25th November – 1st December
Food was certainly the focus of Monday. We joined a Madrid Food Tour lead by a lovely Irish girl and ate our way through churros con chocolate, cookies made by nuns who never left their convent or interacted with outsiders, pinchos, various tapas and pastries and learnt about the history of the city while we did so. In the afternoon we worked and relaxed, went for a walk not quite believing how cold it was and then ate at a raw vegan restaurant in the evening, where the owners were very keen to explain exactly what was in our dishes and where it had come from.
We started off Tuesday by visiting the Hammam al Andalus, an Arab/Roman style spa in the centre of Madrid. After lounging in pools of different temperatures, we had a relaxing massage and then met the manager. From there, we went for another lovely vegan lunch then took the metro to the airport. On arrival at London Stansted airport, we were met by our mothers, and for the first time in seven months, Zab and I spent the night apart.
I woke up confused, not realising where I was and wondering why Zab wasn’t next to me on Wednesday. I spent the morning catching up with my mum and sorting out my stuff. In the afternoon I met Zab in the centre of London to complete some chores and buy cakes. We were both shocked at how busy, stressed and worn out everyone looked. We then met my family for dinner at an Italian restaurant and Zab came home with us afterwards.
Zab stayed at my family home till Thursday lunchtime, when he went off to meet his father. I stayed and continued to sort out my stuff, then chatted to my brother and spent the rest of the day working. Friday was more or less the same, except Zab and I didn’t see each other; just chatted on the phone in the evening, which was odd.
Saturday morning I went for a walk with my mum and her husband and had lunch in a cute café. The afternoon was work and procrastination.
On Sunday I did a final sort through my things, a bit of work, went for a walk at sunset and in the afternoon my mum drove me over to Zab's house with a few boxes of stuff, where we ate on Indian takeaway with his sister and her boyfriend. After almost 11 months without good Indian food, it was heavenly!
