Hi guys,
This is just a quick note to let you know I arrived safely... I just cannot believe how long it took! I woke up at 3am GMT yesterday *having only slept 2h30 the night before, I may add* and I've just checked in, at exactly 3am GMT in my head (i.e. 7pm local time here, the day before).
The queues at LHR were just ENDLESS... I had never ever seen anything like it, and that was from 5am onwards !!! Then we had a 2 hour delay in Madrid, which didn't help... Oh, and I wouldn't recommend Iberia, very basic airline.
I've already got a whole list of tribulations that I won't bore you with (veggie meals not booked, my travel agent had also given me the wrong info to change planes as he had not taken into account that the new terminal would be built by the time I got to Madrid, etc - the said terminal is actually very spacious but has very few shops. They tried to make it very arty with fancy ceilings but it was totally disabling on the glare front, you'd think you're walking on water half of the time, God help anyone with a visual impairment!).
To top things up my hand-luggage fell apart so I had to buy a new compact one just for the camera gear [a mini rucksack with wheels so I could take the weight off my shoulders as all the bits & pieces are so heavy when put together]... oh, and I was almost seated right next to a lady with a screaming 3 years old on her knees but I managed to complain loud enough to be seated somewhere else!
But then we landed, and wow... very humid, very green and the [fairly small] airport is very 'homely' and has got fabulous posters of the country's striking scenery and videos too, for you to enjoy whilst you're in the queue for passport control - very civilised. We were all mesmerised... "5% of the world's bio-diversity is represented in this tiny country, 10,000 different species of plants", etc. I can see (already) that I'll have quite a few mind-blowing facts to share with you all soonish... They even have a 'canopy tour' that you can do, where you can pretend flying like a bird, they strip you up horizontally and send you off down this endless cord that's inches away from the tree tops.... looked seriously thrilling - but fast. But I'd never ever seen that kind of 'sport' on offer anywhere else before... I might be seriously tempted if I can figure out where they launch off from.
I've now just checked into my (very quaint) hotel, driven in by my (very helpful) driver, you'd think I can look forward to a good night's sleep, but I've just realised, reading my itinerary /after he left/ , that I am only allowed 25 pounds of luggage (all in all) for my internal flight tomorrow... and I've got 34 KGS (incl. 4 kgs of camera & snorkelling gear). That's what ? 6 times over.... eeeek.So, I'm currently waiting to hear what we can do to solve that one... as I don't even have a spare bag to transfer into... since I binned my previous one in Madrid. Sod's Law!!!
I've been up for 24 hours non-stop by now (but for 2 x 2 hrs of hours of sleep that I managed to grab on the planes). Let's see what tomorrow brings ! :)
My cab pick-up is at 7am tomorrow a.m. Lots of Love, Sylvie xxx
PS - 2H later... crisis over. Managed to squeeze the bare minimum in my snorkelling bag & camera bag. Still unable to sleep though, even after a long shower, which is bizarre considering I've been awake for 26H... I hope I won't be taking up 'sleep walking' next !!!
This is just a quick note to let you know I arrived safely... I just cannot believe how long it took! I woke up at 3am GMT yesterday *having only slept 2h30 the night before, I may add* and I've just checked in, at exactly 3am GMT in my head (i.e. 7pm local time here, the day before).
The queues at LHR were just ENDLESS... I had never ever seen anything like it, and that was from 5am onwards !!! Then we had a 2 hour delay in Madrid, which didn't help... Oh, and I wouldn't recommend Iberia, very basic airline.
I've already got a whole list of tribulations that I won't bore you with (veggie meals not booked, my travel agent had also given me the wrong info to change planes as he had not taken into account that the new terminal would be built by the time I got to Madrid, etc - the said terminal is actually very spacious but has very few shops. They tried to make it very arty with fancy ceilings but it was totally disabling on the glare front, you'd think you're walking on water half of the time, God help anyone with a visual impairment!).
To top things up my hand-luggage fell apart so I had to buy a new compact one just for the camera gear [a mini rucksack with wheels so I could take the weight off my shoulders as all the bits & pieces are so heavy when put together]... oh, and I was almost seated right next to a lady with a screaming 3 years old on her knees but I managed to complain loud enough to be seated somewhere else!
But then we landed, and wow... very humid, very green and the [fairly small] airport is very 'homely' and has got fabulous posters of the country's striking scenery and videos too, for you to enjoy whilst you're in the queue for passport control - very civilised. We were all mesmerised... "5% of the world's bio-diversity is represented in this tiny country, 10,000 different species of plants", etc. I can see (already) that I'll have quite a few mind-blowing facts to share with you all soonish... They even have a 'canopy tour' that you can do, where you can pretend flying like a bird, they strip you up horizontally and send you off down this endless cord that's inches away from the tree tops.... looked seriously thrilling - but fast. But I'd never ever seen that kind of 'sport' on offer anywhere else before... I might be seriously tempted if I can figure out where they launch off from.
I've now just checked into my (very quaint) hotel, driven in by my (very helpful) driver, you'd think I can look forward to a good night's sleep, but I've just realised, reading my itinerary /after he left/ , that I am only allowed 25 pounds of luggage (all in all) for my internal flight tomorrow... and I've got 34 KGS (incl. 4 kgs of camera & snorkelling gear). That's what ? 6 times over.... eeeek.So, I'm currently waiting to hear what we can do to solve that one... as I don't even have a spare bag to transfer into... since I binned my previous one in Madrid. Sod's Law!!!
I've been up for 24 hours non-stop by now (but for 2 x 2 hrs of hours of sleep that I managed to grab on the planes). Let's see what tomorrow brings ! :)
My cab pick-up is at 7am tomorrow a.m. Lots of Love, Sylvie xxx
PS - 2H later... crisis over. Managed to squeeze the bare minimum in my snorkelling bag & camera bag. Still unable to sleep though, even after a long shower, which is bizarre considering I've been awake for 26H... I hope I won't be taking up 'sleep walking' next !!!
posted by Sylvie at 1:02 AM
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