Well...it's over. There's only a little bit of administrative stuff to take care of at UC, then it'll be back headfirst into NZ life.
I'm noticing the strangest things about home, like the smells. I walked out of Auckland Airport on my way to the domestic terminal and the first thing that hit me was "Hey! It smells like summer!" I have to say, I definitely prefer the NZ version of summer. Winter is much the same but summer...I'll never, ever complain about it here again. I am scarred for life by the clear blue skies and relentless heat of Spain and Italy.
I have had an amazing year but it's also good to be able to slow down, recover my breath, and gain some perspective. I am looking forward to finishing my degree, which will hopefully happen in 2010, and then, depending on what kind of job I can get overseas and my student loan balance, I will move back to europe. Scotland, probably, but I'm open to ideas.
What did I learn? The most important one is probably that very few things are the end of the world, and that even if it's not what you would have preferred, it'll work out. Especially with a smile.
I hope that you've enjoyed reading my blog. I have used it mostly to record the year for my own later reference but it's been good to be able to share it with people back home. This will be the last post, I expect, unless something major happens that's related to 2009, so I hope you have a wonderful year! I'm a little curious as to who actually reads this so if you're willing please leave a comment.
Take care
Katie :-)
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The Prodigal Daughter Returns
Leaving Spain was strange. I couldn't manage to convince myself that this was the last time I'd walk through Plaza Mayor for a long time...it just didn't feel real. So I jumped on a bus to the train station, and caught various different trains through to the airport, only to have a minor panic attack when I saw that an earlier flight to Frankfurt had been cancelled...because of snow. Argh!! Thankfully my flight was more or less ok, although it left a bit late because the air traffic controllers in Madrid were gratuitously delaying planes for half an hour. Go Spain. Not.
So I had a tightish connection in Frankfurt, and it was a long walk to the gate so I ended up running through the terminal. My boots-with-not-much-grip were very unhelpful, and at one point I fell over and landed quite hard on my right hand. It didn't start hurting til I was through security etc thank goodness but when I boarded the plane (yes I made it - but with only about 10 mins to spare) - YEOWCH!!! It didn't look too bad, it swelled up a little but it really hurt all the way to Hong Kong. There I bought some herbal bruise cream stuff which has helped. It has a very strong smell which the cats hate though.
I was lucky in Frankfurt when I left the EU though. The spanish govt hadn't sent me word of my renewed residency card, so all I had was a letter confirming that I'd applied for a renewal. The border control guy looked at it for a few minutes - I forced myself to wait patiently, even though I had to run to my plane - and eventually just handed me everything and said "fine, go". I guess his spanish wasn't so good! Lucky for me! I didn't realise at the time but Dad pointed out later that there was a danger of being labelled an overstayer if he couldn't be bothered looking at my papers properly so I think next time I'd better chase everything up.
Hong Kong looked exciting, although VERY hazy. I was excited to see so much water and I had several hours, so I was keen to enter the country and go on a ferry trip, but I really needed a shower and the only showers available were through security, so I had to choose. I went for the shower. I will have to go back one day though.
The flight to Auckland was long and boring, although I did watch Mary Poppins. The guy in the seat next to me had also flown from the EU and he obviously hadn't taken a shower in Hong Kong, and the chinese guy on my other side had no concept of elbow room or 'avoiding digging other people in the ribs when you want to do ANYTHING'..gaah. But a Steinlager helped. Even though I had no idea that it was a New Zealand beer. Thanks Air New Zealand.
Then half an hour to wait after clearing customs in Auckland, and 45 mins on a plane to Welly, and I FINALLY got my hug from Mum. Oh it was good to be home.
So I had a tightish connection in Frankfurt, and it was a long walk to the gate so I ended up running through the terminal. My boots-with-not-much-grip were very unhelpful, and at one point I fell over and landed quite hard on my right hand. It didn't start hurting til I was through security etc thank goodness but when I boarded the plane (yes I made it - but with only about 10 mins to spare) - YEOWCH!!! It didn't look too bad, it swelled up a little but it really hurt all the way to Hong Kong. There I bought some herbal bruise cream stuff which has helped. It has a very strong smell which the cats hate though.
