I do know that there are worse things in life than being stranded in Barcelona, even on a cold day when you're running low on cash. I know that you can't incorporate the possibility of a volcanic eruption grounding flights into your travel plans. But I am still surprised to find myself still here when I should, at this moment, be in the air on the way home.

We're going home overland, leaving this afternoon. We will catch a train to Bilbao, then a bus to Santander, and on Monday, we'll start to make the 29 hour ferry back to Portsmouth. I will then have 38 minutes to get myself onto the last train of the night to Truro, so I should arrive home in the very early hours of Wednesday.

It's all turned into quite an adventure...