Last trip of summer

This week, we made one last trip, before school starts again, and we're caught up in homework, activities, routine.


I flew out to Brussels on Saturday to see my friend Cee and her daughter, Ais. I wrote about Ais and the operation here. We had a lovely two days together, timed so Ais was home from the rehab unit for the weekend, and I could give her a massage as promised. Ais is doing really well, she walked 15 steps, on her own . It's still awful to see her struggle so much to make just one step, remembering how she would run around, and it's hard that she needs a wheelchair for outings, but it's a big improvement in a short time. Thanks to everyone who has prayed for her, and kept them in your thoughts.

We chilled out, our only outing to a bookshop-cum-restaurant. That's a whole other post.



When looking at the return flight, I just couldn't face the "silly o'clock"/ 5am at the airport" start. Ryanair had lovely, cheap flights to Madrid from Brussels, so I decided to make a detour on the way home. The girls flew out from Dublin to join me- their first "alone with no adults" flight.











We loved Madrid!










Perfect weather, friendly people, and lots of good food









- all the ingredients for an enjoyable break.















We didn't do a "whirlwind", preferring instead to savour fewer activities and leave some for a future visit.



















But we did do the bus tour, just to get a flavour of Madrid,

and we saw what I think is the most beautiful train station in the world