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| From October Morning |
Checking my flight information showed the flight still on time so off I went to the airport.
The taxi driver got me to the airport in plenty of time. He complimented me on how little luggage I had for such a long trip. Please take note of that as I bet a lot of people thought I would need a suitcase just for my shoes :-)
Anyway, I was there in plenty of time because the flight was delayed by an hour due to weather both in Minnesota and in Atlanta my first destination city.
As it turned out we left the runway over two hours late. We only had a 3 hour total window before our flight to Madrid. We were a little panicked to say the least. I was traveling with a co-worker who thankfully had been to the Madrid office before. He was kind enough to schedule his trip to match mine so I didn't have to try to figure it out all for myself.
Arriving in Atlanta we had a long way to go to get to our Madrid gate. We landed in concourse A and had to get ourselves to one of the last gates in E. (Of course)
About 4 gates from where we needed to be the announcement came that they were doing a last and final boarding call for Madrid. According to our watch the flight wasn't supposed to leave for another 25 minutes. Let the running begin.................................
I have never been more thankful for a family complete with Grandmother, HUGE baby stroller and lots of bags blocking the gate entrance. Baby's passport was not to be found so they were holding up the doors being closed to the plane.
Deep sigh of relief we were on our plane!
And we were off. It was a fantastic flight. No turbulence (yay!) Excellent chicken dish served for dinner. Really, honestly, the dinner they served to us was yummy.
I didn't sleep on the plane but I did enjoy watching Star Trek (the newest movie) and a little of Transformers 2. I also scored a three seater all to myself so I was able to at least lay down and close my eyes for a while.
Morning came too quickly and we made a smooth landing in Madrid.
My first impression of the country was that I had actually stepped off in Southern California. Industry, big freeways, lots of cement, and graffiti. Brown hills, cactus, and flowering plants exactly like in California had me a little confused. But all we saw was the area between the airport and a north eastern suburb that is heavily industrial. We have not gotten anywhere near the beautiful heart of Madrid. That will happen this weekend.
The hotel we are at is just beautiful. And the office we are working in is equally as beautiful. The people are wonderfully kind and accommodating. And the coffee is to die for.
Two other co-workers arrived Monday so there are four of us here.
For our first night out we headed to a beautiful shopping center about a mile from our hotel. We enjoyed a nice dinner, a dessert to rival the food of the gods, and then the requisite window drooling at the shoes.
After a lovely walk back I headed up to my room. I had been awake a full 35+ hours and I was looking forward to curling up with a good book and falling asleep as soon as possible. Eventually sleep did come and it was a wonderful restful and deep sleep.
Morning light comes very late in Madrid. We all met for breakfast at 7:30 and headed for the office at 8. We walked in the dark.
Here are a few pictures of my hotel room. I have not yet taken photographs of the area around the office and hotel. Those are coming soon:
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