It says a lot that it’s 11am and I’ve only just crawled out of bed. I’m shattered!

Yesterday was just chaotic. Had a lovely chat and breakfast with Stephenie and Elizabeth before setting out to tackle the mayhem of the journey back. Very nice to meet you both properly! Got to Barajas Airport with bags of time to spare, only to find out that the flight had been delayed and I was likely to miss my train connection back up to York in the UK. Cue much groaning and banging of head off the wall.

Half an hour later, back breaking due to overladen rucksack (am sooo glad they don’t weigh hand luggage!) and we were on board. Madrid is unlike any airport I’ve ever been to - you have a lovely 15 minute drive before you reach the end of the runway! Gatwick came up trumps though. 20 minutes after landing, I’m cleared through customs, have collected my baggage and am running like mad to cross London. Not just trying to cross London at manic speeds, but trying to do it… in rush hour.

I wouldn’t recommend it.

However, with a couple of heavy bags and some serious barrelling through the crowds, I sprinted down the platform and JUST made it onto the train before the whistle blew. Spent the remainder of the journey talking to a couple newly back from NZ, until a bunch of my students got on at Doncaster. Kids are funny when you bump into them out of school - they either blank you completely and pretend they’re anywhere other than here, or they bounce across and want a chat. This lot were thankfully the latter type, and spent the rest of the journey grumbling that I could have squeezed them into my suitcase.

As if!

Welcome to the real world.