I was lucky in Frankfurt when I left the EU though. The spanish govt hadn't sent me word of my renewed residency card, so all I had was a letter confirming that I'd applied for a renewal. The border control guy looked at it for a few minutes - I forced myself to wait patiently, even though I had to run to my plane - and eventually just handed me everything and said "fine, go". I guess his spanish wasn't so good! Lucky for me! I didn't realise at the time but Dad pointed out later that there was a danger of being labelled an overstayer if he couldn't be bothered looking at my papers properly so I think next time I'd better chase everything up.
Hong Kong looked exciting, although VERY hazy. I was excited to see so much water and I had several hours, so I was keen to enter the country and go on a ferry trip, but I really needed a shower and the only showers available were through security, so I had to choose. I went for the shower. I will have to go back one day though.
The flight to Auckland was long and boring, although I did watch Mary Poppins. The guy in the seat next to me had also flown from the EU and he obviously hadn't taken a shower in Hong Kong, and the chinese guy on my other side had no concept of elbow room or 'avoiding digging other people in the ribs when you want to do ANYTHING'..gaah. But a Steinlager helped. Even though I had no idea that it was a New Zealand beer. Thanks Air New Zealand.
Then half an hour to wait after clearing customs in Auckland, and 45 mins on a plane to Welly, and I FINALLY got my hug from Mum. Oh it was good to be home.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
I'm going home...aren't I?
My last few days in Spain were a little weird. I had so much to do, packing, getting rid of stuff I couldn't take with me, catching up with everybody one last time... but it was difficult to consider NZ as home. I had done so much travelling around europe that Spain felt like home, although now I'm back it's definitely home!
Anyway, I had lunch with Carmen (from the ORI) and Julio, and their cat Mimi, and my guitar (which I gave to Julio before christmas). We had an El Salvadorean chicken soup, which was divine, although Mimi was disappointed she didn't get any, then played with the cat for a bit. Her christmas present was a laser, which she'd chase all around the room, and when you swept it across the floor and up the wall she'd jump after it, getting really high. Like over my head height! It was so much fun.
Thursday during the day I took some cake and soft drink to the ORI, to say thankyou and goodbye. They were so nice to me and when I return to Europe I will definitely visit them in Spain. It was a working day for them so I chatted when I could but it was a sorta disjointed way to say bye. Ah well.
Thursday night, my last night in Spain, I went to Karolina's (a lithuanian girl) for dinner. We were thinking about going to the chinese restaurant but in the end Karolina cooked some Sweet and Sour Chicken at home, and it was delicious. We had lithuanian sweets for dessert. I couldn't have asked for a better 'leaving dinner'! Later on, about 1am we headed out to a nightclub where the erasmus students gather every thursday. I didn't stay too late, leaving shortly after 2, as I wanted to get some sleep before getting up early, but even so I didn't get to say goodbye to some people because they hadn't arrived yet. Crazy italians. Anyway, I was sad to leave, I made some very good friends there, but I know I'll be back some day. And on the plus side, I now have couches to crash in Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Italy, France, Ireland, England...and probably a few more. I hope some people will make it out out to NZ too but I'm not holding my breath, it is a long and expensive trip.
Anyway, I had lunch with Carmen (from the ORI) and Julio, and their cat Mimi, and my guitar (which I gave to Julio before christmas). We had an El Salvadorean chicken soup, which was divine, although Mimi was disappointed she didn't get any, then played with the cat for a bit. Her christmas present was a laser, which she'd chase all around the room, and when you swept it across the floor and up the wall she'd jump after it, getting really high. Like over my head height! It was so much fun.
Thursday during the day I took some cake and soft drink to the ORI, to say thankyou and goodbye. They were so nice to me and when I return to Europe I will definitely visit them in Spain. It was a working day for them so I chatted when I could but it was a sorta disjointed way to say bye. Ah well.
