Tomorrow's the big day

Tonight is my last night in Spain. I've seen a lot of amazing stuff-- Museo del Prado and Museo de Reina Sofia, parks, plazas, and gardens. I made a special effort to see Guernica for the second time in my life. I remember when Nik and I went to Madrid for the first time four years ago, we stumbled on that painting totally unaware of what we were in for. This time, I figured out which museum it was in and hunted it down. Still, I felt the same magic in seeing it again as I did that first time. It's a painting you really have to see in person to appreciate, I think. If only to understand the scale of the thing-- it's huge! It fills your whole field of vision with blue and gray and black. Its also kind of incredible to experience it with the fifty other people standing in the same room who are as awestruck as you.
My other favorite thing I did was also a repeat from four years ago. I visited the Atocha Train station to see the tropical garden I remembered from Nik's and my first visit. What I don't remember from that visit, but struck me this time is the number of turtles in the pond by the tropical garden! I counted 37 painted turtles on one rock, with many other rocks just like it. There must have been two hundred turtles in a pond no bigger than our kitchen. I heard somewhere that turtles are now functionally extinct in the wild, as a result of their propensity for being very slow and tasty, but I think the Atocha could singlehandedly revive the population of Spain if it wanted. It was bizarre and wonderful.
I leave for Gambia tomorrow! I still can't quite believe it. I think whether I believe it or not, though, it's going to happen. Twelve hours of plane rides is all that stands between me and Africa.