Post office troubles and princess castles

WHEN you’ve been away from home for a few days, you can forget which way to put your key in the front door. I do that. It’s so simple, but a sign of absence.

After a failed first attempt, I flip the key the other way and insert. With a twist, the lock clicks and I’m home.

The bus ride returning from Madrid is six hours and very easy. The bus is comfortable to the touch, although surprisingly full. I am seated between a squeaky window and a snoring man thundering away. At least there isn’t a crying baby, like there was on the way up to Madrid. It is a typical bus ride sound-storm.

The Socibus company departs Plaza de Armas station in Sevilla, right along the Guadalaquivir River and costs around 20 Euros to get to Madrid. From the bus station in Madrid, you can hop on the metro and go where ever you like. The metro is clean, cheap, and easy; a total breeze.

Taking the public transportation from Madrid to Segovia, a 30 minute ride on the train or an hour by bus, we are drawn to the castle amidst several other ooglers. The castle is said to be the inspiration for Disney’s Sleeping Beauty and it is definitely nothing short of inspiring. Between the aqueduct in all its grandeur and the sun shining down on us, the whole day was uplifting.

Another trip you might want to take while you’re in Madrid is the green metro line to the end: Alameda de Osuna. What’s there? The Madrid post office customs center where packages get held when they are insured for a valuable amount.

My box was insured for a generous $300 which meant it had to be jailed for over 2 months while I sent numerous reports requesting its release. I finally just picked the package up myself. I doubt very much that I would ever have gotten it had I not gone there in person.

If you are having a package sent to you, may I suggest that the sender does NOT insure it for anything more than $100. If the items are really so valuable, and must be insured, then prepare to pay taxes and to wait a long while to receive them; and the taxes alone are enough to make you misty eyed.

My box is well worth the wait. Beyond the contents and having this unique experience, I had the pleasure of meeting two lovely English speaking girls and we bond over our shared misfortune. They were the silver lining to the day’s looming cloud.

A few days and a bus ride later, it feels good to be back in my little corner of Spain: Sevilla. After tapas with a friend, what’s better than getting lost in the narrow streets of the ancient city, nestled under the security of an umbrella? A rain drop mosh pit swirls between the buildings. In the harrowing vortex everyone’s hair respectfully wraps up into a “flock of seagulls” hairstyle as a sign of submission to the weather.

Relaxing into my surroundings, I ride out the weather and wait for my rainbow.