Madrid

You would think that any normal person who has booked a trip around the world for the next four months, involving 29 flights in more than 20 airports, would use any connection flight as a chance to catch his breath and relax for a couple of hours.

Wrong... Travel junkies use this opportunity to explore yet another city and squeeze in another destination, even if it’s just for a few hours. After all, you get to talk like those super-rich people when they say, “We just stopped in Madrid for a coffee”.

If you do the math based on the ticket arrival and departure times, and if you think that five hours to spare is too boring to waste at the airport and you should visit downtown Madrid, then think again. Obviously, you haven’t realized that the time the plane arrives is far from the time you actually get out of the airport. Also, when the tube is advertised on their website as taking 20 minutes from the airport to the centre, they must have theoretically calculated this with an empty train, no stops at any station, and maximum speed on the yearly “tube racing” day.

If you have a 5-hour stopover in Madrid, the actual time you’ll get to see the city centre (and when I say centre I mean just the square) is about 60 minutes, and that’s with all transport services running without delays. Having said that, we had time to get a picture of the city and drink the best chocolate ever. You know, the “better than sex” kind of chocolate… Imagine a churro fried to perfection, dunked in thick, rich, real dark hot chocolate that will put a permanent smile on your face. And you only pay 2 euros for the pleasure. Not just better than sex, but cheaper too…

Anyway, against all the odds, we did not miss our flight to Cuba. We managed to get back to the airport on time, and now I’m typing this message from the plane.

Next message will arrive from the heart of the Latin Quarter, if we get any sober-time between drinking rum and smoking cigars, that is.

Viva la revolución...