Day 23, Sat., June 12, 2010: Canada

Well, we’re back home again with all our luggage. We left the Casita de Cabreja, Cuenca, in good time yesterday (Friday)and found the Hotel Don Luis with no difficulty in spite of a bit of incorrect information from the Reception desk at the Casita who downloaded a Google map and printed it out for us. Fortunately our careful reading of street signs paid off when we discovered that Ave. General was reached directly from a roundabout instead of via Ave Logruño.

Returning the car was another matter. There were no signs at the airport in Madrid to direct us to the car rental agencies. Nor did some of the airport workers we approached know where to look. One worker told us it was behind the taxi stands at terminal 3, another in the parking area in Terminal 2. We finally found it in the public parking at terminal 1. We are very glad we chose to return the car on Friday instead of Saturday morning on the way to catch our flight. All this was completed before noon.

The subway system of Madrid has a line out to the airport, although there is a small surcharge for using the stations there. The terminals are also all interconnected so that we could go from Terminal 1 where we returned the car to Terminal 2 where the subway stop was located, on foot. Dick & I caught the subway to do some sight seeing, final shopping and get some lunch. There were 3 separate subway lines involved to get to the center of Madrid, all for about $2.50 Cdn. each. The receptionist at the Hotel Don Luis gave us a map of the subway system that made this easy in spite of the transfers.

We got to practice our Spanish some more on the way home, getting directions back to the hotel when we left the subway. Streets in Spain are a maze, often with 5 or 6 streets exiting from a roundabout, so we had to check 3 or 4 times on the way back.

Knowing that we had to be up really early to catch our 6:45am flight, we spent a quiet evening. Dick when down to the hotel bar for a glass of wine about 9:00, and received a plate of perhaps 20 green olives along with it. In Spain you always get a little food with your alcoholic beverage. By the way, wine in Spain costs about the same as water, and sometimes less than the pop offered in the restaurants and bars.

Travel to Toronto went smoothly. In spite of leaving Madrid about 15 minutes late we caught our flight without mishap, partly because the Jetairways India flight delayed boarding to let those from Madrid a little more time.

A word about Jetairways India - we recommend the line, especially the transatlantic fights. The seats are comfortable, the staff courteous, and the food delicious, especially for those who enjoy the food of India. Both coming and going we were served 2 meals, and provided all the water we needed for drinking - all we had to do was ask.