Italy Random Notes

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

I had reported some of the adventures here, describing some of the twists along the road to, in, and from Italy.

Last I left you, describing our escape from Catania, I failed to let you know if we ever arrived in Madrid or London Gatwick.

Our nerves were settling down when we took off from Catania, deluded as we were by the announcement that we would arrive earlier than 10:15 in Madrid. Naive, innocents that we were, unfamiliar with the Madrid airport, we felt pretty confident that we would be able to get our boarding passes and make the British Airways flight connection.

10:30 PM....we are coasting along a runway, no terminal in sight, and realizing that we were going to have to make a mad dash when the gangway door opened. The Iberian flight attendant was aware of our connection, and she whispered to us "head to the nearest gate agent, and run like the devil if you hope to make the connection."

The door opened, and we spilled out into what appeared to be the yellow insides of an undulating caterpillar. Glass gleamed, bright lights glared and the belly of the creature seemed to go on forever. We searched for an agent....racing forward into the unknown.

Finally, after 5 minutes of running, we spot an Iberian counter..."we need our boarding pass"....haltingly replying in English, the woman shook her head and said "I cannot give you one, you have to go to the British Airways desk at the check in area." It seemed to give her delight to make us ask how to find the way...."keep going, and going, then go down the escalator, across the floor, up 2 floors".... YIKES! Can you at least tell us if the flight is boarding or on time...."it is delayed, leaving 20 minutes later than scheduled."

Checking the time, we determined we just might make it, if we continued to run.

After several wrong turns, we finally careen around the corner of the twentieth row of check in desks, at the head of the monstrous caterpillar. "British Airways, Business Class" YAY! I lunge toward the desk, only to realize it is unpeopled, empty, and desolate. I look up at the sign and it reads "Cerrado". I call out, "hello, back there" toward the walled area ..."can someone come out here to help us make the flight.?" There was a hollow echo, the reply....no.

Now what? No boarding pass, no idea from where the flight takes off, and the fatigue starting while the sweat is dripping, slowly coagulating along nooks and crannies, increasing the level of discomfort and accenting the sinking feeling that we are very likely not going to get out of Madrid.

[happymum Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close happymum]

Oh Katie. What a panic. I look forward to hearing the rest of your tales!

[kennyw Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kennyw]

Katiemack, you're driving me crazy! Can't wait to read the "rest of the story".
And it is so well written.
We are going to Italy next June so I am trying to read everything about it that I can. I just confirmed my frequent flyer flights this morning. YEAH!

[vlariano Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vlariano]

Sounds like "The Amazing Race" to me What a story -- I can't wait for more.

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

Whoo Hoo!! You are having a "shaggy" moment. shaggy

[barndweller Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close barndweller]

Oh, Katiemack, not a cliffhanger Don't leave us hanging, girl. Did you ever get out?

That caterpiller description had me spitting my coffee trying not to choke with laughter. Fun-neee. Keep it comin'.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

Now what? No boarding pass, no idea from where the flight takes off, and the fatigue starting while the sweat is dripping, slowly coagulating along nooks and crannies, increasing the level of discomfort and accenting the sinking feeling that we are very likely not going to get out of Madrid.

Who says that flying is still fun? It is becoming a nightmare everywhere. I can read the panic, you experienced, in your story. Keep it coming.

[mav Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

Katie, I love ! You have got to write a book on your adventure!!

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

It has been an odd and hectic week here at home, sorry so late in continuing...

Well, as we looked around the terminal, the glass windows began to glare back at us, the yellow metal columns careening at angles and the empty service desks seemed to mock us.

My DH stood in disbelief for a moment, but I knew we had no time, no hesitation would be at all helpful, because I just knew there was a crowd of people finding their own way out of the caterpillar's feet, and making their way to find help too.

I quickly turned on my heels and called to my DH to follow me. Racing down the center of the empty British Airways service desk, turning a sharp left, skidding into another apparently empty line of desks. Looking to my left and right as I raced down this row, hoping to spot some agent hiding behind the glossy counters. But no these too were empty.

At the end of the row, I made a hairpin turn right, and started up another column of counters, looking ahead, and spotting a man sitting at a counter in the center on the left. My eyes were working fast, trying to read all the signs, to decide if this counter would be the help we needed.

My DH could barely keep up, he knew not to call out to me, I was desperate to get assistance, still thinking maybe, just maybe we could catch the flight.

I gain composure, and approach the counter in a more relaxed manner than my heart or breathing want me to, I pull a smile out of somewhere (I mean, tears wouldn't be useful would they?). "Hi, do you speak English?" I spot his name tag, I see the sign above him...it says "One World..Business"....I am beginning to feel this might just be the guy to help us.

