9am – Group meets downstairs, checks out, and calls a cab. Col is the last one to stagger out. He doesn’t look good. Caitlin is surprisingly cheerful despite being known for getting cranky if she gets no sleep.
10:00am – At the airport, checkin, say goodbye to Horacio and Mario – this is a sad moment. It’s been 5 years since Carlos last saw his brother and nephew, and who knows how long it will be this time? There might be a few watery eyes.
10:30am – We’re at the gate, waiting for our 11:20am flight. Suddenly it flashes as a new time. It’s been delayed one hour, and will leave at 12:20. We’re miserable and tired, but okay.
11:30am – The flight screen changes again. The flight is now due to leave at 1:10pm. We start to get worried. We are flying to Madrid to check in for our flight home. This is not a connecting flight (we booked in separate to our main ticket). Carlos goes to talk to the staff at Iberia Airline about our problem. They don’t care. They tell us the plane will definitely leave at “1:25pm” this is yet again later than the screen. We start to panic. We were supposed to have 4 hours at Madrid airport to get our luggage, change terminals, and check in. We now will have less than 2 hours. We don’t know if it’s possible to make it.
12:30pm – Carlos is on the phone to Lufthansa (our airline home) explaining the situation to them and asking if it will be a problem – do they think we will make the plane? They tell Carlos that they always allow 2 and a half hours at Madrid airport to make the change we need to make. Carlos tells them we will have less than 2 hours. They say it probably can’t be done. They recommend we change our flights to the following day. This may only cost us 100 euro. The group is not sure what to do. They tell Carlos to call Madrid airport, to check on availability of flights back to Australia the following day.
12:55pm – We still haven’t boarded. Carlos is on hold to the airline in Madrid. They’ve left him on hold for over 10 minutes. We are all sitting dejected and anxious. What do we do? We’re about to board, and Carlos is still on the phone. We haven’t got time to change the flights over the phone now, and we don’t know if they will let us do it once we get there late. Meanwhile we’re still trying to calculate exactly how much time we’ll have in Madrid – is there any chance we can still make the plane? It seems doubtful, but not impossible.
1:05pm – Carlos finally hangs up and rings the airline back. Meanwhile, our plane starts boarding. Carlos frantically starts talking to a woman to explain our situation and get them to make a note about our late plane. Elli is standing at the front of the gate, anxiously yelling to Carlos, who is still sitting on the phone. We’re the last people to board. Finally, Carlos hangs up and we race onto the plane. We have no idea what awaits us in Madrid – will we make the plane? Will we move flights to the next day? Will we get stuck with no way home or have to buy a new ticket? We’ve all had absolutely no sleep, so we’re not in a good state to handle this situation. I tell Elli that I’m so tired I can easily start to cry when we get to Madrid (in case this helps our case). I think we’re all delirious.
2:45pm – We land in Madrid. Our plane lands in Terminal 4, but we need to check in at Terminal 1. They are not close together. I suggest that Carlos goes directly to Terminal 1, to explain our plight to a check-in person, while the rest of us wait for the bags. Everyone agrees to the plan, and we split up.
2:55pm – We’re still waiting for the bags. The three of us (Elli, Col and me) stare at the baggage machine and will it to come out. We glance constantly at the clock, and wonder how Carlos is going. We’re torn between hope and terror. I keep coming up with possible ways this could still work out. Col is not so helpful. I tell him to practice his optimisim. Maybe our next plane is delayed and we’ll all make it?
3:10pm – Still no bags. We start making a pact with the Gods of the Airport. We promise them all sorts of things if they’ll make our bags come our straight away. We also start fantasizing about living in the airport like Tom Hanks in the movie ‘terminal’. Then we start reminiscing about the movie ‘Castaway’ and how sad it is when Watson (the soccer ball) dies. Yes, we are completely delirious at this point. The bags still do not come.
3:20pm – the bags finally emerge. We grab ours, and run like mad people to the taxi ranks outside.
3:22pm – We split up as there’s too much luggage. Col and I take one taxi. The first one refuses us as my suitcase is too big, and he won’t let me put it on the backseat. The second one takes us. We get in before telling him where we’re going. When I finally tell him, he is angry, as it’s a short distance. He doesn’t want to take us. He speaks no English. I apologise and ask and smile (in my dodgy Spanish) and he starts driving. Meanwhile Elli’s cab driver also refuses to take her. In the end she has to offer him triple the usual fare.
3:30pm – Terminal 1 is miles away, but we finally get there. We jump out of the cab and run inside. “Lufthansa?” I shout at an info clerk, “300” he says (the number of the check-in desk). We run.
3:35pm – We finally make it to the check in desk. It’s less than an hour to our flight. Carlos is waiting. We run up to him, filled with terror – he smiles. “Boarding passes!” he says! Thank God.
3:40pm – Carlos has already chatted to the right people and gotten our boarding passes. They check in our luggage straight away. We’re in. The relief is palpable. We’re almost delirious with happiness.
4:10pm – We board the plane, and I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to get on a plane to go home from a holiday. I love you Europe, but I don’t want to stay here quite that much just yet!
Meanwhile, we still have over 20 hours of travel ahead of us, and we’re totally exhausted and delirious, but at this point, we’re just happy to be going home.
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