It’s a long day to Madrid

Monday was to be the most difficult day in the planning as getting from Porto to Madrid presented few options. In the end the best one was a short flight, but the only one presented didn’t leave until 8.15 pm, leaving a day to fill in Porto and a very late arrival at Madrid.
My flu had me up most of the night going through all my t-shirts etc as I sweated it out. Totally drained, my only saviour was the new lounge area in the apartment building and the sweet Paula who took care of our luggage and kept an eye on me. Luckily they had Sergio available to take us to the airport, but unluckily we were hit by a 1 hour delay to our flight.
We arrived at Madrid airport to at least have a driver waiting for us, but by the time we paid an extra 50 Euro to get in, it was after 1 am. Another sleepless night for me, but Gail and “sleep for Australia” Robert woke refreshed to tackle the local area on the holiday of the patron saint Isador
The streets were crowded with locals and tourists and nearby Plaza Mayor was filled with people watching traditional performances of dance and music. We are certainly in the busy, sweet spot of Madrid and I was fit enough to venture out for my first full meal in days at a very nice restaurant just around the corner. Hopefully things will be on the up.