DAY 1 and 2 (Betsy and Mae)
We will try and make our account of the first two days interesting. Waiting a few days to write this blog has made all the airport traveling blur together, but her we go. We got an early start from Rhodes and spent the following two days mostly in airports We made a four-hour layover in Dallas fly by with magic card tricks (courtesy of Laura), games of mafia, several frustrating riddles, and power walking tours of the airport. “It’s the airport sign, betsy’s shoe, and Paula’s shirt”…. Try and figure that one out, needless to say our brains were hurting after that. Some favorites were the Brookstone store gadgets, that consisted of a translator, which we really regret not having now on the trip. Good thing we have Zoe.. Ben and Jerry’s (where half the team enjoyed a nutritious snack), and the ‘relaxing station’, which Maddy and some others happened upon and took a nap before our long flight. A Cow and I (Mae) went on a hunt for yogurt covered pretzels, and we finally found some at smoothie king, where I also made my best combination yet gummy bears and sour patch kids. We devoured them in the thirty minutes we had before we boarded our long never-ending flight. The 9-hour flight amongst mainly Spanish speaking people provided for many memorable moments. We were scattered amongst a large tour group that was hard to miss in their matching lime-green shirts. Beth Ann found out they were traveling to see the Pope who will be in Madrid during out stay. Shannon and Mae had the prime time flight experience in the back row… small space, chairs that didn’t recline, and flight attendants that weren’t very attendant after all.
The food was an experience in itself. All of us, except Melissa who slept through dinner, enjoyed pasta with cheese the consistency of Styrofoam, rock hard bread, but a yummy brownie to round it out. We finally landed in Madrid, all out luggage soon followed but no showers. We wouldn’t check into the hotel until the next night. We freshened up in the airport bathrooms and headed out for a full day in Madrid. Exchanging money took up the first hour in the city, but we had a few left free to wander, shop, and find lunch.
Some of us had a cheap meal at a small pizza place right by a city square with fountains. Vendors around this busy area set up shop with their knockoff purses and sunglasses set up on blankets. They stand there holding the strings attached to the corners of the sheets until they see policia in the area, then they move quick, snatch the blanket up into a bag and sprint away. We were lucky enough to see all this unfold on our first day in Madrid.
Others had a different lunch experience…
A group of 6 from the team decided to stay more close to home and dine in “Nebraska”, a restaurant not quite blending in with the rest of the Spanish cuisine. Apparently, though it sports an English name, the staff have not picked up on the trend and there were some translation issues from the outset. We were lost in translation when Mae realized that we had to ask if the fries were fried in peanut oil… Zoe took on the challenge, and Mae survived. We all asked for water, and realized that the bottle were 6 dollars each. The water was GREAT and a bit too expensive, so Steph and Mae decided to stuff the glass bottle in their bags on the plane on to Barcelona. Zoe Shannon and Mae had a club sandwich and didn’t write know how to break it to the waiter that the bacon was a tad bit undercooked. We were all starving so we would have eaten anything, even if that meant going to an American restaurant in the middle of Spain.
After a BEAUTIFul afternoon in Madrid, we prepared to set off on our third flight of a verrry long day to Barcelona.
We have somehow rambled on about these two days for a while so we’ll pass it off to Melissa and Laura to tell you about our first day in Barcelona!!
No comments:
Post a Comment