Thursday night, my last night in Spain, I went to Karolina's (a lithuanian girl) for dinner. We were thinking about going to the chinese restaurant but in the end Karolina cooked some Sweet and Sour Chicken at home, and it was delicious. We had lithuanian sweets for dessert. I couldn't have asked for a better 'leaving dinner'! Later on, about 1am we headed out to a nightclub where the erasmus students gather every thursday. I didn't stay too late, leaving shortly after 2, as I wanted to get some sleep before getting up early, but even so I didn't get to say goodbye to some people because they hadn't arrived yet. Crazy italians. Anyway, I was sad to leave, I made some very good friends there, but I know I'll be back some day. And on the plus side, I now have couches to crash in Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Italy, France, Ireland, England...and probably a few more. I hope some people will make it out out to NZ too but I'm not holding my breath, it is a long and expensive trip.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Bonne Annee 2010
Nantes...it's a really cool place. Mostly because I stayed with Ana, but still I really liked the cathedral/castle. And the trams. Once afternoon I took a wander down to the two-storey wooden elephant, it has electronics wired into it so it can walk, after a fashion. You can even ride on it but it seemed more interesting to me to be able to watch it "walking".
I also went with Ana to her university where she showed me around a little, then settled down to study in the library. I walked back to town, stopping at a park called the Ile de Versailles, which has a gorgeous asian garden and stuff on it.
We went out for kebabs and crepes, and hung out at home with Bob the fish. I'm sorry this post is so short but I'm not very motivated right now, and it was enough to get to know the french side of Ana. I don't really feel like I need to record every little detail.
So thanks, Ana! I had a great time and I love your family. I hope we'll see each other again soon :).
I also went with Ana to her university where she showed me around a little, then settled down to study in the library. I walked back to town, stopping at a park called the Ile de Versailles, which has a gorgeous asian garden and stuff on it.
We went out for kebabs and crepes, and hung out at home with Bob the fish. I'm sorry this post is so short but I'm not very motivated right now, and it was enough to get to know the french side of Ana. I don't really feel like I need to record every little detail.
So thanks, Ana! I had a great time and I love your family. I hope we'll see each other again soon :).
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Back to St Didier
Boo...
I'm not really in a blogging mood but I want to write about this before I forget too much. So here goes:
I took the train to Rennes the day after Christmas, changing trains at Redon. I was a little worried because I only had six minutes but I had no problems. It was a small station. I had to wait a few minutes when I arrived but I recognised Marion instantly when I was her. We looked around Rennes for an hour or so then went back to her place. She is house-sitting with her boyfriend for a friend of the family who is in India for two years. It's a large house out in the country, just gorgeous and improved hugly by their young cat, Piwi. He's so cute! Also a troublemaker. But I love cats.
We had lunch then played the weirdest rabbit game on the Wii for a while, then headed over to Marion's parents place for a boxing day christmas family dinner. There were about 20 people, it was a good afternoon. We ate more delicious food and played Cranium Black, which my team won! Yay. We played it at christmas last year in my family. I felt at home, although my french is still quite wobbly. We later played The Game of the Wolves, one I've played with the italians in spanish, in french. I hope one day to play it in english!
It was good to see them again. Marie and Patrice, the parents, were friendly enough, and Helene, the middle sister hadn't changed much, but I didn't recognise the younger one, Alice. I'm glad I didn't ask her her name!
The next day we had croissants for breakfast (yum), played some more Wii, then jumped in the car for St Malo. We also went there 5 years ago, I had a good time there going back. There were some people having a short prade of drums and things in the street, they were really good, all perfectly in time. I got a video.
Then it was back to Rennes and onto the train. It was a short visit but I enjoyed catching up with Marion and I'll definitely visit again sometime.
In other news, we went to see Avatar in 3D. It was good, although I didn't enjoy the 3D effects as much as I thought I would. It hurt my eyes so I took the glasses off from time to time. Although the 3D forest was very, very impressive. My main reaction to the movie was shame of human beings. Also revulsion at the mindlessness of the armed forces. You have brains!!! USE THEM!!!
