Follow up story on our Madrid trip
It took some days but I had a lot of sorting to do as well as rest up after the trip so everything comes in parts spread over the next weeks probably. I'm surprised that I'm actually quite happy going through these pictures now while that I had a bit of a negative and stressed feeling coming home. Now that I see all the pictures again, at least I can see the nice moments and the smiles and memories made with my cute little one, who's growing up way too fast!
The evening before
I thought I had planned it quite nicely having a departure time in the morning, not too early and definitely not too late. The evening before, I tried to make sure most things were ready but I surely didn't get everything sorted until last minute. I was afraid I'd forget things as the toothbrush and my whatnot. Either way, everything for the little one was ready, including her full outfit for the trip:
I asked her if she'd prefer wearing her comfy outfit (aka trainers and vest) or wanted to wear a dress and her jeans coat. Without a doubt the answer was her dress and I made sure it was all ready for her in the evening so she could get dressed herself as soon as she'd wake up.
With this being my first flight without my boyfriend with me and also with a kid alone, I was a bit nervous that I'd end up at the embassy and not have everything sorted. So after 10 double checks in the past week, I went through it all again that evening, lol. I mean, it's not a cheap trip to get a passport renewed and I really didn't want to come back for anything that was incomplete.
Waking up
The nice thing about flying from a smaller airport is that you can arrive an hour before your flight leaves and not worry about not boarding on time, even if there are queues at security. I also didn't have any carry on luggage so that makes the process quicker as well. We were supposed to arrive one hour before departure but ended up getting there 20 minutes earlier because we didn't know if maps was accurate about the time it took to get there, after all it was more or less during rush hour that we'd leave.
The alarm was set at 6.30 for me, and then every 10 minutes in case I had issues waking up as I had some last minute packing to do and check if I didn't forget my charger and such. I woke up our little one around 7 with another 40 minutes or so before we'd leave, I know that's enough time because on a school day, we have 45 minutes max and usually time left, that's including breakfast.
Breakfast in Madrid!
I didn't want to delay things and said we'd eat in Madrid as the flight was going to be in a few hours, and just take one hour and a bit so we could easily just eat something upon arrival. I knew taking some bars could end up in being taken at security although I have to say that I didn't check the food stuff exactly as I just never take any. I'm aware of the liquid rules but not sure about domestic flying and rules with food in plastic still. I now realise that at the return flight I had food bars in my suitcase, so now I know, haha.
Drive went smooth
Yes, there was some traffic and it was crowded, gosh I'm grateful for not having to commute every single day on these roads. We arrived at the airport and were dropped off and I had to capture this moment because in the end this is the first flight with just us two. You can probably guess I took way too much looking at the luggage. You're right, I'm always worried about what to take, lol.
What now?
As I said, it's a small airport but I forgot to ask my boyfriend if I should even go to the desk of just go straight to security. We walked to the desk and our suitcase received a label with a corresponding number on it, the lady explained it's a small plane so all the suitcases go there because it's too small to get all of them on board. I repacked a few things just in case, I prefer taking electronics and chargers with me so in case anything happens, I can recharge.
We sat at the little cafe for a bit because I had to get a new bottle of water to take on board. I can't do without water, not even for an hour so we had to buy it. Sadly we were stupid to buy it there because it was cheaper in the duty free store so we noticed after passing that on our way to the gates.
Just a short wait
The time flew by honestly, before we knew it, it was time to board and we were outside walking to the plane within 10 minutes or so.
It all went a lot faster and smoother than expected, and even though the queue seems long, all went better than I expected.
I admit that I started to get a little nervous about the flight because of the runny nose my daughter had and her ears possibly becoming an issue during the flight, but I was hoping for the best, that's all we could do at that point.
The flight
We left right on time and within a few minutes the stewardess came to bring this cute book to keep the kids busy:
It kept her busy until the end, great work there from the staff! Btw, there was no pain upon departure, or during the flight.. This was such a relief!
Pictures from the plane
I always like to check what's below us and it keeps amazing me that we have such great weather at one place while looking at snowy mountains.
This was the only picture that was worth sharing from the flight to Madrid, all went smooth and before we knew it we could stretch our legs again. Which was a good thing because even after just a short hour of sitting in those not so comfy chairs, I already felt my back was nagging me to get up. My watch notified me as well but we were already landing so I had to wait to get up and move.
Madrid airport
I had this whole plan of getting our travel passes on the airport and then leaving to the lockers I rented for both days to shop first and then later go to the hotel because the room wouldn't be ready until late in the afternoon. Well, it already went haywire trying to find the stupid location of the travel passes and we were instructed incorrectly, and I already got annoyed in the first 20 minutes.
I didnt even count the time it took to get from our gate to the metro of the airport. Gosh, I was already feeling resistance in my back and hips while I woke up without any pain that day. Thankfully, by absolute coincidence because we were pointed into another direction, I suddenly saw the place to get the travel passes so point one of my list upon arrival was done. Next: food!
We were very hungry
I saw the sandwich prices at our own airport at 8.50 euros each and thought they could shove it where the sun doesn't shine because that normally pays for a full breakfast for us more or less lol. Much nicer to eat at a nice bar and have a toast than a sandwich at the airport that's way overpriced.
Then we saw the prices at Madrid airport: 12.50 euros! Oh my god are you for real? I quickly made it clear that we were not going to buy anything at Madrid airport and had to get off the airport to find a place to eat.
Cold!
We entered the metro and were freezing (compared to our climate here at the coast lol) we were shivering seriously. I quickly changed my plans from going to the Sol station where we'd have a locker to finding the nearest restaurant at the first stop where we'd have to change metro lines.
I was so happy to find out that Honest Greens, where I really wanted to eat at least once, had one just 750 meters or so from the station. This sounded very doable so we changed plans and were trying to get there as quickly as possible. This was a quick picture during our walk to Honest Greens Castellana:
At this point, I already noticed how much of a burden the trolley was on my back, especially outside instead of a smooth surface and having to carry it up and down several staircases. I felt hungry and a bit desperately overwhelmed and we had just arrived.
To be continued...
All pictures are my own...
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Airport food is always overpriced and not worth it! I don't blame you. I'm glad her ears didn't plug up, that's no fun at all! Madrid is more expensive than I remember...
!PIMP
I know it's overpriced but actually seeing the difference between our airport (which I already found way too expensive for what they looked like lol) and then another 50% added on top at Madrid airport was a bit shocking. I guess they get away with it and have way more travellers there anyway..
How long has it been since you went there?
Life has gotten so expensive anyway lol
Honestly it was just before they adopted the Euro. Madrid was cheap because they were still using the Spanish peso. Once the Euro kicked in everything just got so expensive. It's part of the reason I haven't travelled much to Europe since then!
You must be killin' it out here!
@thebighigg just slapped you with 5.000 PIMP, @thisismylife.
You earned 5.000 PIMP for the strong hand.
They're getting a workout and slapped 2/2 possible people today.
Read about some PIMP Shit or Look for the PIMP District