Winding Down and Heading Back

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Sitting in the departure lounge at Barcelona airport I carefully and patiently unravelled the skin of my clementine. I have become quite the master of the single peel/combined twirl pirouette technique - Fruit in one hand, thumb making it’s away around it anti-clockwise as the turning fruit spins in my hand in a clockwise direction. If clementine peeling was a sport, I would be high up in its rankings!

It had just been announced that the flight to London would be delayed for 90 minutes; this gave me an additional hour to sit and twiddle my thumbs (or peel and eat the supply of fruit in my bag). It also has given me a chance to reflect on my time here in Spain.

I really did enjoy the challenge of speaking Spanish again for the two weeks and although I think my language abilities are still quite limited (though many I have spoken to say otherwise, probably politely) I think by the end of this part of the trip I have probably improved some more.

This is my third trip to Spain and each time I have split my time between three cities. This time it was Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona. It was as interesting as much for their differences as their similarities.

Spain is an extremely regional-based nation. Do Catalans really hate people from Madrid? I never saw any evidence of it outside of an extremely passionate football rivalry however what makes someone "Spanish” is indeed a complex question.

If I was to rank the three cities based on my experiences this time, I'd place Barcelona first, Valencia second with Madrid in third place however my decision has been greatly influenced by the beautifully warm weather on the coast. From 11c in Madrid to 24c in Valencia made a big difference. Swapping the overcoat of Madrid to the polo shirt of Valencia was a joy.

Modern Spain is a great country with great people, culture and food and despite my problems with the smokers of Madrid and the laundromats of Barcelona I'll certainly always treasure the memories of this trip.

With my thoughts interrupted by the flight announcer stating that we were boarding for London I end this blog entry. London City Airport and a trip back down to Kent is next on my to do list. Adios España!

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Photos

A special tribute
This photo is dedicated to the German tourist who bumped me out of the way as I was taking a shot of la Boqueria Market. Nice!