Day 1482: Dispatches from Spain

Mr. December sent me these notes. Enjoy!

Day 0: Travel

• Hop on Air Canada to Paris. Ordered a kosher meal since it is Passover, but because of some strike or other, they didn’t get any special meals. The strike must also have meants they couldn’t tell us about it – maybe a condition of labour negotiations? Anyways, we had fortunately brought enough stuff. Stopped R from texting S since it was way too early.
  
• Flight is delayed, so we more quickly to transfer terminals, then to the bus stop. Did you know there are two far-away airports in Paris? We do now. Our bus was a bit late, but we had lots of time to get to our flight at Orly airport. 75% of the way through, we arrive at the Paris main bus terminal. Know what this is a good time for? A 30m bus-driver break where we have to wander around the station. R was not pleased with the toilets, but at least thankful she had a package of tissues. We couldn’t really go anywhere, since our luggage was in the bus, so we just stood outside of it with the others. Stopped R from texting S.
  
• Finally the guy shows up, gives a long talk in French (we got an English translation on a paper that was much shorter), and he hawks some water for a while, then drives to the airport. We’re now 45 minutes later than expected, cutting is close. Stopped R from texting S.
  
• Where would you put a bus stop that feeds an airport? Near the airport perhaps? Not in France. We were a 40-minute walk from the terminal, so we had to walk to a (free) bus, wait for it, and then get on. Now it is getting very tight on time, and we don’t know what security would be like. Fortunately we asked a few too many questions to a random bus goer, who worked there, and she guided us right to where we go in. A hurried rush later, and another bomb swap of my bag, and we arrive just in time to both board and receive notification that our plane is delayed by 35 minutes. Geez Transavia. Finally, R could text S, and they had some inane conversation.
  
• At this point we had minimal sleep, and it was 11:00 AM Toronto time, and we’re falling asleep and trying to stay awake so we can get a good night’s sleep in local time. R had to do a lot of pinching to keep me awake. When I thanked her later, she was like “you were trying to stay awake? Shoot, I didn’t know” 
  
• We cab in, and to open the door of our AirBnB we hit the entry button, then call a special phone number that unlocks it. Inside is an awesome outdoor courtyard, converted to indoors, with all the staircases and units fully visible. Our place is small, but has a separate bedroom from the living room so we get some privacy. 
  
• Surprisingly, we manage to both sleep from 10:00 PM local time (4:00 Toronto time) through to the morning, feeling reasonably refreshed.

Day 1: Travelling is exhausting. 

Just look at our day:

• Walk to a park, passing by two other parks
  
• Sit in a restaurant in the park drinking wine at 6:30 AM Toronto time
  
• Walk to an earlier park, sit on different benches
  
• Walk around a plaza to a restaurant. R gets a nice steak and I get a plate of anchovies
  
• Walk back to the plaza, where you also walk around with R’s new friends and their families. 
  
• Shelter from sudden rain, watching a Flamenco show. 
  
• Walk around the plaza some more. 
  
• Head over to take a group picture scheduled for 6:00. Show up at 6:05 and be amazed you missed it.
  
• See a boat, in a moat. But the line is too long. Need to go back.
  
• Walk back through the park
  
• Stop at a pop-up event at the Portuguese Consulate. Feel some pride because your kid knows the Portuguese flag instantly
  
• Walk back through more parks to your airbnb
  
• After all that, we’re still not done: Need dinner and maybe some snacks from Wendy’s Grocery store. 
  
• Do it again tomorrow, replacing “park” with “cathedral” and “plaza” with “palace”

R made lots of friends, and I met a few parents I liked too. So far so good!