Going Home (Booo)

Saturday, January 17, 2026

As advertised, the car comes for us a bit before eight o’clock and we’re all ready to go.  Jenny and Ole get up just long enough to say, “Good bye” and then head back to bed.  They aren’t going home until six this evening, so they’ve got more time to explore.  However, the temperature has dropped ten degrees centigrade and there’s a chance of snow!  They’ll be happy to go back north where it’s warmer, which is counter-intuitive!!

We're on the fifth floor (called fourth here).  I love elevators!

Our Uber lady packs all the luggage in the way back and gets us to the airport by 8:30.  We’re flying Iberia but Barbara is flying American, so her check-in counter is across the way from ours;  but we all get together again pretty quickly.  When we’re checking in, the attendant notes that we’re not sitting together and I say that the kids don’t want to sit with me.  I’m kidding but he says he can move me next to them, in an aisle seat, and he’s so pleased that it would be churlish not to take it.  I’ll have the aisle seat across from them, so it’s pretty nice!  And he didn't charge me the $50 Stu had to pay for each of their seats!

We meet back up with Barbara and then it’s on to security, which is easy for me and a bit more complicated for Amanda and Stu because their shoes are really boots and have to be removed.  Even so, it’s a lot easier than the last time Stu was here.  Spanish TSA was on strike and only twenty percent of the work force showed up at any given time!!

There are lots of escalators and moving sidewalks before we get to passport control.  They barely look at our passports before stamping them!  A word about the escalators - there is a long flat stretch before they turn into moving stairs, making them much easier to climb on to for those of us with a slight escalator phobia!! I like it!

There’s also a train to terminal T4s, which is where both our gates are located!  At some point we pass through the duty free shop, which is the first actual shopping experience of this trip!! And there is also a stop for café con leche and a chocolate croissant. And now it’s time to actually go to the gates and Barbara heads off in the other direction.  Hers is much further than ours;  but she willingly walked 26,000 steps yesterday so I can’t feel sorry for her! 

There’s another passport control/boarding pass station and we finally can sit and wait for our plane. I’m hesitant to log onto the free internet in the terminal so I’m writing in Text Edit (Thank you, Betsy!) and I’ll finish up when I get home.

We settle in easily and as the stream of passengers slows down I start to hope for an empty seat next to me!  Well how about that!  Everyone is loaded and the two seats between me and the other aisle resident are open!  Lovely!!

Now begins the movie marathon, interspersed with airline food.  But at least there's wine with it! First off there's "Fracture" with Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling (loved it - it's Anthony Hopkins!).  Then dinner because we're starting the tine shift, I guess. There's chicken with rice and veg, potato salad, chocolate mousse, a roll, and water and wine.

My seatmate is taking advantage of the open seats, but he's so big that he still isn't comfortable. Meanwhile I watch "The Life of Chuck" based on a Stephen King short story. Surprisingly there's a lot of dancing in it and that's fun. Then there's "The Conjuring: Last Rites", based on the true story of two paranormal investigators and a delicious treat, a Magnum Mini Classic Chocolate covered ice cream bar! After a false start ("Crimson Peak") I settle on "Game Night" with Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams.  It's a fun romp and holds my interest despite how long we've been on this plane. I think a lot of the pleasure comes from the noise-cancelling headphones that Stu bought me.  It's a treat to be able to hear the dialogue!

Breakfast is a meat and cheese sandwich and a KitKat bar.  I've asked for tomato juice and the attendant says sure, but it will be a minute.  Actually it was a never;  but we're home and I don't really care.

This was really good.  On other airlines it might not be!

By "home" I actually mean the Miami airport where webreeze through customs because the GOES system now allows you to check in on line and Stu has all three of us on his app. We have to claim our bags and then take them to the American Airlines counter to re-check them. That procedure isn't spelled out very clearly; but we figure it out and walk all the way to the end of the terminal in order to use the TSA -re-check line.  So worth it!!

We find our gate and the kids go in search of a snack.  I'm stuffed from the sandwich and stay to watch our stuff.  They return with empanadas and I geet a text saying our gate has been moved. We scurry back to where we started and sit again.  We load on time ande I'm surprised to find that we have screens.  Later, Stu says that this plane shouldn't have been ours;  they don't usually use this large a plane for short hops like ours.  We're aren't going to be on here long enough for a movie so I play a mindless game rather than try to read.  I think that would put me to sleep and I need to stay up a bit longer to geet back on track.

Now we really are home.  TPA is such a great airport!  Our bags all show up and Stu leads the way through the maze that takes us to the Economy Parking lot.  He flashes his QR code and we're on the road. 

Home at last!  Stu brings in my suitcase and the cats pretend that they care that I'm home.  Food is love and I give Stu the last home-made fruitcake to say Thank You for everything!!  It was a wonderful trip and having the family all together was the best thing ever.