Spain 2016 - return home

I found while in the cities that I tend to travel like I did when backpacking, 35 years ago, very frugally, most of the time. So, staying in cheap hotels, eating cheap and picnicing, walking most places. Of course, George and I didn't change those patterns much when we traveled. Maybe a bit more on hotels, bit more on food and drink, but not much. The trip was about "seeing and doing" and sleeping and eating could be done at home. The money was spent on museum entrance fees and some on bus or subway to get around. We tended to find "locals" places to eat and drink.
My cheap hotel in Seville was something I might have stayed in when backpacking but even George would have wondered whether it was cheap enough for the tiny room and noisy location. The hotel in Madrid (about the same price) was a perfect "George" hotel. It was close to everything, relatively quiet, clean, quite roomy and had great staff.
My splurge was that I took a taxi to the airport. I could have dragged my rolly suitcase down the street to the train station and taken the airport bus (for 5 Euro) but I took the stress free way (for 30 Euro). It was worth it. It was entertainment of the highest quality. Every time  the traffic was backed up my taxi driver would head of in a totally different direction and try another route. He would swerve and deek and generally get honked at. He would mutter under his breathe (even though early on he established that I didn't have much Spanish) and complain to me in Spanish. He didn't have much English. Once we got out of the maze of one way streets that is central Madrid, the highways were pretty clear and it wasn't nearly as much fun. However, without all those buildings around, I could see that Madrid has mountains quite close and they were snow capped, which explained the cool wind sometimes.
My flight Madrid to Heathrow was uneventful and I got upgraded to "economy plus" on my flight to Toronto which was rather nice. Rather than "would you like the beef or the fish" I got a little menu card with a description. I chose the breaded haddock with basil mashed potatoes, roast red pepper, pea pods and fennel with lobster sauce. More legroom, reclining seats, lots of offers of drinks and snacks, it was a relaxing end to the trip.
Simon picked me up and drove me home. Very kind but not nearly as entertaining as the drive at the beginning of my day.