Up at seven thirty in bright morning sunshine, the last jobs to do, apart from squeeing the last items into my suitcase and re-checking everything. First, sheets into the washing machine, then sweeping the floors, and sorting the contents of food cupboard and fridge into unopened for storage or opened for giving away, relatively easy as I finished off all the fresh veg in the weekend's cooking.
Kath emailed me my BA boarding pass for tomorrow's flight, and somewhat reluctantly I loaded the BA app on to my Blackberry which displays it conveniently, saving me having to print it out. That's what I already did with the Vueling boarding pass to be sure. The BA website actually say that you don't need to have a printed version.
Then came a surprise email from EasyJet, saying that they were about to refund my home flight of 28th April. That took seven weeks! That will offset the cost of the BA home flight tomorrow, just as the Vueling flight cancellation credit offsets the cost of today's to Barcelona. There's actually not that much difference. I have a night in a hotel to to pay for, but as this was forced by Vueling's cancellation of the Tuesday flight without notice, I think making a complaint will cover that cost!
Jayne arrived at noon, with her lovely little grandson Oliver on board. She's looking after him, and he's no stranger to the airport. Such a pity there are too few flights taking off for his delight today. As I took leave of Anthony, he was still doing battle with getting the sheets washed. The machine's routine had been interrupted and restarted, and seemed to have taken all morning to finish its load. Just when you least want it to!
Half an hour later we were at the airport and I was checking in. My case weighed sixteen kilos, that's the heaviest I can recall for a locum journey, but it did contain cold weather clothes, raincoat and travel food. Jayne and Oliver stayed with me until the security check gates opened for business before we parted company. The waiting area has a large picture window overlooking the runway, and beyond it the Salinas, which I visited with Sarah and Anthony on last Wednesday. No takeoffs for Oliver, but we were treated to a yellow ambulance 'Samu' helicopter practicing landings, right in front of the window 200 metres away.
Nearly found months since I last passed through airport security, and I made a mess of it. Usually, I arrive well prepared and breeze through, but not this time. The worst thing was having to take off my belt. Trousers which fitted my when I arrived, I now had to hold up to get through, and forgot all about dinero in by back pocket. The staff were very patient with me. They weren't under pressure with so few passengers boarding the first of only five flights today.
No bars or restaurants were open, only automatic soft drink and vending machines. The were lit up and gave the illusion of working, but rejected cash and card payments for others many times before delivering the goods. Figuring out how it worked was a guessing game for the uninitiated. I waited near a machine and saw many would be customers give up and walk away in frustration.
The flight left ten minutes early, so we landed at El Prat at five to two. It was wonderful taking off over the Salinas, and being able to look down on the coloured patchwork of salt pans displaying different levels of mineral concentration. A pity my cameras were packed away for the few fleeting seconds of our ascending passage. The sight with stick in my memory. Next time, I'll at least have a smartphone camera in my hand.
We landed the far side of the airport from baggage reclaim and the exit which takes you to public transport, more than a kilometre to walk. I rang the hotel and was told the shuttle bus is no longer running. Too few users to making it worthwhile offering the service, I guess. There was a bus, but it would have meant waiting 20 minutes in the heat, so I took a €20 taxi instead and the poor driver missed his turning. He got lost in a warehouse zone and had to use Google maps to bale himself out! That awful voice which anglicises if not mispronounces foreign name places. He told me he was from Pakistan, but we spoke in Spanish.
It was good to check in, to have a quiet room where I could clean up, and eat the rest of my lunch at tea time. Then I went for a walk down Avinguda Remolar on which Hotel Ciutat del Prat is located. Only a handful of food shops were open, there was continuous stream of light traffic not many people were walking, and all were masked. I felt good about walking out on a fairly normal main street again. The last time I did was three months ago when I went into Ibiza order my police check certificate. Since then I've only been into San Josep and Sant Antoni a few times, and there were few people out and about on any occasion.
When I got back to the hotel, as the bar and restaurant area was quiet, I went an ordered a Vaso de Tinto, my first wine since before I got sick three weeks ago, a Penedes Cabernet Sauvignon. It was good and I really enjoyed the simple pleasure. One was enough.
I ate my evening picnic, talked with Clare for an hour, then walked around neighbouring streets for half an hour as it got dark. There's a giant Mercadona and a Lidl side by side about 300m from the hotel, and opposite them a huge chemical factory. I can't imagine what's made there. El Prat del Llobregat isn't far from the sea shore, as I recall, but the town has expanded inland into the vast industrial zone of the coastal plain south of Barcelona. This area has heavy industries, but much of the land is taken up with warehousing and distribution centres. Every brand name you can think of is there somewhere, but its all rather soulless and ugly. And when sea levels rise, there will be big trouble for the local economy in a region which was once salt marshes and is now mostly under concrete or asphalt.
No comments:
Post a Comment