Ok, rant over. I'd like to see it again in english, because I did miss a bit. And I can't wait until 3D technology improves! It's gonna be amazing!!
New year's tomorrow. Ana bought a bumblebee costume. I bought a shiny red wig. I'll let you know how it goes!
I'm not really in a blogging mood but I want to write about this before I forget too much. So here goes:
I took the train to Rennes the day after Christmas, changing trains at Redon. I was a little worried because I only had six minutes but I had no problems. It was a small station. I had to wait a few minutes when I arrived but I recognised Marion instantly when I was her. We looked around Rennes for an hour or so then went back to her place. She is house-sitting with her boyfriend for a friend of the family who is in India for two years. It's a large house out in the country, just gorgeous and improved hugly by their young cat, Piwi. He's so cute! Also a troublemaker. But I love cats.
We had lunch then played the weirdest rabbit game on the Wii for a while, then headed over to Marion's parents place for a boxing day christmas family dinner. There were about 20 people, it was a good afternoon. We ate more delicious food and played Cranium Black, which my team won! Yay. We played it at christmas last year in my family. I felt at home, although my french is still quite wobbly. We later played The Game of the Wolves, one I've played with the italians in spanish, in french. I hope one day to play it in english!
It was good to see them again. Marie and Patrice, the parents, were friendly enough, and Helene, the middle sister hadn't changed much, but I didn't recognise the younger one, Alice. I'm glad I didn't ask her her name!
The next day we had croissants for breakfast (yum), played some more Wii, then jumped in the car for St Malo. We also went there 5 years ago, I had a good time there going back. There were some people having a short prade of drums and things in the street, they were really good, all perfectly in time. I got a video.
Then it was back to Rennes and onto the train. It was a short visit but I enjoyed catching up with Marion and I'll definitely visit again sometime.
In other news, we went to see Avatar in 3D. It was good, although I didn't enjoy the 3D effects as much as I thought I would. It hurt my eyes so I took the glasses off from time to time. Although the 3D forest was very, very impressive. My main reaction to the movie was shame of human beings. Also revulsion at the mindlessness of the armed forces. You have brains!!! USE THEM!!!
Ok, rant over. I'd like to see it again in english, because I did miss a bit. And I can't wait until 3D technology improves! It's gonna be amazing!!
New year's tomorrow. Ana bought a bumblebee costume. I bought a shiny red wig. I'll let you know how it goes!
Monday, December 28, 2009
"Jingle Bells, Christmas Smells, Good at Ana's House..."
So, Ana's family. Mum and Dad are Nadine and Robert, then there's Morvan, 31, his wife Claire, and their little boy Mazen, 1 and a few months old. Next comes Gaela, 26, and finally Ana, the baby ( well, not any more thanks to Mazen) of the family at 21. They have all been so kind to me, I even got a few christmas presents, which I was not expecting! Ana gave me a necklace with a replaceable dreamstone, Morvan and Claire gave me a cute wooden bracelet from Brazil (they bought it in Europe), and Nadine and Robert gave me some perfume. Thankyou!!
I can see why Ana fitted in so well with my family. We have played a board game pretty much every night after dinner... We've played some pretty interesting stuff actually. I have had a few issues with the language (although my french is slowly returning!) but my biggest issue was different thought processes...especially when we played a game where you have to represent movie titles with random object like a peg and a ballooon.
Christmas was fun. We went to a catholic service on Christmas eve before having the main christmas meal, lasting until 2am including a break for unwrapping presents/digesting. I called my family after this, it was great to hear their voices. Ana had a chat to them too. Then I went to bed. Cristmas day we got up late, went for a walk in a park, ate christmas cake (it was close enough) and had dinner. Soooo much food! It was sooo good! I loved the Foie Gras.
