Adventures on Thursday

It has been an interesting day. I got all packed and organized this morning, or so I thought. I got to the bus station to get my bus to the Madrid airport, about a 2 1/2 hour ride. Only it turned out it didn’t go to the airport, this bus pulled into one of the city’s bus stations. Yikes. I have a plane to catch. So I’m talking to the bus driver about the fact that we are not at the airport and he is explaining only the odd hour departures go to the airport. Some guy over hears this conversation and tells me about a train that goes to the airport from the bus station and would be leaving momentarily. I wasn’t will to risk how long the train would take, and how far I would have to walk from where the train stopped and the terminal. And he was in a hurry to catch the train, so I didn’t want to detain him while I practiced my Spanish.
So I went to the bath room. First things first, then found a cab. Well my euros were in the bottom of my suitcase because, according to my plan, I wasn’t going to need them until we went to Amsterdam. So I’m asking the cab driver how much, approximately, it would cost for the trip to the airport because I might need to get some money from the suitcase. So we worked out that I had enough in my pocket. A guy overheard our conversation and was telling me I should have my money in my pockets, not in my suitcase cause it could get stolen, the cab driver is putting my suitcase in the trunk and telling me it was safe, which I already knew, so off we wentHad a little conversation with the driver about how he was from Avila, the city I visited last week end, about Salamanca where I’m studying Spanish and about the City of Madrid. He complimented me on my Spanish, said he didn’t have any trouble understanding me. Yea!
So I get to the airport and go to check in and the lady tells me my carry on is too heavy, would I like to take some stuff out. I said I didn’t have any place to put anything. I had three coats, a bag stuffed with bears and stuff and my carry on. So I go to dive into my suitcase again to get Euros to pay to check my luggage and realize I can use my credit card, in the middle of standing back up, she says, “oh, never mind.” And let me go on.
So I get to security, use three trays to load up my shoes and bag, my computer then take three trips to carry all of that along with my carryon bag over to the conveyer belt to go through the scanner. I walk through the little portal. Ding or buzz goes the machine. I feel in my pockets and find my cell phone, so I pull it out, the security person takes it from me and she proceeds to do a full pat down search. Then I scurry over to get my stuff and take three trips to get it over to the tables. I start to reorganize and realize I don’t have my cell phone. So I proceed to look through all the pockets of my various coats and realize they were going through the scanner when I pulled the phone out of my pocket. So I go back to the conveyor belt thinking I’ll probably get shot because you’re not suppose to go backwards in that system and asked about my phone. A gal said follow me, but all my stuff was over at the table, so she said to get it, no hurry I got my stuff and put on my shoes. She brought over the policeman with my phone and he asked me to identify the pictures. I though he meant the last picture taken on my camera, so I said graffiti on the road into Madrid from Salamanca. He looked at me really funny, then the woman said “Niños” and I realized the photo they wanted me to identify was the wall paper photo. I think you have to cut me some slack here because I was very nervous and the whole transaction was once again in Spanish. Imagine that! At a Spanish airport! What were they thinking? lol So I said “Nietos, estos es me nietos, dos nietos, mi nieto tiene catorce años and mi nieta tiene cinco años.” So they let me have the pone. The guy said that the fact that the phone color matched my hair was probably proof enough.
So I find the gate and get on th t attendants e plane. There is hardly anyone on it, so there was lots of comfy room. In the middle of the flight the pilot came on the intercom and announced that the flight attendants had gifts for all of the women on the flight because it was International Women’s Day. They gave us each a box of chocolates. Wasn’t that sweet. We deplaned on the cold tarmac and took a shuttle bus over to the terminal. I went through to the baggage area to meet the guy who was supposed to take me to the hotel He wasn’t there. I checked all the signs that people were holding and none of them had my name on them. My flight had gotten in a little late, so I waited five or ten minutes and finally decided I needed to dive into the suit case again to get the hotel address so I could get a cab. Just as I did this the driver showed up and took me to the hotel in a comfy Mercedes. I was met by the guy who runs the hotel and he came up, showed me how to work the keys, gave me half hour tour of the area and then when I asked for directions to address I had for the AA meeting he proceeded to walk me there and made sure I knew how to get back to the hotel. Did I mention that we have a one bedroom apartment that is huge with a refrigerator, dishwasher and coffee and tea supplies, And it has a view of the clock tower.
So I went to the first English speaking meeting I have been to since January 26. I was just so thrilled to be there. It was great. On the way home I got a sausage, rye bread and mustard and some potato dish with sauerkraut. Eileen came and we went out so she could get a bite. And now it is bed time. Love you all.

 ·  ·  · 22 hours ago near Malá Strana, Hlavni Mesto Praha