I think one of the drivers had never been on the highway before in his whole life, as he had no idea what to do at the toll booth. The other driver filled him in and we were back on our way. We made it, got checked in, and I politely told the drivers they did not have to wait with me until my flight left the ground. Once we got to the gate I asked a nice American couple if our plane was here yet. They said no, so it was off to some shops for a few minutes. I really wanted a momento or two- and again was super bummed I could not have shopped more in town. A nice man at one of the shops played with Kadu while I looked around. He then asked if I was married- and when I said no, he asked Kadu "how many camels for your mother?". I explained that a Mercedes would do nicely, but he didn't smile...either no funny or he didn't get it, not sure which.
We went back to the gate, and still didn't see our plane. Suddenly I heard Madame Close- blah blah something in French. I looked around, but didn't see anyone I could ask or who might be able to help me. Again...Madame Close blah blah. I finally found a gate agent who informed me that there had been a gate change, and we needed to go before they closed the doors. Just my luck- arrive 3 hours before my flight, and almost miss the plane. Cripe. We got on, anf the nice American couple said they had just gotten on as well- there was no signage saying the gate had been changed. I feel somewhat validated, but mostly just glad we didn't miss our flight.
We made it to Madrid- I'm not sure the flight even took 2 hours. Off to get our bags and go through customs so we can get on the flight to Malta. I noticed there was a time difference, so we'd have to hustle. One bag did not make it. How could one bag come and not the other? Seriously. I went to the counter to ask about it- and the woman told me I would have to wait another 10 minutes to make sure it was not coming before filing a claim form. I told her I was connecting to another destination, and she said "only 10 minutes." I waited. The bag never came. Filled out the form- went through customs and upstairs to the next flight. A young girl with the personality of a pair of sock said "sorry, the flight is closed". I explained what happened and (shock) she didn't care. I told her I wanted to be put on the next flight, and she informed me that there would be another flight in two days, and I would have to buy a new ticket. This is ONCE AGAIN the fault of Royal Air Moroc. Some guy came up behind her and said something...and suddenly she just said "okay, you can go." The guy marked our bags, and said we couldn't check them , but we would make the flight. We rushed through security where they made me take out my computer and open it. They then took out every toiletry I had and confiscated it. All my shampoos, lotion, etc. were in the bag that I wasn't allowed to check because of time restrictions. Damn Royal Air Moroc. We ran as fast as we could to the gate (at least one of us was cursing a blue streak by now) to find the plane had not arrived yet. We waited almost an hour. With no shampoo and lotion. Dude.
Got a taxi in Malta (it is 2:30 am local time) and got a hotel on the 3rd try. The taxi driver kept taking me to expensive places. I don't know what about me and the kid screams 5 star- but I finally convinced him to keep it real.
Sleep. Need sleep.
XOXOXO
