We got off to an early start to LAX today, thanks to our good friend Mike. He has frequently volunteered to give us a ride to the airport and I think it is mostly because he feels guilty about kicking my butt during our weekend cribbage matches. Today we are beginning a visit to see our daughter, Erica, who lives in Madrid.
Today I fell victim to the risk of traveling from a warm climate to a cold one. I was very comfortable in Mike’s car but when I exited I realized that my jacket was safely resting on my bed at home. No problem I thought, I’ll just buy a jacket at the airport. Ha! The only thing I found was something that might keep me warm in Northern California but certainly not in Madrid in December. One thing that did warm me up was looking at the price ($699). I messaged Erica letting her know we will need to stop at a men’s store soon after arrival. She said the magic words, El Corte Inglés. For those who’ve never been to Spain, ECI is the shoppers heaven. They have everything. From high end men’s and women’s clothing, sporting goods, jewelry, to groceries. Mind you, not everything is in one place. They have multiple stores around the city so you need to know which ECI store has what you need but as I said they have it.
Our flight was wonderful. We flew on Iberia Airlines. The flight crew were very kind and I managed to get a little sleep. We arrived on time to Madrid. Getting through customs was a breeze. I went for a run in the morning but got a second work out at the Madrid airport. I’d estimate the walk from the plane to baggage claim to be about 1500 steps. In spite of that long walk and need to go through customs we still had to wait for our luggage. I texted Erica an update saying I think our bags might have been on a different plane because we had been waiting such a long time. We didn’t see anything on the conveyor belt for another 25 minutes after that comment. Total baggage wait time about 40 minutes.
After finally getting our bags we saw the sight that brought us to the country, our daughter, Erica. She was kind enough to pick us up at the airport and was very thoughtful to turn up the heat in the car and get me to a store so I could buy a survival jacket. Instead of ECI we wound up going to another local favorite, H & M (actually based in Sweden and not Spain). They had a variety of jackets for me to choose and I found one that cost less than the tax would have cost me for the jacket at LAX.
How do we look?
Sorry, I’m a little batty. I didn’t sleep much on the plane. I need a nap. Erica has plans for us tonight so I’ll say good night and talk to you tomorrow.
Adios.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 