December 28th - Final day in Madrid

Today was our last full day in Madrid, we wanted to be sure we knew a little bit about the airport so we took the metro out to have a look at the terminal and get checked in for our flight.   I tried to check in at a self-service kiosk but I couldn't get it to work correctly so we went over to one of the service personnel to ask her help.   It seems that the problem stemed from when I purchased the tickets; it was very early in the trip and I did it online, but I misinterpreted the boxes and put first and middle names in the family name field and our family name into the first name field for both Deb and me.  DOH!  But the lovely lady helped me out and we got checked in.   So we headed back to town and spent close to an hour at the Prado to see for the last time smoe of the paintings that we were so impressed with the first time.    Deb says our per visit cost is down to around 1.03 euro a great investment in culture and wone we could never have done if we were paying full price at each visit.  I was getting a bit jumpy because the Metro buses and subway were striking again, so it's every day this week, and I didn't want us to miss lunch at La Cuadrilla.  We made it by around 2:30 or 3:00 and once again had a memorable lunch.   I started with a risotto garnished with bits of foie gras while Deb had a great salad, then both of us had grilled languistinos over a bed of curried rice.  Then I finished with arroz con leche (my last for this visit) while Deb had crepe Suzettes.   We ordered a bottle of Cava (Sparkling wine like champagne) and shared it with Mercedes, Pedro, and two lovely little old ladies who have been in the restaurant every time we've been there and I suspect may eat there every day.  We've developed a little affection for them over time, I don't think either one is taller than 4'6" because I'm taller than them whilst sitting in my chair.   When we offered them a little glass both of them practically jumped up and came over to the table to share a toast.  No teetotaller these ladies, they usually have a little beer and a little wine during lunch and they were enthusiastic to share a little cava.  During the conversation it came out that they are sisters and one will be 90 next month while the other will be 90 next December, and unbelievably sweet.  Pretty amazing to realize that they were in their early teens when the Spanish civil war took place!