Still life with brown dog, asleep

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As several people have been kind enough to read what I wrote, it seems churlish of me not to provide some closure to this travel tale of mine. So, last hurrah until the next airplane!

Uneventful trip home. Business class on Iberia featured excellent booze in the lounge (I was able to do a taste test of four Gran Solera Reserva brandies while we waited. The winner was the Conde de Osborne label), first class "pod" reclining seats and some of the most tasteless food I have ever eaten on on airline. It did not taste bad, it did not taste of anything at all. More blah than bleah.

Another lovely night at the Old Farmhouse and the Greene Oak where we startled our rather shy little server by leaving her a massive tip on finding out that the next day was her 20th birthday.

We extended the luxury by paying for the lounge at Heathrow. I am so glad we did. I have the worst time making it onto the airplane without having a classic hot flash somewhere along the way. There are more miserable experiences than starting a nine-hour flight wringing with sweat and ending it dry but feeling like a walking salt lick but it ain't my favourite!. Bless you, clever little lounge designer, wherever you are, I did not have to suffer that particular fate this time.

Clearing customs in Calgary in record time, we checked into the Palliser about 5 local time, midnight London time, 1 in the morning in Madrid.

For our British audience, the Palliser is a classic Canadian "railway" hotel, luxurious places built in the centre of all of our major cities by the our transcontinental railway companies. They have been updated and upgraded over the years but are prized for maintaining their air of early twentieth century grandeur. Usually with prices to match! We had been able to make an incredible deal for two nights in a one bedroom suite and we're looking forward to further indulgence. However, the room did not feature a bathtub, the shower had NO shelves on which to out anything (shampoo, soap, etc., had to be placed on the floor of the shower!) and, although the room was not actually at an uncomfortable temperature, the heating and cooling system did not work at all! And there were separate controls in each of the two rooms.

I guess there's deals and there's deals. We were grateful to be home and not terribly disappointed. Bemused more than anything. I told the staff upon checking out, not complaining as much as informing. They apologised and promised to "tell housekeeping."

I think I am going to follow this one up. I want to know what they do to fix it.

Susan had a couple of interesting meetings while we were there. The federal election results, while we cheered the overthrow of Harper's conservatives, may actually cost us some contract work. There's irony for you. But we'll see.

Home on Thursday night and relieved to be here. Staying in Calgary was a good idea for recovering from jet lag if nothing else. If we had had to sit around the airport for two or three hours, fly, get Ali to drive us home and then start dealing with reality, it would not have been as pleasant. Even as it was, I had a hard time remembering Tuesday night whether I liked beer! (I do, apparently)

Last night was the first good night's sleep I have had since Madrid, and I feel better today than I have for several days. I am so pleased at not having to go back to criminal work that I have actually put in several hours editing Susan's boom this weekend and looming forward to getting more done tomorrow. It just doesn't FEEL like work any more than writing this blog does.

So, a happy ending to a good - and very necessary - trip: me, writing while sitting on the couch next to my Riley dog, who only wakes up to stretch, loom around to see if I am still next to him, and then go back to sleep.

This is home and I am content to be here.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

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