So much has happened in the last 72 hours, and I have been way too busy to find time to sit and type it all out! But I know that if I don't write about it soon, I will forget about what has happened. So here goes, the first leg of the trip.
I got to Pearson airport 3 hours until departure, and said goodbye to my parents. Not a sad goodbye, because I was way too excited to begin this trip. I headed past everyone in cue to the Air Transat club class check in, and checked in fine (no overweight bags for me! hooray!). Once my bags were checked, I went through security very quickly. Everyone working at the airport seemed very young and chilled out... the security guys were all joking together about something. It kinda took the edge off the whole security experience, but was also a little weird (its supposed to be an intense process for safety purposes!). After that, I walked around the airport trying to find two items: a refillable water bottle to purchase (I didn't bring one) and a scratch bingo card to pass the time. They don't seem to sell either in the airport (the bingo card I was a little suprised... I mean, they do sell alcohol in the airport, why not lottery-based items!). Then I surveyed my meal options for dinner (finally settling on a parisian baguette sandwich which wasn't that good). I ate and tried to pass my time watching 30 rock episodes. Then I tried to walk as slowly as possible to and from the Starbucks near the front of the terminal to kill more time. I still ended up having about 2 hours in the gate area to wait (my plane was delayed an hour). Everyone around me was talking about the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrimage across nothern Spain. It seemed like most of the people on my flight were doing it. I popped a gravol and tried to pass the time with a steamer and my kindle.
Finally we boarded the plane, and I took my seat in Club Class at the front of the plane. I was most definitely the only person under 60 in Club Class. I ended up sitting next to an old lady (who had my window seat!). Her name was Elsbeth and she was pretty cool. She has been traveling all over the world her whole life with her husband. Her husband had died recently, and she still travels to pass her time. She was telling me about good stores and restaurants to check out in Barcelona if I went there. She also kept ordering me and her wine (she said "c'mon, live a little" and I can't say no to an old lady). When we first got our seats and waiting for takeoff, the flight attendants passed out sparkling wine and these really great travel kits (blankets, neck pillows, eye masks, earplugs, lip balm, hand lotion, toothbrushes and toothpaste). When we were up in the air, we got these little snacks and chocolates before they put on the flight's movies (the best exotic marigold hotel - which my old lady seatmate loved, and night at the museum). I watched parts of the first movie but then I fell asleep for the rest. I managed to get some hours of sleep on the flight, and by the time I woke up it was breakfast time. The whole flight seemed to go by so fast. Finally we arrived in Madrid at 12:30pm their time, and I said goodbye to my old lady friend.
Navigating through Barajas Airport in Madrid was really, really easy. All the signs were in English and Spanish, and there were lots of pictures and arrows on the ground to point you in the right direction. I got my luggage very quickly, and tried to find out where I could get internet in my terminal. There is not free wifi in this particular airport, like there was in Pearson. They had these little internet stations that I paid 2euros to use, only to find out that Facebook blocked these stations, and I couldn't use my email on it either because my password contains a character that wasn't on the keyboard. Then I found a "use wifi here" section of the terminal, which ended up being an area that you buy wifi if you wanted to. Moral of story- next to impossible to use the internet in Barajas airport.
I got to Pearson airport 3 hours until departure, and said goodbye to my parents. Not a sad goodbye, because I was way too excited to begin this trip. I headed past everyone in cue to the Air Transat club class check in, and checked in fine (no overweight bags for me! hooray!). Once my bags were checked, I went through security very quickly. Everyone working at the airport seemed very young and chilled out... the security guys were all joking together about something. It kinda took the edge off the whole security experience, but was also a little weird (its supposed to be an intense process for safety purposes!). After that, I walked around the airport trying to find two items: a refillable water bottle to purchase (I didn't bring one) and a scratch bingo card to pass the time. They don't seem to sell either in the airport (the bingo card I was a little suprised... I mean, they do sell alcohol in the airport, why not lottery-based items!). Then I surveyed my meal options for dinner (finally settling on a parisian baguette sandwich which wasn't that good). I ate and tried to pass my time watching 30 rock episodes. Then I tried to walk as slowly as possible to and from the Starbucks near the front of the terminal to kill more time. I still ended up having about 2 hours in the gate area to wait (my plane was delayed an hour). Everyone around me was talking about the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrimage across nothern Spain. It seemed like most of the people on my flight were doing it. I popped a gravol and tried to pass the time with a steamer and my kindle.
Finally we boarded the plane, and I took my seat in Club Class at the front of the plane. I was most definitely the only person under 60 in Club Class. I ended up sitting next to an old lady (who had my window seat!). Her name was Elsbeth and she was pretty cool. She has been traveling all over the world her whole life with her husband. Her husband had died recently, and she still travels to pass her time. She was telling me about good stores and restaurants to check out in Barcelona if I went there. She also kept ordering me and her wine (she said "c'mon, live a little" and I can't say no to an old lady). When we first got our seats and waiting for takeoff, the flight attendants passed out sparkling wine and these really great travel kits (blankets, neck pillows, eye masks, earplugs, lip balm, hand lotion, toothbrushes and toothpaste). When we were up in the air, we got these little snacks and chocolates before they put on the flight's movies (the best exotic marigold hotel - which my old lady seatmate loved, and night at the museum). I watched parts of the first movie but then I fell asleep for the rest. I managed to get some hours of sleep on the flight, and by the time I woke up it was breakfast time. The whole flight seemed to go by so fast. Finally we arrived in Madrid at 12:30pm their time, and I said goodbye to my old lady friend.
Navigating through Barajas Airport in Madrid was really, really easy. All the signs were in English and Spanish, and there were lots of pictures and arrows on the ground to point you in the right direction. I got my luggage very quickly, and tried to find out where I could get internet in my terminal. There is not free wifi in this particular airport, like there was in Pearson. They had these little internet stations that I paid 2euros to use, only to find out that Facebook blocked these stations, and I couldn't use my email on it either because my password contains a character that wasn't on the keyboard. Then I found a "use wifi here" section of the terminal, which ended up being an area that you buy wifi if you wanted to. Moral of story- next to impossible to use the internet in Barajas airport.
