Hola Madrid

Finally the D Day Dawned! 

All the planning and preparation and nail biting had come to a climax! The trip was starting today! WOOHOO! 

‘REACH THE AIRPORT WELL BEFORE TIME!’ Bharathi hair was standing on end and curling and furling like the fretful porpentine, as Shakespeare would say. ‘THEY MIGHT MAKE YOU DO THE RTPCR TEST AGAIN!’ 

‘Eh?’ I said ‘Why would they do that? I have a PCR test already.’ 

‘YOU NEVER KNOW! THEY MIGHT MAKE YOU UNDERGO A PCR TEST, AN X RAY, AN ULTRASOUND, A STOOL TEST, AN HIV TEST, A DNA TEST…’ 

‘Er…my Uber has come…chalo bye…’
I hastily left before she get could get to the stool test and the prostate fingering and so on…

Luckily none of this happened - the Emirates people were very nice. An agent checked my PCR result and waved me on, and the check in was very smooth indeed. I enquired about a free upgrade  (Hey, you never know…never hurts to ask) … but she just waved me away. Bloody phukatchand. 

The flight to Dubai  was very nice - saw the ‘Friends reunion special’ on the plane and it made me emotional and moist-eyed for some reason. Go figure. 

At Dubai I went - as per boss’s orders -  and asked the Emirates people about cancelling the Brazil Dubai sector, and they informed me that while only one sector cannot be cancelled, I could definitely cancel the entire Brazil Dubai Mumbai leg and ask for a refund. 

‘Ah great!’ Bharathi said ‘I will wait till the laaaaaaaast minute - if they only cancel the flight then they will issue a full refund! BUHAHAHAHA’ 

The flight from Dubai to Madrid was even nicer! The plane was a very swanky one - the one with the first class on a different floor altogether - and was a much better vehicle than the Mumbai Dubai one. Wider seats, larger and HD TV screen - and most importantly - it was almost empty! There was only one person in each row and most of them took advantage of Emirates thoughtfulness and stretched out over 3 seats to lie down in comfort! ​

Stairway to heaven - the steps to First class! 

I alternated sleeping and drinking Gin and Tonics and was replete and happy when I hit Spain.
I was not as inebriated as the last time I entered Spain - but the emigration seemed just as happy to see me as last time and stamped me in in seconds.

​I  had filled in the health forms (as per Bharathi’s directions) already and the health guys just scanned the QR code and waved me through. 

Since I was first off the plane, obviously fate had to balance the scales - and my baggage was among the last to arrive. ​

As per HER strict instructions, I went down to the metro level to buy a ONE DAY tourist ticket for 8.4 Euros…  (Why a one day ticket? I had asked in some confusion. They have a 7 day option. DON'T ASK QUESTIONS YOU LOUT! She replied with some heat. I HAVE DONE ALL THE CALCULATIONS! YOU BUY A 1 DAY TICKET AND THEN LOAD 10 TRIPS ON IT! ‘But why…’ JUST DO WHAT YOU ARE TOLD….GRRRRR)
​I went down - but to my surprise - there was no one there at the booth! Looks like all the humans packed up at 5 pm and went home! And it was now about 9 PM, and the place was deserted. 
I finally found a human and he told me to buy from the huge bank of machines. Just put in money and enter what you want and you will get it. Now bugger off and don’t disturb me! 
Ok… I went to the machines rather doubtfully and checked out the options. 
Oh no… all the instructions were in Spanish! But after some observation, I saw an English language option. Goody! But then i noticed that the machine does not accept big notes! Max 20 Euro. And I had only 100 Euro notes!

Hmm. 
I went back to the human and asked for change - but he just waved me off like the would an annoying insect! Buzz off. 
Oh well…why would he? I might be a nefarious guy trying to palm off counterfeit notes. 
What to do now? I was getting hungry and tired. 
Ah! Simple really - I would go and buy a burger from a McDonalds and break the note there. I went up to the departures level and found a McDonalds - I tried using an ATM as well, but it wanted to charge a 5 euro transaction fee! The mcDonalds was a much better option - I got a much needed meal, and much needed change. Then back down to the machines - found the required card -  inserted the money - and bobs your uncle! The machine coughed out a card and a lot of coins. 
Getting to Sol station was a bit of a challenge - I had to take 3 trains and change at 2 intersections…and it was inevitable that I would sit in the wrong train and went the wrong way at one point! Luckily I noticed it immediately and got off at the next station! 
When I finally emerged from my underground lair at Sol - I was completely taken aback! 
The whole square was lit up with a giant christmas tree and lighting and there were hordes and hordes and hordes of people milling around! More crowds than in Bombay! WTF! ​

I checked the time - it was 11 PM! Wow - I had heard that the spaniards are night owls - but this was amazing! 
​
I asked a policeman for directions and finally made to my hotel and woke up the innkeeper. She checked me in and took the payment and gave me a smart card.  ‘This will give you entry to all doors.’ She said ‘Now don’t disturb me ever again!’ 
And that was it! 

I was in Spain! WOOHOO! 

The trip had well and truly started!