The christmas decorations were awesome too. There were these little houses that light up from the inside; soo cute! Also stickers on all the windows...and these little men made of wood, hollowed out, with space for some incense inside. They had pipes so when you lit the incense it looked like they were smoking. Cool!
The house is great too, a wooden staircase with landing that overlooks part of the lowzer floor, nice wooden decor, they've got several potplants, large ones, so it all feels very natureish. I like it!
Ok. I'm tired so that's all for now. I'll write more tomorrow about my trip to Rennes to visit my host family from five years ago.
Byee!
I can see why Ana fitted in so well with my family. We have played a board game pretty much every night after dinner... We've played some pretty interesting stuff actually. I have had a few issues with the language (although my french is slowly returning!) but my biggest issue was different thought processes...especially when we played a game where you have to represent movie titles with random object like a peg and a ballooon.
Christmas was fun. We went to a catholic service on Christmas eve before having the main christmas meal, lasting until 2am including a break for unwrapping presents/digesting. I called my family after this, it was great to hear their voices. Ana had a chat to them too. Then I went to bed. Cristmas day we got up late, went for a walk in a park, ate christmas cake (it was close enough) and had dinner. Soooo much food! It was sooo good! I loved the Foie Gras.
The christmas decorations were awesome too. There were these little houses that light up from the inside; soo cute! Also stickers on all the windows...and these little men made of wood, hollowed out, with space for some incense inside. They had pipes so when you lit the incense it looked like they were smoking. Cool!
The house is great too, a wooden staircase with landing that overlooks part of the lowzer floor, nice wooden decor, they've got several potplants, large ones, so it all feels very natureish. I like it!
Ok. I'm tired so that's all for now. I'll write more tomorrow about my trip to Rennes to visit my host family from five years ago.
Byee!
Snow, I love you, But...
HELLO!!! It's been a while since I last wrote so first of all, I'm sorry for neglecting you. I hope you've all had a wonderful christmas and that you're managing to relax a little. Here's looking at you, Dad :-).
As you might have guessed, this post is about SNOW!!! One day during the last couple of weeks of uni (I've forgotten which one) I walked out the door and it was about ten times colder than normal, and there was all this white stuff everywhere. You would probabl have worked it out faster than me, but in my defence my room looks out into a well in the middle of the building and I couldn't see anything before I left my flat. Anyway, it wasn't just snow on the tops of the cars, it was actually snowING, and it was the most peaceful weather I've ever experienced. Maybe not the most comfortable (athough I'll take it any day over 30+ degrees), but it was very tranquil. It never settled on the ground but the roofs of cars and rubbish bins, trees, the church looked lovely... I enjoyed it once I warmed up walking to uni. It snowed all morning, stopping around 4 or 5pm I think. I didn't have my camera and I didn't feel like venturing out twice so I didn't take any photos, but there's lots on Faceboo that I can steal from other people. Keep an eye out!
So I finished uni, with some very decent grades (I am most proud of my 9/10 in Arabic (yay!), I was a little worried about that), packed my bag, and headed to Madrid. I had an early flight to Milan then on to Nantes, so I went to Madrid the night before and had dinner with a uni friend (Yasmin) and her husband and their friend, who were in Madrid that night too. They were very good to me actually, they took me to dinner and then dropped me off at the airport which is quite a drive. I was going to take the metro but that stops running about 1am, and dinner took a while. Thanks guys!!
So I spent the night dozing in the airport. I later wished I'd made more of an effort to sleep properly, but I'll get to that. When I tried to check in, the girl at the desk looked at my visa, which had expired, then my residency card, which had also expired, then my letter confirming that I'd applied to renew my card and saying it would take several months, then turned me down saying the letter didn't count. Madrid had never looked at the residency card before. I had a minor panic attack, and went to the customer information desk where they told me I only needed a valid passport and stamped my boarding pass, then it was bag to check-in to drop off my bag. She accepted me with a little bad grace, and I headed to security. I got on the plane ok, but it was not a good start to the day. I was worried that in Milan for the next flight they'd refuse me too, as last time I was in Italy they checked the visa, but that turned out to be redundant.
