Homecoming

We were awake and up by quarter to seven. John arrived early at a quarter to ten for the hand over of keys and then he drove us to the station. We caught the train before the one we intended to catch. Surprisingly it was packed all the way, and it was difficult with our amount of luggage. I was unable to reclaim the ten euro for the free abono recorrido, although the info screens on the train said you could from the machines at the station. The guy helping people buy their incoming tickets said it was necessary to go to a station with a ticket office. I suspect that real reason is that the four airport machines are so busy with purchases they're not available for refunds. It's possible that as I paid by card the sum may be paid by reverse debit after the ticket expires on the 30th April. We'll see. But it has been immensely valuable, all this free public transport. If only more towns and cities did this, it could turn out to be a stimulus to the economy.

The EasyJet queue to drop off Clare's bag wasn't all that long, and the security clearance queues moved with easy efficiency, so with an hour before the flight boarded we were able to have a drink and something to eat. The flight was delayed a little boarding, and it seemed to take ages taxiing before we reached the take-off runway. From boarding starting to actual take off took an hour so we were off the ground at two, and heading north west past Madrid and over the Bay of Biscay towards Southampton and Bristol. During the ascent I caught a good view from the window of the Laguna de Piedra, last visited on my birthday five years ago. There was just a small blue slick of water visible in the middle of a vast white salt pan. Early Spring back then, the entire lake was full. It does evaporate a lot in summer and autumn, but not normally this early. I wonder were its tens of thousands of flamingos have gone?

We landed at four UK time, and by the time we'd cleared passport control, reclaimed Clare's case and walked to the coach station it was four thirty, with a coach due at five fifteen. It came in half an hour early, perhaps because drivers have to sell tickets to those who don't have one as well as check tickets of those who do. I had a return ticket, but Clare didn't, so had to buy one from a kindly driver who only asked ten pounds. I think it costs more, but it seems his ticket machine was broken!

We were back in the house by eight. I dragged the cases home while Clare went to the Pontcanna Street Co-op and bought some groceries to get us started on re-stocking with fresh food. After supper the usual tasks of unpacking, sorting out the washing. I updated my desktop computer, and didn't fancy looking at the mail, so I watched the last episode of 'Happy Valley' on iPlayer instead, nearly falling asleep. It's the episode which aired the weekend after I left for Spain. Movingly completed, is all I can say.