We’re still $%^&*£! here!!!

What a day…

Yes, at 1am, on Saturday night, we are still at the Barcelona airport. So lets review today… was it something in the stars? Because economically, stress and anxiety wise, it was a tough day! How could this be? Did Spain just not want to let us go? Or had Nisarga offended the Spanish Gods by fasting for the last 7 days and not once tasting the jamon? He drank plenty of sangria!!! And we had tons, kilos and kilos, of ice cream and desserts! Had we not spent enough money on hotels since we couch surfed so much??? What did we do wrong???

Ok. So as it turns out, at the earrings place the sales woman overcharged us by 2 euro. Yes! That 2 euro we were short at the menu!!! But we only figured this out later. Then when we went to exchange the 2^nd left earring, we somehow dropped the pair of hoops that Nisarga bought in Guadarrama and which he really loved. I guess they no longer wanted to be with us. Of course it goes without saying that had we had a printed copy of the flight information we may have saved on some energy and angst and money. Ok, that’s where we left off on the last entry.

So we are really pressed to get to the Barcelona airport now. Only two options from the Girona airport. A bus into Barcelona city and from there metro, taxi, bus, or a combination of some or all of the above. Or, a bus or taxi back to the Girona train station and train to Barcelona and then metro, taxi, bus combo. Second option wasn’t even really an option because we didn’t have time for the 1.5 hour train ride. The buses were leaving constantly, as soon as they would fill up, and although it would take almost 2 hours, it was a surer bet. And a much more expensive one! The train ride up was less than 6 euro. The bus was 24! Well, ok, good thing we still had some cash on us. Once we got to the bus terminal in Barcelona we realized it was exactly where we had been the day before at the end of our walk before heading to the train station for Girona. This felt oh so cruel. And our bags felt oh so heavier! We got on the metro. We could take it a couple of stops away and try the bus, or several stops away and try the train. We gambled for the bus. A wise decision. As we were walking up to the bus stop there it was, a sight for sore eyes. A bus that said aeropuerto on it! Another 15 euro. Sure! But we were guaranteed a straight shot to the airport, no more getting on and off for us. And just after leaving the bus stop, we passed some sights that I wanted to see the day before but we had run out of time. A little balm on my wound.

When we got to the airport it was 2000. Just on time! We had to quickly unpack and repack, because at the last minute we figured out (yes, we are geniuses) that we could not take a wine bottle in our carry on with us. And no matter what Nisarga said, I was not leaving those behind. Good thing we each had a yoga mat with us… not that we ever used it in France or Spain for yoga… but they make great cushioning for transporting wine bottles in backpacks, since the backpack material doesn’t offer much protection the way other luggage might. So we go to check in at the register. We are each at about 21 or 22 kg. The luggage goes through; we get a boarding pass, and a food voucher. “What is this for?” we ask. It’s so that you can get something to eat or drink, your flight is delayed by 2 hours. What?????????? You gotta be shitting us!!! All this dashing from one city to another, trains, busses, metros, cars, 3 hours later and almost 50 euro lighter and on top of it it’s delayed!?!

Ok, ok, ok. Calm down, at least we didn’t miss the flight! Right, that’s what matters. Ok. Fine. So why is it that it’s 1am and we are still here? Because it’s still delayed!!! Poor Nisarga has been trying to get in touch with his friend Paul who is due to pick us up at the airport. Our expected landing time now? 3am! Ouch!!! Poor Paul.

But here is a silver lining on my rather dark grey cloud; I got another shot at jamon! I wanted a cheese and jamon sub for my voucher but they had run out and I would have had to pay more for the only other thing on the menu that had jamon. But the lady behind the counter took pity on me and gave it to me for the voucher amount. Yuppieeeee! Bless her.

Nisarga tried to sleep some and then started doing some stretching and yoga. I took advantage of the time and selected pictures and wrote on the computer. And finally, with a boarding call just after 1am, Spain has decided to let us go… with an unforgettable last day!!!