Well, I hope it wasn’t my last visit to Madrid, but next time I’ll have little claim to calling it home. After returning our van to the agency I still had a set of keys to a rented flat and a half-used metrocard in my pocket. Next time I visit I’ll have a return ticket to Zurich, instead.
With little to do except wait for our flights out, George and I indulged in tourism. He showed me a used bookstore on c/Lope de Vega and I guided us through a culinary tour that ended at the same champagne bar where we’d toasted the start of our trip. Maybe it was good practice for future visits, when I’ll go back to exploring the city as a guest. Now, in addition to my extensive and welcoming family here, I’ve also got a growing network of friends and colleagues in the city. Living in Madrid this last year just gave me more reasons to visit.
It was only minutes before I was due to board my flight to Switzerland that I discovered that my flight did not go to Switzerland. The so-called Basel airport is actually located just west of the border with France. Getting to Zurich from there will require another overland border crossing into Switzerland, though this time I’m hoping to avoid the close scrutiny of Swiss border control we experienced outside Geneva last week.
How much jamon serrano am I allowed to bring in, anyway?
Guest post by George:
On Monday Lucas was so eager to return to Spain that he drove for eleven hours, through three countries, four language zones and numerous wine and cheese producing areas in time to reach Figueres at dusk. As we entered the local bar an old friend, last seen in Toledo (left), greeted us (below).
Journalist covering global development by way of science and technology.