It was snowing when we boarded the plane, and it was deep enough to close the airport. We sat on the runway so long that it became clear that I was going to miss my connecting flight from Milan, so I asked the Stewardess, who said that if I wanted to get off the plane they could arrange that, but since the delay wasn't Ryanair's fault I would get little in the way of assistance from them. So I had a choice. Go to Milan, and hope to find a flight to Nantes from there, or abandon the plane and look for a direct flight to Nantes from Madrid. With no information available, other than that there were no other RyanAir flights to Nantes from Milan that day, I felt a bit stuck. What to do? In the end I left the plane at Madrid, as Madrid is a bigger airport ad therefore I figured that it would be more likely to have flights to Nantes, and also, if I was going to be stranded anywhere I'd much rather it be Madrid, where I can have a decent crack at the language and I know there's food available 24 hours a day!
I got lucky; in that there was ONE flight to Nantes that day, at 9:30pm. It was with Iberia, so I went to enquire. This was the point where I wished I'd got more sleep, as I stood in line for an hour. This was actually my shortest wait of the day (apart from food) as the snow had stranded lots of people and it was CHAOS. Anyway, the guy who I finally spoke too taught me the value of a smile, as with so many frustrated passengers I'm sure it was a day from hell for him to. So I smiled and asked politely if he spoke english (people hate it when you just assume they do!) and he gave me a REALLY good deal: 361 euros for a return ticket. It was 900 one-way! But he gave me a deal that closed two months ago. THANKYOU!!!!!!!!!
The rest of the day was spent sleeping on the ground in a corner and wondering if a) the airport would be open that late at night (I thought ice might ground the planes again) and b) the airport at Nantes would be open, as even once Madrid was going again there were lots of flights cancelled due to bad weather all over europe. However, all the waiting paid off, and after the almost two hour wait to check in I finally headed through security in the new terminal, Terminal 4. I'd never taken off from there before, and I have to say it is impressive. It's like a shopping mall, and the gates area has pillars painted in the colours of the rainbow, red fading all the way throught to purple down the other end. Purty.
Then guess what? My 9:30 flight was delayed...til at least 11, I suspect because the plane was delayed at another airport. I headed off for a cup of tea, and 20 mins later got a boarding call. I guess they found another plane. I didn't believe it until we were actually in the air but we finally landed in Nantes at pretty much midnight. I was beyond exhausted. Waiting I can do, and worrying I can handle, but doing both all day was something I'd never done before.
And then ANA MET ME!!!!! I have never been so glad to see anybody in my life. Especially not a family member I haven't seen for three and a half years. She and her boyfriend, Harold, picked me up and we went back to their flat in the centre of Nantes. It's gorgeous, yellow walls, pretty furniture from ikea, one bedroom so I have the couch but it's actually pretty comfortable. They have a goldfish called Bob.
See the next post for family and xmas talk!
xox
Katie
As you might have guessed, this post is about SNOW!!! One day during the last couple of weeks of uni (I've forgotten which one) I walked out the door and it was about ten times colder than normal, and there was all this white stuff everywhere. You would probabl have worked it out faster than me, but in my defence my room looks out into a well in the middle of the building and I couldn't see anything before I left my flat. Anyway, it wasn't just snow on the tops of the cars, it was actually snowING, and it was the most peaceful weather I've ever experienced. Maybe not the most comfortable (athough I'll take it any day over 30+ degrees), but it was very tranquil. It never settled on the ground but the roofs of cars and rubbish bins, trees, the church looked lovely... I enjoyed it once I warmed up walking to uni. It snowed all morning, stopping around 4 or 5pm I think. I didn't have my camera and I didn't feel like venturing out twice so I didn't take any photos, but there's lots on Faceboo that I can steal from other people. Keep an eye out!
