Spain/China 2023 trip, first days (01-04)

[aadler]

Day before departure – June 27 Tuesday

I had meant to do laundry yesterday afternoon/evening, deliberately leaving it till late so our clothes would be as fresh as possible. The washers were occupied when I went to the RV park laundry room, though, and it was late enough that, by the time I waited, I wouldn’t have been able to finish before closing. As a result, I ran our laundry in the morning, and Susan and I finished packing the last of our possessions in the early afternoon.

We had already established that we didn’t want to leave our car at the airport; even using the cheapest long-term parking rates, it would have cost us around $300. Susan had arranged for a friend to drive us to the airport … and, since our flight was due to leave mid-morning, we elected to stay overnight at a nearby hotel, and take the hotel shuttle to the airport the following day.

That wound up being more complicated than expected. The RV park manager had agreed to let us leave our car and motorhome in the back of the lot (less than ⅓ of the regular monthly charge). When we knew Susan’s friend was on the way, I prepared the motorhome for shifting … and, problem. I had checked the battery level multiple times — it comes up when I check water levels, on the same panel — and everything had shown okay, but apparently the battery that starts the engine is on a separate circuit. It was too low to even register when I turned the key. At one time I’ve had as many as three different sets of battery cables on hand, but apparently they wound up stored elsewhere, because none were in our car and none in the motorhome. Fortunately a neighbor had a set, and (even though he had no English and I’m very weak on my Spanish) he understood enough, and was patient enough, to keep adjusting things until we had a solid connection and time to build up sufficient power. It probably took fifteen minutes, but the motorhome started — just about the time Susan’s friend arrived — and I moved it and our car to the designated area. Another minute to transfer our luggage to the friend’s car, and we were ready to go.

The airport was relatively close, and I’d estimate we reached the adjacent airport in less than 20 minutes.

Having already checked and found that the hotel didn’t have a restaurant (and not near anything we could reach without a car), I had bought a box of fried chicken, which is what we had for our supper before going to bed.

 
First & second travel days – June 28 (and over into 29), Wednesday/Thursday

Up early, about 7:00AM, and downstairs for the hotel’s breakfast, then back up to reverse the negligible unpacking we’d done for a single night’s stay. Down again for the hotel shuttle we’d reserved yesterday, and at 8:00 we left for the airport (with a German family, as it happens).

Susan had already arranged wheelchair service at our connecting airports, but had felt our local airport was small enough to navigate without that. The shuttle had to park at the far end, however, because of construction, and by the time we made it to the airline’s front desk, she had re-evaluated her earlier opinion. It took only a few minutes to get a wheelchair for her there, and an attendant to push it. We had no problems or delay going through security, and were at our gate with ample time to spare.

Our departing flight was scheduled for 10:12AM, and we took off around then. The flight to Atlanta was less than two hours, and we arrived around 1:00PM (single hour’s time change). Wheelchair service there got us to the next departure terminal with a comfortable margin remaining; I bought a couple of burgers for me and Susan at an upstairs vendor, and we had those before it was time to get on the next-leg flight, this one across the ocean, and we were in the air somewhat past 3:00PM.

Nothing remarkable about the flight itself. It was long.

– – – – – – – – – – – –

I don’t know when we officially crossed into June 29th, since we were in flight at the time. I know that, during the trip, I watched three movies (Big Hero 6, Scream VI, and John Wick), and re-watched one I’d previously seen twice. If I slept at all, it was only a brief occasional doze.

It would have been around 6:00AM when we landed at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam. We had to walk most of the length of the jet bridge before the wheelchair service caught up with us, but from there on everything went fine. (In fact, the young woman who was transporting Susan went so briskly, I had to pace my breathing to keep up.)

On our way out of Amsterdam shortly after 7:00AM. This was a short flight, but Susan and I had been traveling so long by that point, this thoroughly routine leg of our trip became increasingly uncomfortable. We were just ready to be done. We reached the Madrid Barajas airport in the neighborhood of 9:30AM, and likewise the wheelchair service there went relatively smoothly. So …

 
First day in Spain

Cris (Cristina), Amber’s Spanish tutor and the manager of this tour of Spain, met us at the airport with her brother Joachim, and took us by taxi to the Hard Rock Hotel in Madrid, where we were checked in earlier than the rest of the group, who had yet to arrive. I set an alarm — didn’t want to stay down too long, just enough to enable us to keep going till local bedtime — and we slept for three hours.

We were waiting in the lobby for Kevin to arrive with Mei‑li and our granddaughter Amber. She hadn’t been told we’d join them for the Spanish tour, so we’d been anticipating the surprise meeting. She recovered quickly, but it was a delight to see her expression when she realized who was in front of her.

We’d been talking with Cristina about Susan’s situation (she can walk, but not for very far or very long, and it causes her pain very quickly), and Cristina had made some calls, so once Kevin had his family settled in, he and I and Cristina walked to a nearby corner shop which dealt with wheelchairs. We could have rented one for the entirety of our stay for €25 … but the shop owner said the rental had seen about five years of use, and at the weight I gave her for Susan, it might be preferable to make a full purchase, and take it with us (to China and eventually back home). I wasn’t positive the model available would be big enough for Susan, and so said we would return the next day to make sure.

