Confessions of A Working Girl

So thursday and friday I spent the days running around, packing and seeing friends for the last time. It was a little sad, since I like Salamanca and all the people there.ISA had a bus leaving Salamanca at 1:30 am that would take us to the airport in Madrid–a two and a half hour ride away. Usually she went to bed by 11 or so, but this night my host mom stayed up with me, waiting. I had to take a taxi from the apartment to the meeting place for the bus, since my bags were so heavy. My host mom called the taxi for me, then we had to say a quick goodbye–which was good since the taxi was arriving outside just as I got downstairs and to the door. The taxi only cost €8 so that wasn´t too bad, considering that it was about a ten minute ride.At the airport, the group split up almost immediately, since most of us had different flights from different airlines at different times.  I found my flight easily enough. I decided to go through security early, since it sounded like a pain, and no one from my group had flights in the same area. It was a good thing I did…the actual gate for the flight was like a ten minutes walk from security!Once I got on the plane, it was only a little over an hour to fly to Barcelona. And the time went quickly, since I met a girl named Karol, who was also from the US. She said that she works on a yacht, and so travels a lot. What was really funny was that she went to the college that’s closest to mine, and last summer was even working off the coast of cape cod!When we got to the airport, Karol helped me figure out where I was supposed to go, and helped me find the bus to get to the second terminal. But since her flight was from the first terminal, we thought it would be safer for her to stay at that terminal, since we weren’t sure exactly how long the bus ride was. (About five minutes) I found that flight as well. When I got there, there was no one in the line to check bags, but there was no one at the counters either. So I just waited, figuring that that was easier than waiting somewhere else.A few people got into line behind me. And they moved to the lines to either side, since they thought that there was a chance that the other lines would open earlier, since an airport worker had sat at one of them. The people were really nice–they let me move over to the front of the first line that started moving! I couldn’t quite understand everything they said, but I think that it was because they knew that I had been waiting there the longest. I went to check my bag, and was told that it was 6 kilos overweight, and I had to pay €60–ten for each kilo overweight. The first airline had also known that the bag was overweight, but they hadn’t said anything. Plus they let me get through security with my water bottle full. This airline did not. On the bright side, my seat mate was one of the nice people from earlier. =)The airport in Mallorca wasn’t that big, and since my bag had gone straight to Hamburg,  I didn’t have to go through security again. A good thing–at that point, I probably would have screamed. Mostly with frustration. I ate the sandwich my host mom from Spain had packed–”it’s your last one.” she’d said–and then waited for the plane. My seat mates were both German, but they spoke English and were really nice.The plane arrived in Germany about ten minutes after it was supposed to–maybe we’d left a little late? I was really surprised in the airport though…there was nothing saying where to check in near where I’d come in. So I followed the signs that said ‘baggage claim’, waited about 20 minutes for my bag, then was able to leave, free and clear, without checking in. How odd! When I had arrived in Madrid three months ago, there had been a check in on the way to the baggage claim area, and you couldn’t get to the second without going through the first. Not here though.

1 Comment » AUnt Roz:

December 23rd, 2010 @ 9:57 am You didn’t have all of that check in cause you were travelling within the EU as opposed to from another “country.” It is like travelling between states there.

Your host mom sounds as if she was very sweet.

I’ll be interested in hearing how your Germany visit went…