Epilogue: Madrid

I didn’t want to go to Madrid all that much. I wanted a one day layover as a mini-vacation after our real one, but on the flight from Rome to Madrid, I was regretting that decision. Then I got there. Madrid is a beautiful, clean, exciting, dynamic city. It’s everything that Rome should be, without as much opulence. We didn’t have a lot of time to do anything, so our goals were tapas, sangria, and paella. We achieved our goals, and we realized we want to hit Spain again, for a much longer time. It was a challenge to transition from Italian to Spanish (especially for me, because my Spanish is limited to what I learned from Sesame Street, and being in LA), but it certainly wasn’t a challenge to transition into the Spanish culture. Spain has this lovely habit of the town waking up at 10pm. Dinner usually isn’t till 10, but they have tapas to tide you over. The siesta (afternoon break), is an integral part of their culture. Wow, do I love that place. I need to learn a lot more Spanish, but I’m quite pleased with what I now know. It capped our trip in a lovely fashion.

The trip home, not so much. Any nine hour flight in coach is pretty rough, just by nature of spending nine hours bored in a cramped seat. Spaniards like to get up and chat with their neighbors and friends, and one woman was doing that right across from me, with her butt right next to my face a good portion of the time. I didn’t mind that, as I still had some room, and it gave me further motivation to lean on Heidi, but when the lady farted in my face, it was a bit much.

In all, I’m glad to have taken the trip, but I’m glad to be home. Home with my wife. Living our real life together. It’s going to be a good marriage.