Disaster #1

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I understand why people don't travel because it's such hassle when things go smoothly, but factor in the fact that NOTHING EVERY GOES SMOOTHLY, and it's enough to make a grown man cry. We had planned out the initial flight into Spain fairly well, or I should say Ruth did. When you have kids, you need to factor their needs in first, and one of the hardest parts is the long flight across the Atlantic. For reasons I'm sure make perfect sense, trans-Atlantic flights always leave in the evening and go overnight, so ideally the kids will sleep through the trip and you hope and pray for empty seats, something that is becoming increasingly rare in the modern era of travel.

Ruth is well versed in these ways, and reserved seats in a row such that there was a good chance that we'd get some empty seats and thus, room to spread out and snooze. We had a 3:30 flight into Philadelphia, and a 6:30 connection to Madrid. That left us time to get a bite and brush teeth before our long trip into Spain, but lo and behold, US AIR had not only canceled our flight at the last minute, but they also canceled our connection in Philly. We got to the airport at 2:00 and they told us the 3:30 was gone and we now had 30 minutes to get on the 2:30. To add to the fun, once we were in Philly, our new connection was leaving at 9:00, so we had a five hour layover. Total drag.

But such is the life of travel, and truth be told, Audrey and Nicholas were troopers through it all. I shouldn't even call it a disaster because in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't such a big deal. Then again, this isn't the first time US AIR has done something like this to us, and I have to admit to being somewhat disappointed in their service, both on and off the plane. Sometimes it's a miracle that these airlines can even survive.

One thing that really began to dawn on me during our time in the Philly was that airports can be sort of depressing. All those business travelers, away from their families, eating greasy and disgusting Chinese food (we're guilty of that one) and shopping in what amounts to a glorified mall. It kind of gets me down.

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