The “in-laws”
Once again, I spent Christmas with José’s family in Badajoz. And once again, his mother made way too much food. Great food, just too much. But it was an enjoyable and relaxing time. The grueling bus ride to Badajoz from Málaga wasn’t. Unfortunately, there is no train between the two cities or any way near the route, so the hour plus bus was the only option. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it had been direct. Instead it stopped in seemingly every village in route. There were two or three stops in some towns.
Afterwards, I accompanied José to Madrid. It wasn’t much better as the train was overcrowded and lacked a plan car. As a result, we wound up seated on the floor for over 2 hours. But hey, we survived and it gave me something to bitch — I mean write — about.
I hung out in Madrid for a few days with José and with Dominic who is back there as of mid-December. It was great to catch up with him after his globetrotting experiences.
I returned to Málaga to celebrate New Years. (And after the other travel experiences the 2 and half hour bullet train ride was truly luxurious). So overall my holidays were quite good. But it feels nice to be home in the 70 degree sunshine after cold Badajoz and Madrid.