Back at the Hard Rock Hotel, Cristina got everyone together, and we took a bus to the plaza where the Royal Palace is located. The walk from the bus parking to the plaza itself was taxing enough for Susan — even with me and Joachim both supporting her — that we elected to remain there while the rest of the group went ahead to visit a museum. Susan had known her mobility had substantially declined, hence her arrangement for wheelchair service at the airport and our investigation of wheelchair rental on arrival, but was having it brought home to her sharply just how far downhill that decline had progressed.

Once the others had toured sufficiently, we and Joachim went further into the plaza to join them at a tapas restaurant. We weren’t familiar with the style of service (a “tapa” is just a small serving of something, only they just keep on coming), so we were surprised and then dismayed when they kept bringing another round of entrees, and then another, till it reached the point where we literally couldn’t eat anymore and there were copious leftovers. This wasn’t just us Anglos; the Chinese in the remainder of the tour group were likewise surprised, as was Cristina herself.

Unwilling to face that walk again, Susan elected to take a taxi back to the hotel, with Joachim accompanying us to help. Kevin had supplied her with some euros for spending money, since we hadn’t had a chance yet to withdraw cash, so she paid for the taxi. It was after 9:00PM, but the sky was still quite light, since we’re still in that summer period when the days in Spain are longest.

Back at the Hard Rock Hotel, Susan went straight to bed. I did a little laptop stuff myself before going down after 11:00PM.

 
Second day in Spain – June 30 Friday

Susan and I went downstairs for breakfast somewhat after 7:00AM (maybe closer to 8:00), were joined by Kevin and Mei‑li and Amber. Done with the morning meal, we went back up to our room for a bit.

The wheelchair shop didn’t open till 9:30 or 10:00AM, so Susan and I remained at the hotel. Once we were ready, we had the hotel arrange a cab for us, and went to the address provided by Cristina.

It went through without much fuss or complication. Susan looked at the proposed model, approved of it, paid the necessary €400 (by debit card, not from the cash Kevin had provided), and I wheeled her back to the hotel, following her Google map directions.

I’d been given the address of where the group was meeting for lunch, while Susan chose to stay at the hotel. I got a cab to the address (La Bola Restaurant), arrived just a few minutes before the others. Again, multiple courses, though this time we went light on the bread at the beginning, so we didn’t fill up too quickly. It still wound up being too much for us.

Once the meal was done, we took the bus to the city’s soccer stadium. That tour went quickly and in all honesty I wasn’t that interested.

Back at the hotel, Susan had made a light lunch of leftovers from last night’s tapas selections. She and I went out with Kevin, she in her new wheelchair, to a modern art museum within walking distance. I found myself deeply unimpressed with Picasso (what was on display struck me as pretentions crap, deliberately grotesque, including the ever-so-famous Guernica). I expressed these sentiments only to Kevin and Susan, not wanting to offend any Spaniards proud of their celebrated artist, but I meant what I said: obvious talent, dedicated to turning out pretentious crap. I had less aversion to Dali (even saw a couple of things that I liked, and nothing that offended me), and had an overall favorable reaction to the Cubists. It isn’t all modern art I hate, I just really don’t care for Picasso.

Our next restaurant (La Tapería) was itself within walking distance of the museum, and the three of us went there. We had another succession of dishes, and the three of us left together to make our way back to the hotel.

We knew we’d be leaving relatively early in the morning, so straight to bed.

 
Third day in Spain – July 01 Saturday

Up early, did some minor packing, then downstairs for breakfast 7:30AM. Back upstairs to finish the packing, then we were waiting in the lobby before 9:00.

It took longer than that for the rest of the group to gather, even though 9:00 was the time we’d been told. All the same, we were loaded on the bus and on our way probably by 9:30. The wheelchair continued to supplement Susan’s mobility; of course, every now and then came the matter of dealing with the chair itself. (It was stowed in the luggage compartment of the bus, and pulled out again once we arrived.)

We went to the city of Segovia (in the likewise named province of Segovia), saw a 2,000-year-old Roman aqueduct — still used to deliver drinking water — and set out to walk part of the interior of the Old City. Kevin insisted on pushing Susan as we tried to find our way to the cathedral there. By the time we arrived, other members of the party had lost their way and contacted Kevin for directions. With his help, they found their way to where we already were; Susan was tired (and me a little), and we chose to wait in the Plaza Mayor while the others continued to explore. Sat in the shade under a canopy outside a café called the Fonda Ilustrada Juan Bravo, had sandwiches and light drinks. When the others in the group returned, we made our way together to a different restaurant (I didn’t get the name), where we were again served a series of dishes, ending with roast suckling pig which almost nobody ate, purely because they’d already provided so much that we had no room for more.

Back on the bus for a longer trip (mostly because of traffic slowdowns), and eventually arrived at (and got checked into) the Parador de Oropesa, a castle/hotel in the city of Oropesa. Susan was so tired that she conked out as soon as she’d got a shower.

I got a shower of my own, sorted out some things, then contacted Kevin regarding our plans for tomorrow. (Mainly, I wanted to know how early we’d need to get up and when we’d be checking out.) He sent me a post from Cristina, detailing our planned schedule for tomorrow, and when dinner was planned. Cristina herself showed up to tell us the changes in schedule, and I followed her back to the dining room, where she arranged to have a plate taken to Susan in our room.

At dinner, she’d given the kitchen instructions to provide smaller portions. As a result, what we were given turned out to be the exact amount for a satisfying meal.

(It was past 10:00PM when we arrived for dinner, but dusk was just beginning to fall. At this latitude, it was past 10:30 before it reached full dark.)

Back to the room and to bed with Susan.