June 1-15, 2016.
June 1.
I'm not going to say "by popular demand" because no one has requested it. But I've been thinking about it, and figured I might as well. This trip was a huge deal for me and was a long time coming, as before I started "catching up" on my travels, the second-to-last post I made was me sharing that I was going back after six years. If you've followed this blog (and me) since the beginning, you know what I mean.
I grew up in this city. Well, kind of. I actually spent two-and-a-half years more or less in Leioa/Getxo (lived in Leioa, went to school in Getxo, and my friends lived in Getxo) which is a municipality northeast of Bilbao along the river. It marked my childhood and my life in countless ways, not least of all because I met my longtime best friend here, who's still managed to be a part of my life despite so much time away.
After going through some dismal experiences in my life that I won't go into (some self-inflicted due to poor decision making and others slightly less so), I really, really needed this trip. I was working at Toys R Us at the time (R.I.P.) and had two weeks vacation, and booked this trip before I even knew that our department was closing. And when I found out, in made me even happier to be going. That train ride to JFK after pulling a half-day at work was one of the most exciting experiences I'd had in recent years, and I'm one of those people who loves the lead-up and travel to the airport in general (I guess I'm weird, but whatever).
So anyway, I got to JFK, albeit a bit early, and sat, and waited for the plane to arrive, board, and take off.
