Winding down my days in one of Europe´s greatest cities

Okay I´ve really wanted to tell how I unwittingly helped a czech boy smuggle hashish across the Spanish border (in his sandals no less), how I loved Rome, how my 40 year old Cuban bus driver invited me to dinner, how much drugs I saw in Lyon. Or how I once ate 3 gelati in one day, how an israeli cosmetic tycoon invited me to his Italian villa, how I sailed for 7 days on the adriatic sea in 40 degree weather, how I partied in a massive cave. Or how I was almost put in a croatian prison, how I slept two people to one hostel bed, how I made friends with the locals in Prague, how sweet my swedish reunion was in Berlin...

It´s a long list! So will you settle for this one instead?

I was in Budapest just over a week ago with a friend (how we met is a massive story in itself) when I started getting a few reminder emails from my aunt in Madrid.

'Annie don´t forget, you can always come here when you´re done'
'Annie I´ve gone to the embassy, and they say you can stay another month on your visa'
'Annie if you change your ticket we´ll help you out while you´re down here'.

As many of you know, I had booked a ticket and planned to come back July 29th. It made sense at the time since I was running low on funds and (for some odd reason) had this urge to get back to Vancouver and start making something of myself again. Therefore I really didn´t give the prospect of an extra month in Madrid much thought. Until one day, out of the blue, I sat down and decided to look at the conditions of my ticket. It was literally on a complete whim that I looked that day, but it turned out that I had exactly 12 hours to decide whether I wanted to change my ticket without forfeiting the entire amount.

12 hours left, in the middle of Budapest (a destination we had decided on last minute at the train station in Split), with a friend whose couch I surfed on in Australia a year ago, and who I met up with randomly because he was in Bosnia while I was in Croatia. The whole situation seemed so incredulous on it´s own that I had take a look at later flights to see if it was possible to make the whole scenario even more ridiculous. And it was! We´re now down to 4 hours, in the middle of Budapest, looking for a Hungarian bath house (that´s right, multitasking), with a friend who I´ve hung out with for a total of two weeks in my entire life...who is now waging a war of persuasion on my mind. And as the hours trickled by, and the wine slowly consumed, I realized...it was my destiny:) With no idea what the future, or more importantly, my bank account held, I called and switched my flight within an hour of the deadline.

So after a few detours to Prague and Berlin, I now find myself tucked away in Madrid. I´m recovering from a cold and the fact that I haven´t slept properly in over 3 months, as well as going for runs (starting tomorrow), and taking care of my Grandma for a week. From there, I head up to the North of Spain again to tag along on my aunt and uncle´s vacation for a few days...before meeting up with a French boy who I bring back to Madrid for two weeks of relaxing and simply enjoying each other´s company (I´ll be taking care of my grandma then as well and finding a home/job in Vancouver for September).

Did I mention there´s a maid who makes my bed, does my laundry, and cooks me lunch every day...No but seriously, being a brat aside, I´m really looking forward to Grandma time, boy time, and good ol' fashioned Madrid time...One of my favourite cities by far.

Thank you Auntie Anne for all your hospitality, you have helped more than I could have ever imagined:)

I hope I can repay the favour one day