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Published: November 11th 2012
We flew out of New Orleans at 1:30 pm and headed to Dallas, where we had a connecting 5:30 pm direct flight to Madrid. We were scheduled to arrive in Madrid for 11 am the following day, where we would then connect to another flight to Jerez de la Frontera which would bring us closer to Rota.
The flight to Madrid wasn't the most pleasant that I've ever experienced. We were on a rather small plane, even though it had 3 rows with 2-3-2 seating. The first leg (about 3 hours) of the trip was over land, so we went from Dallas to around the DC area before reaching the Atlantic. Once we got over the Atlantic, I fell asleep. I'm not sure how long I was out before I was startled awake by a "CODE RED" alert. The flight attendants were scrambling to reach a passenger who was having some type of medical issue. Flying in a post-9-11 world, already puts your nerves at unease, so to hear any kind of "code" on a plane is enough cause for concern. Naturally, my first thought was that we were under some kind of terrorist attack. I remember looking up at
Cooling My Heels
Waiting to board in Dallasthe monitor and noting that we were too far from land to turn back, and nowhere near Europe to press forward. Before I let my imagination (and nerves) get the best of me, the attendants asked if there was a physician on board. Thankfully, there was and the situation was handled.
After things settled down, I tried to listen to some music to pass the time. I realized that the battery on my Blackberry Playbook was quickly draining. I didn't want to arrive in Spain without any power, because this was my main source for picture taking. So I shut it down, and tried to read instead. I had trouble concentrating on that as well. For some unknown reason, there was no in-flight entertainment. I didn't think to ask any attendants why. So my choices to pass the time were limited - read or sleep. I chose the latter. It was a fitful, restless sleep because we were so cramped, despite having a window and aisle seat.
At one point during the night, I looked out of the window and saw nothing but darkness - no moonlight and no stars, just the flashing light on the wing. The
On the Plane
Cramped and ready to get there! monitors were off, so I couldn't gauge where we were over the Atlantic. I felt like we were in some type of black hole where there is no time or space. It was a desolate feeling. Of course, to make matters worse, we started to encounter some pretty intense turbulence. Once again, I was faced with a choice - let my nerves get the best of me or sleep. I chose the latter.
I woke up later and checked my watch. It was about 2 am CST, so around 9 am Madrid time. The monitors were still off, so I couldn't gauge where we were, but I figured with the time that had passed, we had to be somewhere near the European coast. I wondered if that was the case, then why was it still so dark outside. We had to reach daylight somewhere sometime soon. I was beyond stir crazy at that point.
Not too long afterwards, the flight attendants began beverage service, and the passengers started to stir around. I then looked out the window and, for the first time since the flight and night began, had a glimmer of hope. I saw the tiniest streak
of blue in the sky. We were finally approaching daylight and our destination!
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