I woke around 5:45 this morning, 15 minutes before my alarm went off. I packed my last belongings to take to Spain, made sure mum was okay & then sat watching television until my friend Les arrived to pick me up to take me to Fareham train Station.

Fareham to Madrid.

The train journey to Gatwick was pretty straightforward; we didn't need to change anywhere & we managed to get a seat. On arrival at the airport, Paul & I lined up to check in our luggage & then decided we didn't need to as we only had carry-on luggage. After checking the ever-shrinking luggage check-in size, we queued up again to check our bags in.

A large breakfast was enjoyed in the 'Giraffe ' restaurant, which cost nearly £10 without a drink, but it filled me up. Before boarding the plane, we walked around Paul's favourite shop at the airport, Whiskey World. The flight was uneventful, & we soon touched down in Madrid. Getting through the airport & customs & picking up our luggage was easy & we were quickly on the Metro.

Paul was in charge of navigation & quickly got the hang of the underground system, & we were soon on our way to our hotel. We found it easily as it had a large hotel sign on the roof & was visible from the station. We checked in & went to our room. It was clean, had WIFI & plenty of space, just what you want from a hotel for a short break, but it was much further out from the centre of Madrid than Paul had thought when he booked it. There were no local bars, cafes or restaurants.

We soon were unpacked & we had a few beers in the hotel bar before heading off to look around Madrid for an Irish bar that Paul wanted to visit. Once again, navigating to our destination on the underground was fairly easy, but finding the bar Paul wanted to visit wasn't & we eventually settled for a meal & a few beers in a TGIF next to the Bernabeu Stadium.

Getting back after midnight was no problem as the trains were still running, & by 1:10 am, we were back in the hotel room.