My journey home included an overnight layover in Madrid. This was my best travel option at a reasonable price. I was excited at the opportunity to practice my Spanish for a couple of hours.

My flight landed in Madrid late at night. My half asleep brain spoke Spanglish at best. I went straight to sleep at the hostel, talked to no one. The next morning, I checked out and walked to a highly rated cafe, La General, where I ordered an Iberico open-faced breakfast sandwich and a freshly squeezed orange juice. The waitresses spoke to me in Spanish mainly, but when I was struggling, they would incorporate English as well. It was a good sandwich and a good attitude.

Then, I walked to the airport. My route to the airport took me though the area where all the taxis were waiting farther away from the airport. There were at least a hundred taxis waiting there. I got a bit lost, and ended up climbing through the hole in a chainlink fence where I saw one of the taximen walk through. It got me on the right path. The walk wasn’t so bad.

I was eager to get back home.

My Madrid to Boston flight, I did not sleep at all. I had not planned to sleep and was enjoying the movies. To my dismay, upon arrival at the Boston airport, my connecting flight to Cincinnati, had been cancelled. The next flight out was a day later at 6am or at 5pm. I opted for the 5pm one so I could theoretically enjoy exploring Boston.

They cancelled due to weather. Perhaps the plane was stuck in bad weather from the flight before? In Boston, the weather is fine. Because the cancellation is due to weather, the American Airlines does not owe me any vouchers. Ugh. Good thing I enrolled in year-round travel insurance that’s policy appears to covers weather cancellations. I plan to itemize my charges and file a claim. Either way, I am planning to be frugal for my Boston related costs.

I was extremely jetlagged, and I was not in the mindset for another travel day. I think Boston is a cool city, but the thought of exploring it this time did not excite me at all. I figured that if I ate at least one local thing and saw something historic, that was good enough.

Instead of hightailing it straight to a Taco Bell, I decided to get a lobster roll from Pauli’s. It is a takeaway place and was on the Food Network on Diner’s Drive-in’s and Dives, and it is located in Little Italy. When I walked up, I saw a huge line. My heart dropped, I was not willing to wait an any lines. I crossed the street for a better vantage point, and to my relief, that line was for the place next door, Neptune’s. I was so grateful to not be in that line. I took the order to-go.

I got a hot, buttered lobster roll which is more popular, whereas the cold mayonnaise one is more traditional. Oh well, I wanted a hot, buttered one!

The lobster was plentiful and yummy. The bigger pieces of lobster felt a bit overcooked, but the smaller pieces were perfection!

Local food ✅

This morning, I planned to walk downstairs to the 7-Eleven and get some junk food to take back upstairs. Apparently the 27 hour 7-Eleven was closed, unsure why. So I kept walking to find something. I ended up caving and just went to Taco Bell. I was proud enough of that decision. I don’t really like breakfast food and it’s hard to find a savory meal early on a Sunday morning. I rationalized that if I got a dessert from Chinatown, I could also get Taco Bell. Compromise for my internal conflict.

On my journey, I passed an old looking building. It turned out to be the Old City Hall.
Historic something ✅

Otherwise, I simply hid in my hotel room. When I am feeling more enthused, I will return to Boston and visit places like the Freedom Trail, Harvard, View Boston, Harpoon Brewing, The Boston Public Market, etc. But for this time, I gave myself the space and the grace to just rest.