Company again

Another cool and cloudy day. I drove into town after breakfast and parked at the large area of open ground below the west side Mercadona, where you can park all day for a euro. As I intend to leave the car as near to the bus station as possible when I take an early bus to the airport for my three day home stay, I asked the parking, if it was permissible, and he said I could without a problem by purchasing three days worth of tickets. It's a busy area and seems safe enough, I need to check this out with locals before making a final decision. The alternative would be a very expensive taxi all the way to the airport.

I visited the church shop to collect and informative magazine from Di with lists of useful local contact numbers in it, and called into a Farmacia to buy a First Aid kit for the house. I looked up the correct term on Google translate, memorised it while walking there, and successfully made myself understood. Good for the morale! It's the third locum duty in a row where the chaplain's residence has had no first aid kit, and I've had to ensure one is acquired.

When I returned, I completed a Morning Prayer video slide show for the week after next, and finished Sunday's sermon, to give me all the time I need to spend with Clare and Ann while they're here. I cooked some potatoes, onions and a few other veg by steaming, finishing them off in a frying pan with olive oil. My version of patatas de los pobres, which I was pleased with. With time to spare before leaving for the airport to collect Clare and Ann from their flights, I got everything ready to cook for supper on our return. It was useful having both flight numbers, as I could open separate web pages to monitor each of them. The departure of Ann's Ryanair flight from Stanstead was delayed forty minutes, but made up some of the time. Clare's Vueling fight from Cardiff was on time at both ends and arrived half an hour earlier. 

I  adjusted my airport arrival time to coincide with Ann's likely passage to the arrivals hall, where Clare was waiting for her at a cafe. I parked in the arrivals parking area right outside the airport Metro station, a familiar location. Within a few minutes of being reunited with Clare, Ann came through and joined us which meant we were out of the airport again in under twenty minutes, hassle free, Contactless payment for the parking stay is now the norm, and the ticket doesn't seem to be needed at the barrier. Whether it's number plate scanning on entry or timed departure window for any paid up car, I don't know, but it did make for a slick and easy exit. Traffic wasn't too heavy and we arrived at the house by half past seven.

After a cup of tea, Clare went for a dip in the pool, then I cooked supper - marinaded tuna, rice, carrots and judia plana. The girls were hungry after their long hours of waiting and travelling, and pleased with my effort. We spent time catching up, and then I went out for a night walk down and up the hill, to relax before turning in for the night, later than usual.