La vuelta

(This is an entry I wrote on Jan 6th and forgot to post!!)

Hola readers!

Today's blog entry comes to you from a bus that is currently somewhere between Zaragoza and Logroño. A sign has just wished me a 'Bienvenido a Navarra', but where exactly I am, I don't know. Now, I don't normally write blogs on buses, but the driver of this one was adamant that my hand luggage couldn't actually come on board with me, despite my protestations that my computer was in it. His solution was for me to take everything valuable out of the case and put the rest in the hold, which has resulted in me sitting with the laptop on my knees (and me making a bit of a spectacle of myself trying to separate my luggage).

I can't be annoyed though, I was convinced I was going to miss my flight to Zaragoza because I had a really tight connection in London, but by some miracle, my first flight arrived early. Gracias, Easyjet!

My time at home was short, but it was great to see my friends and family again! Thanks to all for making it so great :) Also, as always, it was a pleasure to:

• Have a proper cooked breakfast/ a roll and square sausage.*
• Have a cup of tea made with Scottish water and fresh milk. (Made with the aid of my beloved kettle.)
• Cure hangovers with Irn Bru.**
• Go into a shop and be able to explain exactly what I wanted, without getting flustered about how to say anything.
• Shop in Glasgow and walk down a bustling Buchanan Street.
• Go to a card shop. I literally spent about an hour looking at cards yesterday because there's no such thing as a card shop in most places in Europe. I also got distracted by mugs with my name on them and ended up buying one because it was on sale.

* square sausage is a really Scottish thing, I don't know why you can't get it in England?!
** For an optimal hangover remedy, the Irn Bru should be accompanied by the aforementioned cooked breakfast.

And just as I took a taste of La Rioja back to Scotland, I have brought a taste of Scotland back here. In my case I have -

• 100 tea bags (plus a new kettle and that mug)
• 10 sachets of porridge
• One packet of Bisto
• A box of vanilla fudge
• And 4 tins of haggis!  I wonder if anyone here will dare to try it...