euro to get a cab to the airport (a habit I'll not be using too often!!) and managed to check in (with a lot of assistance from a very helpful British Airways steward who could see I had no idea what to do with self check in!!).

In order to end the trip in the same manner as it all started, there was another ALMOST disaster, when I found out I had to get the train to another part of the terminal only 5 minutes before the gate to my flight closed, which was posted as being 25 minutes away. A run through passport control later (thank goodness for the UK passport!!!), up two levels, from one side of the airport to the other, and I made it to the check in desk. Only to sit on a bus for 10 minutes waiting for the last straddlers! I am now on the SMALLEST plane I have ever been on (only 15 rows of 6 seats) hoping to get back to London in good time (ie, before it gets dark).

After a rough start, and what I'm going to call a cross between culture shock and a South American hangover, I ended up having a great time in Spain, and meeting (and getting to know better!) some amazing people (and old friends - I guess you're pretty amazing too! Lol). I'm looking forward to taking it easy until Sep 10 when Nick gets in before we set off on our 3 week adventure… it seems so strange to be less than a month away from home (26 days to be exact!!) when it's seemed so far away for so long. I'm really looking forward to unpacking, and to getting out of these same clothes too! The prospect of working is getting to be an exciting prospect too (mainly because of the money!), so fingers crossed I can get something sorted in not too long! I've decided that if I can't get work after two months I might head back to Cuzco (my favourite South American place) and do some volunteering work there before heading home. We'll see what happens with that though!

Missing you all back home heaps, especially as it draws nearer to the time that I'll see you all. If you're in Melb Cat's organized our joint birthday for October 3rd this year - venue TBA. Email me if you'll be in town ([email protected]) and I'll pass on details as they become available if you wanted to come out for a drink while I'm in town!

Lots of love, promise to reply to all my messages while I'm chilling out in London awaiting the whirlwind that is sure to arrive with Nick.

XoxoX