The last of Europe

In order to come home for Christmas I booked a flight out of Madrid to Hong Kong, for a mere 250 euros. I booked onward connections to Manila for a little over three weeks, four nights in Bali and then home for early December.

I spent too much time in Madrid, but did a little more of the touristy sight-seeing stuff that I missed out on my first visit.

I visited the Reina Sofia art museum, home to many famous artists like Picaso and Dali, as well as smaller temporary exhibitions. 

I did another walking tour in Madrid, hosted by a very entertaining and informative tour guide. His stories were engaging and interesting, such as the history behind the statue below - it was the first ever "rearing horse" statue in existence! The artist reportedly had to get in contact with Galileo for advice to make it balance - the simple solution of a hollow front and solid rear section was the answer!

He also described the history of the current royal palace. Prior to it burning down in the 1700's, it was an abomination that architecture buffs from France, Italy and the like scoffed at. This was a result of its Frankenstein architecture - each of the Spanish kings wanting to make their mark and alter the original building! Rebuilt on the same site, the new building is now something to write home about!

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My aforementioned cheap-as-chips flight with Etihad to Hong Kong was a bit of a disaster. Scheduled for 9:30am, it was an early start to do the day. I rocked up, checked my bag, passed through security and immigration and waited... Twenty minutes after scheduled boarding they announced a technical issue with the flight and to wait two hours before more information. 

Everyone got a free breakfast.,

The announcement then came that our flight had been cancelled and they were working with Emirates to try to get us to our relevant final destinations. 

I had to go back through immigration into Europe, collect my bag, take a shuttle to another airport before trying to check in for the replacement flight. 

The way this was organised was one guy was standing in a crowd of bystanders yelling out names, when each persons boarding pass and connecting flight had been processed and ready for collection!

An hour of standing around, I got my ticket and was on my way back through immigration. Luckily the flight only had the same two hour layover as the original!

All in all it was a great flight - they certainly treat you well at Emirates!