Spain- 1st installment.

 Our trip was eventful.

I promise not to bore you with every picture

and every occurrence of the trip.

I will make a concerted effort

to condense the fascinating lives

of the tourists in Espana'.

Feel free to snooze 

through the boring parts.

 

 

 

Day one:

Well we left early in the morning on Friday

and set off to Chicago O'Hare airport.

We arrived early with time to kill.

Linda wanted to find a different book than 

the one she had brought along.

She said she really wanted to read

Water for Buffalos.

She settled for Water for Elephants.

I flew straight to Madrid and then to Alicante.

The airline switched my ticket in Chicago 

so I had only a 2 hour layover in Madrid, 

not a 6 hour one in Oveido before Madrid.

Great news.

I sat for over an hour on the runway in Chicago

but the rest of the flight was smooth.

Joel met me at about 1pm Spain time.

We took a city bus then walked to his apartment

to leave my luggage.

We went up hills, 

twisted and curved  through streets

all the while climbing up hills.

My carry-on had no wheels and it was a long trek...

especially after 24+ hours of  travel.

Finally after 40 years, Moses

a while, Joel

took the carry-on and I took the wheeled one.

We left the bags and

we wandered around the town

 

 

 

and down to the beach and harbor.

then stopped to get a soda.

We needed to meet the others around 5:30

to meet their flight so we didn't do lunch.

We met them, 

but there was no luggage.

They waited and waited.

Finally we accepted that their luggage was lost.

They had delays in Chicago like I did 

which caused them to miss their flight in London.

They had to get a later flight.

We figured the luggage took the earlier flight.

We got the rental car,

then we went to meet his host "mom" 

and head to the condo.

We had an hour to drive to the resort.

Check in was to be at 8 p.m.

We had a heck of a time getting to Joel's place.

The roads are one-way roads and

they are not set up on a grid.

 stock photo

Since Joel doesn't have a car and walks everywhere...

he was at a loss of which streets would allow us to get there.

We wandered around forever trying to find 

a street to get us to the apartment,

then find a street that would let us park.

Just when we were about to give up

and park and walk

we found a way.

The lady who Joel lives with speaks only Spanish

so Joel interpreted for us.

We visited a short bit.

She called the airlines about the luggage.

They said it was found in Alicante

and would be delivered

that evening or in the morning.

 By the time we were loaded and ready to leave

it was going to be too late for check- in.

We called the condo and told them we would be there by 9.

They were leaving at 8 but said someone would stay.

Seriously, what resort has no one in the office.

We drove and drove. 

The roads are not marked well.

They are random to say the least.

 Signs are often at your first turn and your third turn

but not at your second turn.

I am certain the person who designed the roads

is/was a complete and total idiot

They drive in kilometers, not miles per hour.

We saw lots of these speed signs

 

 

After wandering back and forth down the same road

we called the resort and confessed we were lost.

Our paperwork had directions

but they didn't correspond with signs we were seeing.

The resort worker was not helpful.

They told us a road number like 374 B to follow

We could find 374 A but never B.

They said go to the Harbor etc...

We see another speed sign

 

 

and Jackie seriously says "well, we are on route 80"

We died. 

Linda said maybe it means 80 miles to Target!

We were punchy and it was getting ridiculous.

We passed a strip club at least 4 times.

Up and down a road past the same strip club...

El Quixote.

We were driving in circles.

We called the resort again.

We eventually arrived,

and checked in then

seriously circled the dumb lot 3 times trying to find the unit.

It was on a hill with three different drives into it.

Apparently the same road engineer designed it.

It was after 11 when we arrived.

No luggage there.

No place open for a quick bite or drink.

We ate our crackers, almonds, 

and Fiber One bars

we had packed for flight snacks

for our dinner. 

We had complimentary packets 

of instant coffee and tea bags.

We hit the sack around 2ish Spain time

(which was about 5pm Sat US time)

 hoping the Easter Bunny would 

bring the suitcases and some American coffee.

Tomorrow the saga continues...