Adventure in Greece - Chapter II

The small journey to Madrid ends up being safe enough for a smooth landing and a round of applauses, a clear sign that everyone is happy to be alive.

27th of July, 09:45, Barajas Airport, Madrid, Spain

The Airport is surprisingly calm, inviting for a confortable and pleasant walk along the corridors and open spaces; my stomach, on the other hand, is already growling, demanding some attention. I pay 3.75€ for a cheese and ham sandwich and 1.40€ for a 50cl water bottle. A quick trip to the bathroom reveals some nice touches, everything looks very clean, the liquid soap containers are not empty, and there is plenty of paper to dry your hands. But the good news stops just about there. The plane to Greece is 1 hour late due to a technical problem, and the grumbling from the impacient passengers echoes in the lounge. A Portuguese couple is complaining vigorously, afraid they will arrive too late to visit the "Akropole", which closes at 19h00. After a while, everything settles...  the flight is ready. The plane is as old and rusty as the previous one, and after being informed that the problem was a broken piece that had to be replaced, my confidence drops to the lowest level since the start of the journey.

My seat is by the window; on my left there is an empty seat, and the third one is occupied by a Spanish teenage girl. Both of us make use of the empty seat to put books, mp3 players and all the "junk" that everyone usually carries around; I also put my food tray on the seat as soon as I finish the meal. The girl watches and decides to do the same, but somewhere between picking up the tray and landing it safely, her leg kicks the tray and everything goes airborn, with rests of food, greasy boxes and unfinished drinks decorating our row of seats. The girls face turns yellow, then red, then...  I promptly help to clean and pick up the things before it turns any other color.

The plane is, after all the initial incidents, up to the task and crosses the skies of Greece with comfortable safety. The first signs that we are entering Greek territory are pretty obvious - the sky is clear and, even from such an high altitude, I'm able to see many little islands, beautiful stretches of sand and the wake of big cargo boats. After a while, the plane lands. At last... Greece!

To be continued...