Having tried – unsuccessfully – to get Iberia Airlines to EITHER move my CheeseBag on to New Zealand ASAP OR to send it to me at the hostel today (so that I could refreeze the slicker pads and refrigerate the cheese), I knew that tomorrow would have to be dedicated to going to the airport well ahead of my flight time to try to track down said bag, so that made today my only day for Madrid.
What to do? There’s so much to do and see in Madrid.
I decided to just wander and see where I ended up.
It’s 2:30, it’s incredibly hot and I’m suddenly weary, so I head back to the hostel for a nap. I figure it’s sleep time in NZ!
Just before 6 I remember free entry to the Prado Museum from 6-8, and I’m not far away, so I hoof it down there and join the eternal queue.
Against the backdrop of the ubiquitous call for “No photos”, I feel a bit naughty. But I have seen the two pictures I wanted to and then I wander, looking, wondering if I might find a new favourite picture. I do, Velazquez’s The Spinners. This time I don’t take a photo.
After about an hour I hear what sounds like thunderclaps. And then some more.
It might still be 31 degrees, but there’s a spectacular celestial show unfolding. A few enormous raindrops come to nothing and a fine mist sprays from the sky.
I keep walking in the hope that it will stop.
Turns out the “narrow street” I walked up in the early hours of this morning WAS actually quite narrow…
…and the street where I’m staying is even narrower…
…and they both look more friendly in daylight!
16km
I’d have been sending GraphGuy my final statistics tomorrow once I’d got on the plane, but the paper where the previous ones are recorded is in the CheeseBag, which I will not be opening until we are both at home!
Last sleep…
SoloWalk2024 
No worries…will happily update graphs as that will mean you are reunited with said cheese!
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