Spain and Beyond!!!!!

November 12, 2018 · by Dano · in Spain

Time to find our way to the airport and our Air Portugal flight to Madrid, Spain. It’s an early morning flight, 9:00am, so we’re up fairly early for this group to catch our taxi. Giving ourselves plenty of time because you never can tell about airports these days, particularly in Europe. For example, clearing passport control can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 2hrs (Charles De Gaulle airport) and the screening lines can be a breeze or rival the entrance to a Rolling Stones concert.

Today, we’re somewhat lucky. The big hold-up is getting your own luggage tag and dropping off the bags. Air Portugal uses a computerized system to scan your passport, compare that to their passenger list and issue a luggage tag for your destination. Seems simple enough except the tags are flimsy, this becomes a problem later, and trying to figure out the subtleties of the process takes time.

Got the tags, put them on our bags and scanned them on the self-check. All worked well except the conveyor system needs to read the tag to determine where to send your bag. Can’t read the tag if it folds over so it rejects your bag and sends it back out. After more tries than we could count, got the first bag accepted. The trick was to lean into the machine as your bag went through and hold the tag up so it could be scanned. All they need to do is add this to the instructions and everything would be fine.

Went through security in short order, except for me, I set off the alarm every time with my metal hips. After a friendly little pat-down, a squeeze and a hug, the young man that molested me said I should put my hips through the scanner next time. Ha, funny guy.

The flight takes about 1.5hrs so not a long flight, just enough time to get bored with flipping the table tray, adjusting the air, turning the light on-off, you know, the usual stuff. Was going to put my seat back but on Air Portugal, the seats don’t recline. Matter of fact, they’re pretty damn close to each other. Fortunately, they served a meal during the flight to take your mind off being cramped. Barely finished mine!

Certainly not Home of the Whopper

And I thought Ryan Air was tight!

Arrived Madrid and our ride was waiting for us just outside customs. Customs. Used to be you got a country stamp when you entered a new country. They would ask where you’re going, how long you plan to stay and do you have anything you would like to share. Then they’d whisk you off to Immigration who wanted to know what’s on the bottom of your shoes, been on a farm lately, any fruits, nuts, vegetables, meats, fish, poultry, illegal skins or shells, ivory, or endangered species in your suitcases? But now, there was a rope across the Immigration area and signs directing everyone out the exit. Maybe it was siesta time.

Arrive at our humble abode, at least for the next month, and unpacked our belongings. Fortunately, this is a 3-bedroom apartment giving us plenty of space to store our fruits, nuts, vegetables, meats, fish, poultry, illegal skins and shells, ivory, and endangered species that were in our suitcases.

Second bedroom w/trundle bed

3rd bedroom w/trundle bed

Living room

Master bedroom w/queen bed

Kitchen with dishwasher and clothes washer (not in the same machine)

El vecindario (neighborhood)

This afternoon we’re going to do a little exploring of the local market, Mercado San Miguel and Plaza Major. Tomorrow we’ll adventure out a little further, probably to Plaza del Sol, who knows.