The return home

 For the start of our return home, we had arranged with a driver Barbara had recommended to pick us up at the hotel at 8.15.  He kept us updated on the phone, the construction on the street delaying him by a few minutes, and we started the trip with him needing to back up the Mercedes van some distance on the lane turned to dirt by the construction.

We arrived at Schiphol airport at 9, and it was a pretty smooth check-in and trip to the gate. I'd heard that most of the epic problems at the airport were resolved, but once in a while there was a bad day.  We'd taken the cautious approach of arriving early, there were two flights at our gate before ours, the last one delayed in leaving the gate so we needed to move to another one.

The flight to Madrid on Iberia Express had a few minutes delay and they charged for food and drink.  When I bought a Croque Monsieur I was worried about not getting it right away, but it was cooked in the galley after the order.  Even though this was a Schengen flight it arrived at the 4S satellite terminal at Madrid, and there was a long trip, with a curving underground train, to get to the main Terminal 4 and baggage claim.  This is quite a large terminal complex used mostly by Iberia.

We got the baggage and, as we'd decided, left our checked bags in the left luggage office.  Even going with just our carry-on backpacks and taking a taxi, the trip was stressing us: there were many taxis but also a long line of people, but it moved quickly, with dispatchers directing us to cabs.  Our driver turned on the meter to the fixed €30 fare and, like on the return trip, took reckless moves.

Maybe it would have been better to stay at an airport hotel and have it optional to go into the city, but it was a nice enough night, on an award, at the Indigo Gran Via, centrally located.  Even arriving after 4, the room wasn't ready yet, but it was ready quickly.  I just made a brief stroll out, spotting a red carpet event practically next door and looking into the very busy El Corte Inglés department store and its food court at the top.  The city was full of people out.

View from the store at sunset

We decided to have a room service meal, and later I had the free drink that was offered at the rooftop bar with this view:

In the morning we picked up croissants and coffee from a bar, then got a taxi to the airport.  I got the bags from left luggage, found the designated bank of counters for our flight, then learned there was another bank for Business Class check-in.  When check-in was done, it was still a long trip to the satellite terminal and we didn't have that much time in the lounge, where I needed some of the time to deactivate my Italian phone plans and change SIM cards.

We got to the gate and boarded our Business Class seats, I think Margaret's first time ever in that class, and my first since true lie-flat seats became the standard.  Margaret liked having a window seat by itself, and we liked the food and drink selections, my main course being a beef cheek dish.  We'll consider it a great flight, even if there were problems navigating the TV screen and getting usable Wi-Fi.

We landed in Boston, a delay getting to the gate meant we couldn't get the ideal shuttle bus to our home area, but fine to wait another hour, and we were home and the trip was done.  This trip covered a range of memorable experiences, in generally mild weather, and we'll try to think of what to do next.