I like adventure, and I was having plenty each day, but I truly was needing rest. It was day 40 of my 40 days in Europe! As a matter of fact, I had only 3 hours of sleep in the last 24 hours, when the alarm clock rang at 4:00 a.m. (Portugal time.) It was time to catch the Metro train to the airport. Hopefully, when I catch a plane to Madrid, Spain. I will get some rest. The flight was short, so there was no time to rest long.
While in the Madrid Airport, I was looking for Marcona almonds. These Spanish-grown almonds are quite tasty. I had discovered these special nuts a year ago on one of my travels in the U.S. and knew that when I was in Spain, they would be on my list of "must-haves." Unfortunately, my quest for the nuts in the airport shops proved unsuccessful.
As I entered the British Airways plane in Madrid, strong British accents prevailed. It was not long after I entered, an announcement was made by a flight attendant with a very strong British accent. He stated that a bird had flown into the engine from the previous flight. We would be detained in the warm cabin for at least an hour for the engineers to assess the matter. The plane was full of patient Latinos.
As I was standing in the aisle with the others, a very attentive flight attendant must have noticed my plight.
Not only was I low on sleep, I had not had breakfast or lunch...or water for that matter, and it was now afternoon.The combination of the warm cabin, little sleep, and lack of nutrients and hydration was taking its toll. Much to my surprise, the attendant brought not only water but 4 packages of Marcona almonds...the same almonds I had been looking for in the airport. I couldn't believe it!
Eventually, the attendant announced that the problem was resolved, but later notified us that it had not been. We again waited an hour, causing me to miss my connecting flight in London, as well as the U.S. Little did I know, it would be 56 hours before I would arrive home to my bed.
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