Friday April 10

After breakfast in the hotel, we checked out and were out the door by 11. The slightly colder, overcast weather made the idea of leaving Spain easier for mom and Bee. Making a final visit to the row of touristy souvenir shops, we turned around to say goodbye to the Plaza Mayor. Crossing through, we passed by one of the saddest street “performers” I’ve ever seen: an overweight middle-aged man dressed in complete Superman Halloween costume, frozen in a very unimpressive pose. Does this guy honestly expect to get money for this??

Peaking in and out of stores heading in the direction of our beloved Sunday Rastro, we stopped into a local café for nothing else but cafes con leche. Bekah very quickly became infatuated with the bartender, who, I must say, wore the faux-hawk quite well. She was able to get a small taste of one of the reasons I can’t stay in Spain forever…the men are mesmerizing.

We headed back to the hotel to grab their things, mine already being placed in my new room on the fifth floor. We both mentally and physically prepared ourselves for the long and inconvenient metro ride to the airport, but arrived without too much trouble. The long check-in line allowed us just enough time to grab a warm bacon and queso bocadillo (sandwich on a baguette) and say goodbye. Mom made me promise I’d come home May 1^st. Somewhat reluctantly I promised I would.

The idea of spending the night alone in Madrid was exciting to me and I jumped back on the metro, eager to begin my independent solitude. I have to confess though the romanticized dream left me a little disappointed. The rest my day in Madrid is relatively uneventful. Not to mention the cold, rainy weather kept me inside a lot, neither was I too thrilled about going out to eat by myself. Instead, I grabbed a light dinner at a nearby fruit stand. I spent a peaceful evening in the hotel lobby, working on my 8-page Spanish paper for Independent Study, treating myself to a tall, 4-euro glass of white wine.