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Published: March 11th 2011
After traveling for just under 23 hrs, (from the moment we left our house until we put our bags down in the hotel room) we are finally here.
For the most part, the 3 flights we took to get here were rather uneventful. In fact, the 2 short flights (3 hrs from Austin to DC and 2 1/2 hrs from Brussels to Madrid) were easy and straightforward. It was the flight from DC to Brussels, however, that took a toll on our traveling mood.
It started out fine, in that all of the passengers were able to board the massive 777 aircraft in time for the 6:02 pm departure time. Unfortunately, all of the luggage wasn't loaded on until nearly 6:25 pm. Once loaded up, the plane left the gate and queued up for the runway. The rain that had been gently falling all day was now coming down a lot harder, and then came the lightening. Once that happened, air traffic control stopped all departures and our pilots turned off the engines. We were advised that our delay should only last 20-30 minutes, but instead it was a little over 2 hrs later before departures were allowed to continue. The entire time, I wondered if we'd be like one of those planes that sits for 8 hrs but no one on the plane is fed or allowed to use the bathroom. While that wasn't the case, by the time we'd gotten the ok to take off, air traffic control had lost our flight plan, and this delayed us another 15 minutes.
All of this delay, of course, caused us to miss our connecting flight to Madrid, but luckily we were given new boarding passes for a later flight.
Since being in the hotel, we've showered, rested, had an early dinner (we ate around 6pm, when the norm here is 8 or 9pm) and took a quick walk around the neighborhood. Tomorrow we plan on seeing a few of the sights here in Madrid.
Rhiannon has done very well for her 1st big trip, and we make a pretty good team. Due to hearing the same morning announcements everyday at her school, she has at least 1 Spanish phrase down - "Mantenga sus manos asi mismo" (roughly: keep your hands to yourself). Hopefully she won't have to use that while she's here, although the Spaniards are known as a passionate people....
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Ginger
non-member comment
Jealousy
Chris, soak it all up and keep the blogs coming. I love Madrid! One of the best summers of my life was spent there. 98 3ra A Fernando de los Ríos was my address. Moncloa metro stop. Lived just above a bookstore. <> Want to go back with my hubby when our kids are older and we can all enjoy it.