So I finished uni, with some very decent grades (I am most proud of my 9/10 in Arabic (yay!), I was a little worried about that), packed my bag, and headed to Madrid. I had an early flight to Milan then on to Nantes, so I went to Madrid the night before and had dinner with a uni friend (Yasmin) and her husband and their friend, who were in Madrid that night too. They were very good to me actually, they took me to dinner and then dropped me off at the airport which is quite a drive. I was going to take the metro but that stops running about 1am, and dinner took a while. Thanks guys!!
So I spent the night dozing in the airport. I later wished I'd made more of an effort to sleep properly, but I'll get to that. When I tried to check in, the girl at the desk looked at my visa, which had expired, then my residency card, which had also expired, then my letter confirming that I'd applied to renew my card and saying it would take several months, then turned me down saying the letter didn't count. Madrid had never looked at the residency card before. I had a minor panic attack, and went to the customer information desk where they told me I only needed a valid passport and stamped my boarding pass, then it was bag to check-in to drop off my bag. She accepted me with a little bad grace, and I headed to security. I got on the plane ok, but it was not a good start to the day. I was worried that in Milan for the next flight they'd refuse me too, as last time I was in Italy they checked the visa, but that turned out to be redundant.
It was snowing when we boarded the plane, and it was deep enough to close the airport. We sat on the runway so long that it became clear that I was going to miss my connecting flight from Milan, so I asked the Stewardess, who said that if I wanted to get off the plane they could arrange that, but since the delay wasn't Ryanair's fault I would get little in the way of assistance from them. So I had a choice. Go to Milan, and hope to find a flight to Nantes from there, or abandon the plane and look for a direct flight to Nantes from Madrid. With no information available, other than that there were no other RyanAir flights to Nantes from Milan that day, I felt a bit stuck. What to do? In the end I left the plane at Madrid, as Madrid is a bigger airport ad therefore I figured that it would be more likely to have flights to Nantes, and also, if I was going to be stranded anywhere I'd much rather it be Madrid, where I can have a decent crack at the language and I know there's food available 24 hours a day!
I got lucky; in that there was ONE flight to Nantes that day, at 9:30pm. It was with Iberia, so I went to enquire. This was the point where I wished I'd got more sleep, as I stood in line for an hour. This was actually my shortest wait of the day (apart from food) as the snow had stranded lots of people and it was CHAOS. Anyway, the guy who I finally spoke too taught me the value of a smile, as with so many frustrated passengers I'm sure it was a day from hell for him to. So I smiled and asked politely if he spoke english (people hate it when you just assume they do!) and he gave me a REALLY good deal: 361 euros for a return ticket. It was 900 one-way! But he gave me a deal that closed two months ago. THANKYOU!!!!!!!!!
The rest of the day was spent sleeping on the ground in a corner and wondering if a) the airport would be open that late at night (I thought ice might ground the planes again) and b) the airport at Nantes would be open, as even once Madrid was going again there were lots of flights cancelled due to bad weather all over europe. However, all the waiting paid off, and after the almost two hour wait to check in I finally headed through security in the new terminal, Terminal 4. I'd never taken off from there before, and I have to say it is impressive. It's like a shopping mall, and the gates area has pillars painted in the colours of the rainbow, red fading all the way throught to purple down the other end. Purty.
Then guess what? My 9:30 flight was delayed...til at least 11, I suspect because the plane was delayed at another airport. I headed off for a cup of tea, and 20 mins later got a boarding call. I guess they found another plane. I didn't believe it until we were actually in the air but we finally landed in Nantes at pretty much midnight. I was beyond exhausted. Waiting I can do, and worrying I can handle, but doing both all day was something I'd never done before.
And then ANA MET ME!!!!! I have never been so glad to see anybody in my life. Especially not a family member I haven't seen for three and a half years. She and her boyfriend, Harold, picked me up and we went back to their flat in the centre of Nantes. It's gorgeous, yellow walls, pretty furniture from ikea, one bedroom so I have the couch but it's actually pretty comfortable. They have a goldfish called Bob.
See the next post for family and xmas talk!
xox
Katie
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