... And so it begins

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… And so it begins.

Today, October 21st, I woke up at 7:50 am to begin my journey in Spain. The day consisted of driving from Hood River to Portland with Billy to meet up with my parents who drove us the rest of the way up to Seattle. We met up with the sisters and had a nice family dinner, before arriving at the airport to find my second flight from Germany to Madrid had been canceled and couldn't be rescheduled until I arrived in Germany.

My flight to Germany was nearly 11 hours. I sat by the cutest old lady who didn't speak German, English, Spanish, or Dutch, so I'm not sure where she was from. While I was napping she saved me a bottle of water when the flight attendants came around and gave me some m&m's 😊.

When I got to Germany I immediately went to the counter to book a new flight. They sent me to Brussles so I could get into Spain tonight in order to make my connecting flight in the morning. I have been in 4 countries in 24 hours, how crazy! I was bummed I didn't get a stamp in my passport through Brussles (I didn't go though customs) but insisted they give me one through Frankfurt. I can't wait until my passport has no more empty pages! 😊

Currently, I am sitting in the Madrid airport awaiting my flight to Santander. They give you 15 minutes of free internet, so I have used those 15 minutes on both my laptop and kindle, however, I cannot figure out how to take advantage of them on my cell phone. Honestly, I hope this all makes sense because I feel quite delirious. It is 3:39 in Oregon/Washington which means it is 12:39 here in Madrid. I already feel like I am on their time schedule. I am ready for bed! 2.5 hours down here in the Madrid airport, 12 to go!! I am about to go explore the airport a bit, hopefully get something to eat (although most things are closed), and take a long napper.

Post 3 hour nap: I slept until 6am, when everything opened and the airport started to get busy. Last night, it was pretty much dead. I went to get breakfast and explored a bit. Honestly, I love this place already. Everyone around me had a glass of wine along with their morning coffee, two of my favorite things! 😊 My Spanish is a little bit rough... I probably should have been speaking and practicing before I left, oups. This morning I said, “Tengo un buen dia” which means “I have a good day” when I meant to say “Tenga un buen dia” which means “Have a good day”. I obviously realized I had made a mistake and am hoping it is just because I am sleepy.

Random, but interesting things I've noted today:
1.) On the plane from Seattle to Germany, they sold cartons of cigarettes. However, you're not allowed to smoke...
2.) While in Germany, everyone initially spoke German to me until they realized I had no idea what they were saying (I'm surprised I wasn't instantly regarded as an American because I am wearing a North face jacket and Ugg boots).
3.) Although I have been sitting around literally all day I am so tired and my legs are killing me. Thank goodness for advil and lots of snacks.
4.) Here's the link to my old Costa Rica blog: http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Boo-Elise/

I'm mainly posting it for myself, so I can keep all my travel memories in one place.

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