So after 3.5 months of backpacking, staying at hostels, attempting to understand languages and cultures, seeing amazing views, and making the most wonderful memories, Michelle and I have made it home safely!
Of course, there is a story behind getting home. It took 3 days of traveling (2 planes, 1 car) to make it home so let me back track a bit. We left Madrid on Saturday the 20th. Our flight left at 5:10 p.m., but the check-in gate closed at 4:40. We left our friend Stacy's house around 3:20ish knowing the subway would take about an hour to make it to Terminal 4 of Madrid Airport (we were told by a source that we needed to go to Terminal 4). On the tram, we both started talking about how chill we were, how blessed we were, how we were ready for the wind down.
We arrived at Terminal 4 with 15 minutes until 4:40. We looked for Ryan Air on the departure screen. Let's just point out that M is proficient at Spanish...thank goodness! Also, Ryan Air does not fly out of Terminal 4; it uses Terminal 1. We jammed with our 30 pound (15 kilo) packs onto the bus that goes from Terminal 4 to Terminal 1. The bus driver was assisting a handicap person and the bus was still being loaded. With every appendage of ours nervously tapping, we had to face our greatest, final test: everything happens for a reason (up until this point we thought we had learned this lesson). We tried to release knowing that we couldn't drive the bus any faster, etc. We ride Terminal 3...Terminal 2, handicap person must be unloaded...Terminal 1. We jumped off the bus and ran into the airport looking for computer screens. We ran to the counter. Time: 4:45! Missed the desk by 5 minutes. The clerk tells us to go to Ryan Air info desk. We ran to the desk. We have a slight chance of getting through security, taking our packs as carry-on, and paying a penalty over-weight fee of 30 euro. We ran to security and pleaded in Spanish to let us get our packs through. We both have our packs, day packs, and a liter of water (so about 35 pounds or 17.5 kilos). They won't let us dump our water so we are forced to down an entire liter each while untying our shoes and throwing everything on the belt. We then have to empty everything out. Luckily, our security officer was quite lenient, but we dumped everything out as fast as possible. The only really valuable liquid we lost was a jar of Spanish honey a couple gave us (and our 2nd corkscrew lost to the carry-on rules). While still zipping bags and without shoes on, we RAN (I mean full leg extension, marathon-style running) with our heavy packs to the Ryan Air boarding gate. Time: 5:17! Missed it by 7 minutes! There was nothing the staff could do. Defeat! I have never tied my shoes so slowly before. We dragged ourselves to the general information desk to see if other airlines had flights. Fortunately, Easy Jet did. We slowly walked to the Easy Jet ticket counter after attempting to bail our honey out of security (no luck). The ticket line was excruciatingly slow, but the clerk was by far one of the nicest service people we had met in Europe (Stacy, she is definitely an exception to your sarcastic Spain: #1 in servicio). We bought 2 tickets that would put us in London at around 10:30 p.m. and in a different airport than before (I had written our hostel directions based on the original airport, but luckily we had already been to London and knew some of the major stops). We waited and chilled at the airport cafeteria and went to our gate about an hour in advance. To sum up this lesson, get your ass to the airport early (thought we had learned that earlier in the trip, but our run-to-every-mode-of-transportation mentality didn't work for us on this one). Total damage: 135 euro each (which was way less than we had expected since it was a last minute booking) plus 44 euro for baggage. So basically, it was around a 157 euro hilarious story and a great workout (and yes, we were extremely sore the next few days).
I wish I could say that adventure ended there, but it didn't. We boarded the flight (there were a couple of minutes where the panic almost set in. We had to get to London because the international flight back to the U.S. is a flight neither of us could have repurchased and there is no other way than by plane to get to London in that amount of time). We landed at Gatwick Airport and bought train tickets to Victoria station. If you have ever been to London you know this next story to be true. If you haven't, let me warn you about the London street and numbering system. We exited the station following the hostel's directions. We took Eccleston until it turns to Belgrave. The hostel's address is 71. Well, in London the addresses go 108 Belgrave and the neighbor's is 2 Belgrave, then 16 Belgrave, then 49 Belgrave. You get the point. Basically, I'm assuming the home owners pick a number they like and run with it. No #71. We back track and come back thinking we missed the hostel. We walked around the entire square that is set at the very end of the street. In total, we probably walked 4 miles (with our packs) until we came across 2 females that had a cell phone. Let me also note, even though it was a Saturday night, the British do not party like the Spanish. It was around midnight, but there was NOBODY on the streets. We called our hostel. We were going the wrong way. We should have turned "right" out of the "other" exit and apparently the Eccleston turns into Belgrave in the other direction. So not only did we have to walk about 20-30 minutes back to the station, we had to walk another 20 minutes to the hostel in the opposite direction. We arrived at around 1 a.m. Our room was completely full with 6 other, sleeping people, so we showered, changed, and packed using the great room (it's amazing how modesty goes out the window with a trip like this). We finally got to sleep around 2 a.m. We woke up at 7 to get to the airport by 9. With minor issues figuring out the tube system since announcements were being played that said the trams were shut down for the day, we finally made it to Heathrow with PLENTY of time. It worked out very well for us. Not only did we not have the pressure of running to catch something (as was the usual), we got upgraded to Premium Economy. Sweet! We had no idea what that meant, but the offer was very appreciated (note: the seats have reclining chairs that have leg supports, the pillows are higher quality, and the earphones are nicer). 10 hours later we made it to San Francisco. It was a bit of a trip knowing that we were back in the States. M's family picked us up at the airport (my original plan was to take a Greyhound back to Reno, but this alternative was much nicer). All of us spent the night at her family's house. The stories just poured out. Once we hit the pillow, we slept hard! Monday morning we woke up, had a hearty American-style breakfast (our last "naughty" meal before we start our serious-anti-Europe-weight-gain regiments), and drove home. I have to admit the tears didn't hit me until we started driving. I can't remember the song on the radio, but there was a chord that just resonated with me. I got a picture in my head of one of our many memories. A quick smile released a stream of quiet tears. I was totally content.
So, it's now Wednesday evening and this is the first time I've had time to actually get a minute (so I apologize for not responding or sending emails). I can't say that I've had enough time to reflect or allow everything to settle. I'm doubting that I've even had time to accept the fact that I'm actually home. It almost feels like I never left...like everything is just a dream. What I can say with my minimal amount of reflection is that this trip was AMAZING! There is not one thing I regret or would change. We lived with very little for 3.5 months and never needed anything. Even in times of high stress (which we handled extremely well if I say so myself), we always kept things in perspective: we had our health, each other, and our adventure.
Here are the tallies: we made it to 8 Western European countries (England, Ireland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain); we didn't have anything stolen; I lost a few non-important items (M only lost items to holes), we only missed one thing: our flight from Madrid to London; we met so many amazing people; we further developed our life skills (I'm confident that we could be placed anywhere and still be able to navigate, plan, organize, respect, learn, and negotiate regardless of the language or culture); we came under budget (only about 70% of the expected cost); we went through 6 bottles of olive oil (and that was just from the end of April), countless bottles of wine, bread loafs, and cheese rounds; we know how to say "cheers" 7 different ways; we never once fought, we could finish each other's sentences and were so emotionally in tune; we have about 1200 usable pictures and 52 mini videos.
So there it is. I hope you've enjoyed the adventure. We lost internet access for a couple of weeks so some stories shall remain to be told. Michelle has put together a photo album, which we should receive in the mail next week. I'm so excited to look back on all of our memories!
Love,
Justin
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
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