On our way to Madrid

This is a late posting.

I slept well overnight and woke reasonably refreshed and ready for the next stage of our journey.  We ate the last of the fruit we purchased yesterday, then went out for coffee and a croissant.  We stayed in the café but the coffee still came in two takeaway cups complete with a lid.  Grrrrrrrrrrr.  Why??!!  Afterwards we walked back to the hotel, made sure we had all our bits and pieces and checked out.  The hotel had taken a USD150 bond when we checked in, which will take 7 to 14 business days to be credited back to our account, which we’re not happy about but it’s out of our control.  We’d decided that the bus at USD3 for the two of us was a better deal than USD60 to USD80 for a taxi to the airport.  It was cold again this morning but not raining and the sun came out as we waited for the bus.  We enjoyed some people watching on the bus, which was way more interesting than if we’d taken a taxi.  It didn’t take us long to check in and then it was the usual wait before boarding.  Tomorrow we’ll arrive in Frankfurt and then fly to Madrid.

There were some things about Houston that we liked, such as the wide streets, the excellent Metro light rail and the wonderful Museum of Fine Arts.  We weren’t impressed with the food or the coffee or the waste associated with food - everything seemed to be in plastic pots and containers, takeaway cups were used for coffee and plastic cups for water, even when eating in the café or restaurant, plastic stirrers were provided with coffee … the list goes on.  We noticed that people would often leave half their meal on the plate and just get up and walk away.  So much waste.

I am way, way behind responding to lovely comments and dipping into blippers’ journals.  The WiFi at the hotel wasn’t good and there hasn’t been much spare time.  Apologies if I don’t catch up for a while.

The street scene was taken as we waited for the bus.  There is a photo of the driverless train we took from Terminal C to Terminal D and looking out the window of the plane waiting for take off. The colourful mural is in a “tunnel” we walked through at the airport - based on an aquarium.