Off we go over the wide Atlantic, March 5, 2024
The airport is about a 45-minute drive from my house. My suitcase was packed; the passport was checked; because of the possibility of traffic issues with known road construction, we left about noon. They said be there three hours early for international flights and mine was to leave at 4:45 PM. We got to the airport before one o’clock and I checked in with American. They are partners with Iberian Airlines. They said the miss match of my name and my passport was not a problem, however, the information we had about a problem with the trams at Miami airport was news to them. So, I said, I’d deal with it in Miami.
Waiting for three hours in the waiting area of ABIA is not great entertainment, but I got a lot read. The plane was not full until another plane had to be cancelled. The crew had timed out. Airline crews are limited by the Federal Aviation Authority to 8 hours duty out of 24. All those people had to be rebooked to get to where they were going. Our plane to Miami filled up fast. The woman I sat with was heading to the Caribbean. She hoped they didn’t get told they had to spend the night in Miami.
I must note that airline seats are not comfortable. The cushions are sat on just about 24/7 and they weren’t very thick to begin with. Sleeping in economy is tough. On my flight to Europe several years ago, I was fortunate. I was seated at the front of the section, three seats across, but, I was the only passenger in that row. I flipped the seat handles up and strapped into the middle seat belt, pulled my feet up and slept all the way to Barcelona. This time, my seat was on the aisle, a charming family from San Antonio were in the other three seats. I had planned on changing my shoes, wrapping myself in a warm shawl, and cozying down to sleep. HA! Economy seats nowadays have so little room between the rows, changing your shoes can only be done in the aisle. I saw one young woman doing that. The food was reasonable, however, having white rice without a sauce may fit the bill for my low sodium diet, but it is messy.
Miami is a huge airport with lots of ramps, long halls, and no moving sidewalks. We found they had gotten the trams running. I had introduced myself to a family who I heard talking about the flight to Madrid and made some friends. Pedro and his wife Miri had been in Austin to visit their daughter, a University of Texas student. He is a big barrel of a man who speaks some English. Their daughter Estrella also spoke English, and with my limited Spanish, we managed. Pedro and Miri are engineers in a town near Madrid. He insisted I was not to carry my backpack. We hiked about two miles to find our plane’s gate. We sat and chatted about languages and living in Madrid. I had made a friend but when we got to Madrid, I got off before they did, and citizens were processed differently. I did not see them again but was able to give him my business card. I am not sure it had my email address on it. Sigh, friends in passing, good friends, quickly not seen but never forgotten.
David met me at the airport. We took an Uber to the hotel we thought. The driver had dropped us off at the wrong hotel. Our hotel was just a couple of streets over. Madrid is the second largest city in Europe. I was not prepared for how big it is. It has freeways, heavy traffic but dozens of narrow streets in the old city. There are no blocks in the old city. We checked in and then took a walk to the Natural History Museum anticipating a visit to the reproduction of the Altamira Cave. The Museum was open and full of facinating prehistoric artifacts, but the cave replica is only open in the early morning. We toured the museum, then went looking for a restaurant for tapas.
Tapas is a traditional afternoon or evening snack among the Spanish. It is a collection of “small” servings of food that is eaten to stave off hunger until dinner at 8 or 9 o’clock. Everyone eats late here. Small is a relative thing. We had a plate of Spanish Ham, thin shaved slices of dried pork. It is a bit like eating raw bacon. The plate was similar to a regular dinner plate. Not a small serving to my mind. We also had a plate of deep-fried fresh sardines, and a plate of slices of tomato with slices of tuna. We washed it down with spiced wine and lots of water. For us, it was supper instead of an appetizer for a later supper. We walked back to the hotel through busy streets since people are out and about after what we Americans call the close of day.
We both slept well but the football (read soccer) crowd in the sports bar down the street was really noisy. Madrid Real won. I didn’t need to look it up.
