Thanksgiving Vacation 2011: The Long Trip Home

The Famous Bear and Tree

Our bus didn't leave until noon, but we wanted to have a few hours in Madrid before we left, so no sleeping in once again. And yes, I was still sick. Another breakfast at the hotel, perhaps our last meal for a while, as we didn't know if there would be any places to get food on the bus ride. We spent our last hours in Madrid walking around the local streets, looking for an open book store along the way. It was also the sunniest day of the trip so I got a few last photos in, including one of a bear and tree statue, a symbol we saw all over Madrid which is the official symbol of Madrid. You can Google that if you want more information. We did find a book store and bought a book, then headed back to the hotel to check out.

Now we had to take the metro to the bus station, dragging our luggage with us. We all packed light which made waking up and down the subway stairs not too tiring. Once at the stop nearest the bus station, we eventually found the station, but it wasn't all the easy to see from the street. We still had plenty of time before the bus departed, so we relaxed until they posted the gate number. Until now we had no idea what kind of bus it was and were happy to see that it was a large bus with big, roomy seats that had way more room than our last flight. Also, it wasn't full, so I had a row to myself, or maybe there was only one seat on my side of the bus, I can't remember. Now we were all dreading an eight hour bus ride, but once we got going the ride wasn't all that bad. And as a bonus, the bus had free wireless Internet access, provided I assume by some kind of Wi-Fi (or Wi-Max) along the freeway.

I spent some time on the Internet, even getting assigned seats on my flights for the next day. Otherwise I listened to music on my iPod, read my book and watched to countryside. There wasn't a lot to see, some small towns along the way, but there was at least one large castle on a hill. There were also lots of farms with cows and sheep, and I even saw one sheep with a duck riding on its back. No one believes me because I didn't get a photo, but I really did see it. The bus made one 15 minute food/bathroom break, but there was no pre-made sandwiches, so I just got some chips from a vending machine. The bus also stopped at two or three other cities to let for passengers not going all the way to Lisbon. In fact at the last stop about half the bus emptied out, and once everyone was off the bus it drove away with all our luggage! Well, the driver actually just went to fill it up with fuel so it returned in five minutes.

Warning sign on the Metro

When we crossed the border into Portugal the bus had to stop for inspection. An immigrations officer boarded the bus and checked everyone's identification. Most people had some kind of ID card, but when he got to me and saw I had a passport he asked me many questions. I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition! Then again, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition. After satisfied that I was entering the country legally he gave my brother and his wife the 3rd degree (whatever that means). By now people are looking at us, probably just annoyed that we were holding up the bus. It must have been a slow day, because there were also two or three officers outside the bus checking the luggage compartment and I even saw a dog, probably checking for drugs. We eventually got on our way. We were six hours into the ride and it was starting to get dark. After more driving we saw the lights of Lisbon, and took a very long bridge over the bay before pulling into the bus station.

Once off the bus, we tried looking for a place to eat there, but nothing looked good. So we got a cab to our hotel, a quick 10 minute drive. When we checked in, the receptionist was really nice, and gave us both free Internet access and said we would have a food bag, or basket, when we checked out. She also told us where there was a restaurant within walking distance. After a quick break in our rooms we walked the deserted streets in this industrial section of the city to the restaurant, which was small but had a simple menu and of course cold beer. We all ordered fish, and my brother's came as a whole fish on a plate, head, eyes and all. I guess this was our Thanksgiving meal, but it sure didn't feel like Thanksgiving and I kept forgetting it was. We all thought the food was good, and after paying we walked back to the hotel, our last one of the trip, and decided we should leave by 5 AM for the airport. Since the airport was shut down this day due to the general strike, we didn't know what to expect the next morning. It was either going to be a zoo with long lines and perhaps even missing planes, or there would be no issues at all.

View from our bus in Madrid. It got better.

We lucked-out. No lines and our plane was there. Since we were flying business class we got access to the Blue Lounge, which offered free food and drinks. When we checked in we were told the lounge was far from our departing gate, but we didn't know how far. We were one of the last ones on the plane as we had to go through passport control and the plane boarded way earlier that we expected. The flight left on time and after two hours we were back at London Heathrow. Our connecting flight left from terminal 5, so we had to take a shuttle to get there, but we also had five hours before our flight left. So we went to the British Airways lounge and helped ourselves to the free food and lots of coffee. When they finally posted the gate number, this time we made our way to the gate as fast as we could and we made it there about 20 minutes before the started boarding.

This was my first time flying business class in a 777, and thanks to my brother I had a nice isolated seat, one that I could get in and out of without having to walk in front of anyone, and no one had to walk in front of me. The only downside was I was facing backwards! Also, the business section was only about half full, so there was no one in the seat next to me. Once we took off, they started serving dinner, which included appetizers and a desert along with more beer. I only watched one movie on the flight, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II. I enjoyed part two much more that part one. After the movie ended, and after they dimmed to cabin lights, I attempted to get some sleep. The seat reclined fully flat, but I couldn't recline it all the way because my feet hit the bulkhead. Still, way more comfortable than flying in coach. When I went to bed we were about four hours into our 11 hour flight. I did fall asleep, but must have woken up about 20 times. I didn't think I got much sleep, but when they turned the lights on to serve another meal, there were two hours left, so five hours went by pretty quickly. The  plane took the Polar route, flying north of Iceland and then down through Canada. We were above Salt Lake City when I woke up.

After our light lunch, the time went quickly and soon we were preparing to land. It was nice landing in San Diego and not having to jump on another plane. This was our first time arriving in San Diego on an international flight, so I didn't know what to expect for passport on control and customs, but we got through quickly. It took awhile for our luggage to arrive, but once it did we left the airport to catch the shuttle to the parking. By the time I got home 24 hours had passed since I woke up. It was about 8 PM, and as usual, I can't just go to bed no matter how tired I am. I emptied my luggage, took a shower and read my e-mail. Then I had the sudden urge to sleep and sleep I did. A solid 11 hours!  We flew home on a Friday, so I had two days to recover before going back to work, but overall I experienced very little jet-lag. So another fun-filled Thanksgiving vacation was over, sadly with out our sister, who was in the middle of her three week work trip. Where are we going next year? Maybe the Maldives, a small island country somewhere off the coast of India. Now that's going to be a long trip.