Typically, didn’t sleep the night before travelling – up between 2:30 and 5 a.m. and was in a deep sleep when the alarm went off at 6:15. Coffee to resuscitate then carb-heavy breakfast on the terrace before heading out to the airport with Mardi & Rob (Seattle, going to London for a few days), Tony (Vernon, same flight to London) and Ray (White Rock, Iberia Express flight to Madrid to overnight then will be on the same flight to Vancouver via Montreal tomorrow). The Edmonton contingent of 4 left this morning at 2:30 a.m. We are dispersing like dandelions in the wind.
Marrakech airport was a-hummin’ but no long lineups until the boarding areas. Changed Moroccan currency to Euros as you can’t change them out of the country then through security; a bit confusing as they have different rules and didn’t explain but got through eventually. For some reason the status update on Ryanair online had the boarding gate as gate 5 instead of gate 9 which was also confusing. There were few places to sit near the boarding gate and it’s one of those airports where you walk out to the plane and climb rickety steps to board. There was priority boarding at a price but it was a joke as everyone got onto a bus and were bussed out to board so there was no order to the boarding, practically. I had an extra legroom seat and it turned out to be the bulkhead – bonus! and nobody in the two seats beside me so it was a pleasant flight. Took 1.5 hours to get to Madrid with a 2 hr time difference.
Terminal 1 in Madrid airport turned out to be very quiet so proceeded through customs and immigration without stopping – the joy of being at the front of the plane! Baggage retrieval was also quick so I was able to phone the hotel to find out where the transport shuttle was in short order. That part also went smoothly – it’s a bit spooky after all the glitches on the way here – the shuttle van appeared in about 10 mins. and delivered its passengers to the hotel in another ten minutes. Glory be, the hotel had my request for a quiet room and I am at the back on the top floor. There is a pool out back, and an area of green artificial turf beside it which had a pleasant breeze and was nice to sit out on. Dinner in the overpriced restaurant was at last non-tagine with some protein – I do love tagine but 16 days in a row has made it less desirable in the immediate future. I will try it with some fish or tofu at some point, but not for awhile…
And on the journey went. Shuttle to the airport again 9:15 a.m., check-in at AC, through security and the obligatory duty free; to the lounge to get some breakfast; onto the plane and into the pod. Duty frees are such a scam, they take the profit that the govt. normally takes so it costs as much if not more there as it does outside…. Air Canada was 1.5 h late leaving Madrid so connection was tight in Montreal – there were a lot of people running after deplaning. I high tailed it to the departure gate, which was literally on the opposite end of the airport, of course, and found out when my boarding pass was rejected that I had been rebooked on another flight FIVE hours later without consulting me…. I had 25 mins to spare at the gate, I got there when my zone was boarding so I figure it is Air Canada’s responsibility to deal with the luggage since it was their fault we were late…. went back to booking and complained and miraculously a seat was found on the 6 p.m. flight. I was told my luggage wouldn’t come with me, but got a notice just before leaving that the bag was put on board. A little time in the lounge in Montreal (a very basic one) and then finally the last leg home, another completely full flight and crazy lineups to get on. Bonus though, there were pods on this plane so got a few zzzz’s en route, as it will be 6 a.m. Madrid time when the plane lands in Vancouver. Baggage came out fairly quickly – last leg to catch an uber and finally decant in familiar surroundings. We are done, bar the clean up!
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