Off to Madrid

The worst thing about long flights is the long flight. What to do with yourself. Read, write, listen to music, doze, eat, drink, pee, and repeat. You can quote me on this.

Before I get going on the travelogue I have a few thoughts and rants on human behavior and our little shells that we wrap ourselves in. People in cars feel isolated and in many cases are unaware that anyone else exists on the road around them. These are the ons who pull out in front of you or cut you off or simply stop in front of you. Sometimes I write it off as a lack of situational awareness but I suspect it is more; there is a general lack of awareness or even care about what they are doing.

Similar behavior can occur in people while they are walking. Today in the terminal at O'Hare there was a blockage in front of a flight departure board. People just stopped and looked up at the display without a thought that they were blocking traffic. Oblivious to the people trying to get by them.

Oh, then there are the line cutters. They can be on foot or in cars but they must have the same mentality. We were boarding and our group was called, we got into line and watched a young couple rush to the front of the line and push their way in.

End rant begin travelogue.

Marge was kind enough to drive all of us to the airport, picking us up at our house than Lee and Peg at their house. She dropped us off and we got our bags check and trough security without a problem and then headed to Macaroni Grill for a nice, easy lunch before boarding. See above for a boarding comment. After we were seated and the plane was ready to go there came an announcement that becuase someone had not boarded, their luggage had to be removed from the plan. Almost an hour later they anounced that all of the luggae had to come off and be rechecked. I suppse they had issues finding the problem bags. We ended up pulling back from the gate at 6:26, almost two hours late. I was amused that we pushed back from the gate with no announcement and people still wandering the aisles. Luckily we are just flying into .Madrid and don't have to worry about a connection. Last year we departed about an hour late and we did miss our connection to Paris. This year we just spend two hours less in Madrid.

The flight was uneventful but long. Both of us got sleep in here and there and we are all ready to be off the airplane.

We are in Madrid!