What is the start of a vacation without a minor glitch or two? No boarding pass available online or at the kiosk, so we had to wait in a long line to check in at the counter. We arrived at the airport three hours before departure so no big deal.
We spent a lot of time yesterday organizing our carry-on and under seat bag so we wouldn’t be over weight. It is amazing how quickly you can accumulate 10 kilos! You never know whether it will be weighed but the counter agent never checked and the small amount that we were over didn’t become an issue. One glitch averted!
When we checked in, the seats we selected and paid for, on the aisle nearer the front of the plane, disappeared. The plane was full (a 787 Dreamliner) and the new seats we were given weren’t too bad but only one was an aisle seat. Once boarding began, the gate agent was able to secure a second aisle seat and we were both happy. Second glitch averted!
The ten-hour flight was easy. As I write this, we are almost half way to Madrid. It looks like we will be landing earlier than expected, 4:20 AM instead of 5:00. It will be challenging to figure out what to do until we can check in at our hotel.
We arrived in Madrid and could both go through immigration in the EU line because I have my Czech passport. They didn’t give Jim a hard time using his US passport, so it was very quick and easy. Forget about getting a bus into town. They don’t run early enough. A taxi ride was much easier and we were taken directly to the hotel.
For those of you suffering with the heat in Ajijic, the high in Madrid will be 76F and currently, at 6:40 AM, it is only 50F. Brrr!
The hotel is nice, well-located, and the staff was very pleasant about checking us in and arranging a clean room earlier than the normal afternoon check-in. The desk was just waiting for guests to depart to help us out.
By 9:30, we were in the room, charging all the devices (thank goodness for lots of plugs) and hopping into bed for a few hours of sleep. It came quickly…