Barcelona is such a nice airport, so modern but I only had a hour and a half before the next leg to Madrid. Madrid is huge. I had a four hour layover here but most of the time was taken queuing for check in and then trying to find my boarding gate. I thought I would get my VAT tax refunds here but the queue was too long by the time I found the boarding gate. I had to ask for help eventually to find the gate because I hadn't quite grasped what the Emirates check in person had explained. Down two floors and catch a train sounded straight forward but I had missed the part about RSU on my boarding pass being the gate area. I had to take a train for 20 minutes to get to the area and then a further 8 min walk to boarding gate. There had been plenty of signs directing me to RSU! Madrid to Dubai was pleasant and I met Matilda from Sydney on a gap year after finishing her VCE. She had had some interesting times in Thailand when she had her passport and wallet stolen had been visiting relatives in Holland and was off to South Africa to stay with friends who own a game park. A lovely, lucky young Australian. This was a two hour stopover in Dubai.
I then met Judy from outside Mildura and believe it or not, we talked for the whole leg (6 hours) from Dubai to Singapore. A few small bottles of wine were consumed in the process, a small indulgence I haven't engaged in beyond 1 glass of wine with dinner for a few weeks. She was a very interesting woman who had been on a three week holiday in Italy and Germany. The time went so quickly we hardly noticed it was time to get off. An hour at Singapore and then a 7 and half hours to Melbourne. We decided to nap this leg and I finished reading the book Burial Rites. I didn't watch one movie over the whole return journey. That is a first for me.
We landed at the freight terminal at Tullamarine and were bused from the plane to the international terminal. As we were at the back of the plane we were the last off and had to wait for the disabled passengers before the bus could take us to the terminal. Judy was getting cross because she had booked a shuttle to take her to Bendigo where her husband was meeting her to drive back to Mildura and she was going to miss it. The next wasn't till 11:00 am. Once at the terminal however we were processed pretty quickly.
I quickly bought some duty free goods which I had been putting off all the way home. I had felt so overwhelmed by choice and lacked enthusiasm for shopping. (It is hard to comprehend but I really haven't bought much and haven't wanted too either, except for the shoes I haven't really seen much I wanted. I hope that feeling lasts!!). I used the electronic reader with my passport and customs asked about my wooden frogs and waved me through. In all it was about twenty minutes that part. Poor Judy missed her bus by 3 minutes though!
I was greeted by Jonathan and Ziggy who made me feel really glad to be home after he called out 'Gramma!Gramma! ' when he saw me. He couldn't do that before I left. We went back to their place and Clare cooked a fabulous omelette and we all ate breakfast together. I played with Ziggy for a bit and he was quite taken with his George the pig soft toy ( a character from a preschoolers English TV series called Pepper the pig). On to home and Nick and then alone at home with 15 piles of mail neatly stacked on the floor for me to review! REALITY.
Being so warmly greeted by my family and my friends reinforces my feelings of gratefulness and appreciation for the privilege of being part of their lives. I am a lucky woman.
Now for the next phase of my life: Living as a retired from work but not LIFE person. I have a head full of plans but for once I don't have to squeeze them in around a job . I am making a list to work through steadily over the future weeks with babysitting Ziggy top of the list starting tomorrow!
Clearing the study so I can start writing, organising my photos, and keep in touch with all my new friends is another priority. But first the mail. Arrgh!
Thanks to everyone who followed my exploits and encouraged me to keep the blog. It has been a wonderful way to keep communicating with you and new friends met along the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment