Day 2: Thu 15 Sep - London to Madrid

Walk: 4.9km

We landed at Heathrow T3 a bit before 6am, then made the trek through T3 to the T5 transit bus queue. I was in no hurry at all as I had seven hours to wait in London before my connection to Madrid. Once in T5, I had to go through security again and had to have a pat down as the body scanner said I had metal on me. The wand found the underwire bra and so did the lady's hands! Nothing else was found, and I was on my way. The last time I transited through Heathrow was back in 2010, and it was busy then. I don't really like crowds, especially in confined spaces. As my flight was only at 1:05pm, it had not been allocated a gate yet, so I made my way to The BA Lounge Southside, and made myself at home.

Five and a half hours later, I made my way to gate A1, only to have to wait again. They wanted people with big wheelie bags to check them in to make more space for those with littler bags. Only a few cam forward, and then when it came time to board, of course, there were about 10 bags that could not fit in the overhead space. So, they all had to get off, go back to check-in gate and have a luggage tag printed. Our boarding had already been delayed by 20 minutes, and this took another 45 minutes, so we were well and truly delayed. 

I was not complaining as I was trying to book a train ticket to Seville tomorrow morning. Having the extra time on the ground and I managed to secure a seat, albeit in First Class at three times the price of cattle class. I was really surprised that all trains from Madrid to Seville were sold out. It is a Friday though, so there may be lots of weekenders holiday in Seville?

We landed at Madrid an hour late, then had to trek the TS terminal, to find passport control, then the train to the baggage area. Also had to pass through the COVID check point where you present you Spanish COVID QR code. Picked up by suitcase off the carousel and made my way to the taxi rank. Did a bit of gesticulating, Googling and Google Mapping to show the driver where I wanted to go. Eventually got to the hotel (Ibis Budget Madrid Calle 30; couldn’t afford justify anything more expensive for only one night) about 6pm, making it 33 hours since leaving home. I unpacked a few things and tried to stay awake as late as possible.

About 8pm, I decided it was time to shower and hit the sack. Another full’ish day tomorrow with respect to travel.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 8: Wed 21 Sep - Seville

Image
22-32 deg C  Walk: 7.3km Was awake early again this morning so went down and made myself a coffee at the 'grab and go' in the lobby and went back up to my room. There were no presentations that I really wanted to attend, however, walked in with Jane and Ann to FIBES and met up with the Head of Corporate Communications and Advocacy and the Board Support and Co-ordinator so try and fix up our web page and make some information for MEPS members only.  Walked back via the supermarket for another Caesar salad for lunch; we do get lunch as part of the congress, however, it is a stodgy bread roll with various fillings, a packet of crisps, a chocolate bar, bottle of water, and sometimes a piece of fruit. I wanted something a little healthier. This one was not as good as the one I had the other day though, but still fed the worms nicely. Spent the afternoon doing the MEPS 70th anniversary photobook, and playing with different coloured backgrounds to get away from the military green in ...
Read more

Day 16: Thu 29 Sep - Singapore to Brisbane, 10h35m

We landed about five minutes early, and after a mid-length walk (good to stretch the legs), I was in the Singapore QC, that although has undergone a few renos over the years, essentially looks the same as it always has, maybe a bit bigger. Although the layover at Singapore was three hours, you have to be at your departure gate no less than 45 minutes prior to departure. I normally have a shower when at Singapore, however, elected to go without this time and just relax. Upon checking-in to the QC, I was informed it was about a seven minute walk to Gate C15 and I should leave the lounge at 7:45pm. There are no boarding announcements in this lounge so it is up to you to make your own way there. As soon as I saw the Gate was open I headed off.  After passing through the scanner again, me and my bags, complete with bag of fluids out, it was then a 20 minute wait for all passengers to pass through security and for the non-ambulant passengers to board. Finally on board, seat 6K on the A33...
Read more

Day 1: Wed 14 Sep - Home to Brisbane to Perth to London, 33h05m

Image
307km (3h45m) drive from Home to BNE Airport (4h35m wait), 5h30m BNE-PER  (2h wait); 17h15m PER-LHR We left home at 4:45am and arrived at Majestic Caravans a tad after 8am just as they were opening, to drop the van for a check-up. We then parked next to Maccas and had breakfast, and took a wander over to the AirSafe tow hitch man. He reckons we don't need an AirSafe, rather another kind of hitch that helps in cushioning the dolphining effect and is an eighth of the price.  We left Caboolture about 9:15am. Despite the traffic on the road, it all flowed nicely and the trip didn't take as long, and we arrived at the airport a little earlier than expected at 9:45am. And, the check-in queue was not as long as anticipated (maybe everyone is abandoning QANTAS for other airlines?) I had checked-in last night, however, had not been issued boarding passes, so after a short wait, was checked in all the way to Madrid. Minutes later, I was in the Brisbane QANTAS Business Lounge having anot...
Read more