Goodbye Madrid - heading home!

Leaving the coast of Spain behind...

Adios Madrid

Friday,  November 08, 2019                                            Depart for Chicago

            

Heading for home today. We were up at 6:30 AM, for a shower and breakfast. We left for the airport at 8 AM via taxi and arrived at airport by 8:30, a quick trip during Friday morning “rush hour”. As our plane didn’t leave until 11:30 AM, we had extra time to process a VAT refund of $25 and I felt unhurried through the 2 additional security screens for which I was randomly selected.

Terminal 4 at the Madrid Barajes Airport

The new terminal opened in 2006, making this the second largest airport in Europe

This delightfully colorful and modern terminal was designed by Pamela, Rogers and Vidal

We had nice seats on Iberia Airlines - 14 A & C. It was a pretty day for flying – sunny with white puffy clouds. As we departed, we had a great view of downtown Madrid and the Cuatro Torres sky scrapers. We passed over more Sierra mountains, and headed to the Atlantic via the northernmost coast of Spain.

Whoo hoo! One of 50 Notable Women in Healthcare (Crain's)

The Cuatro Torres - 4 skyscrapers in the modern section of Madrid

Heading out over the mountains of central Spain

Heading over the Atlantic, crossing the northernmost coast of Spain

While waiting at the airport, I checked the internet and work emails. I found out I was named one of Crain’s 50 Notable Women in Healthcare! Very nice surprise.

Our seats did not have a working outlet, so I was only able to work on the computer for about an hour before it ran out of juice. After that, I watched Quentin Tarantino’s new movie “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”. Not bad, I liked it because of its focus on 60s California culture. The  9 hour flight went by quickly enough.

Always great to fly over our city in our approach to Chicago's ORD

We arrived at ORD on time at 2:45, although it took over an hour via taxi to get back to apartment to pick up our car. We then drove back to Wisconsin, leaving by 5 PM, as it was already getting dark. I slept most of the last half of the trip –a big car crash near Stoughton slowed our progress. We made it home by 9 and I went right to bed. Definitely tired and feeling the 7 hour time difference. Looking forward to seeing the grandkids tomorrow!