"Yes, how can I help you?"

My DH catches on quickly, as he joins me at the counter, and I can feel him working at being as casual as he can be, as he greets the man, warmly.

"Raoul, maybe you can give us some assistance in printing out our boarding pass for our flight." I calmly ask him.

He smiles and says, "what flight did you arrive on?"

Huh? "no, we need boarding passes for the British Airways flight to Gatwick."

"You need to go to their desk."

"Well, we did, and they are not there....I see you are a One World Iberia desk agent here, and since the itinerary we are flying is American Airlines, a One World partner, I am thinking you can help us. I am sure you can print out our boarding pass for the flight."

Tick, tock, tick, tock......I can hear and feel the minutes dripping away....my voice is calm, I continue to smile, but inside I am screaming: "just give us the damn boarding passes!"

"What flight is it?" He moves his hand toward the computer....my heart skips a beat...."the Gatwick flight"...."oh, you missed it"

....he states it in that usual, no big deal way that agents can state things...you know that way that says "so what!"

"Raoul, we heard the flight is delayed, please couldn't you get us a boarding pass, and we will head straight to the gate..."

"The gate is closed."

"Raoul, it isn't time for the gate to close if they are delayed...."

"I'm sorry, you cannot get onto the plane. There is no time."

"Okay, I understand," I LIE! "So then can you get us onto the next plane to Gatwick?"

"Well, you will have to come back tomorrow morning....."

My composure is starting to fade, and the hollow glass and steel belly of the caterpillar circles around me....I can sense my DH's bewilderment as he begins to repeat the request to Raoul....

[kennyw Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kennyw]

DAMN!!!

[barndweller Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close barndweller]

WHAAAATT? No soup for you?

My fingers are slipping slowly off the edge as I dangle on this escarpment of anticipation.....hanging on with the tips of my bitten nails....scrabbling to hold on................

[mav Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

Katie, don't keep us hanging.... what happened?? I am really enjoying your adventure and can't wait for the next installment: rotflmao:

[bigeyes1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bigeyes1]

Dang, girl.. You need to write a book. I'm sure you would have lots of fans, including me.

I can't wait to hear more!!!

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

Raoul turns into a human being

Well, Raoul seemed to sense some things were changing. He seemed to be comprehending that we were not going to leave easily, and he seemed to grasp that it really was HIS company that left us in the mess we were in.

"Raoul, this is the situation, you tell me to accept the fact that we cannot get on that plane. We will accept it. Here is the thing....YOU have to fix it...and no, we will not leave here, not until we have the solution."

Suddenly, Raoul responds, he seems tantalized suddenly by the challenge. "Here, you come with me, please." He removes himself from his perch, climbs over the luggage scale, and he joins us on our side of the counter. He is not very tall, but he pulls himself out of his shoes, making his way toward the center of the aisle, gaining height as he seems to be formulating his plan. Now, he is acting with certainty, and he seems to be smiling.

We follow him, blindly. Hoping against wild hope that he is truly coming to realize that HE can be our HERO!

At the end of the counters, he turns left and crosses the chasm, ahead, I see two small women behind a huge counter. Raoul points to the front of the counter and indicates "you wait here" as he heads to somewhere behind the wall behind those women.

Shortly, he appears, and crosses over to the woman on the left, hugging her and bending toward her intimately. "Ah," I think, "he is romancing her to get us the help we need." Time passes, it is probably only four minutes, but I am getting bored as they pass the time, catching up on one another's lives...I shift on my feet, tempted to wave something or clear my throat, anything to say "hey, you two, remember us?". But I remain mute, biding my time, not wanting to tilt the scales, against us...sure that he is confident that this woman will help us.

What is this? He suddenly hugs her, turns away from her and crosses over to the woman on the right, he has our papers in his hand, he waves them at her, and begins to speak with her, his attitude not so intimate, not so warm. Speaking low and in Spanish, of course, I gather that he is trying to get her to understand that our flight to London was a goner, that we were supposed to get to Raleigh from London, and that from London, thru Dallas, our final destination was Phoenix. I scramble to understand, desperately trying to reconnect with my 4 years of high school Spanish, angry at myself that I can only get the gist, that the syntax and idiom are eluding me.

We are studying the woman as Raoul explains the situation, and I can see that she is not happy.

She is not confident.

She is not thrilled that Raoul chose her to deal with us. I know it...I am sure of it....as sure as I am that the outfit which I so carefully chose to wear for our trip was now long past its prime, and that my feet were screaming, and that my deodorant had long lost its ability to fight on.

Our new "hero" looks up and weakly smiles, as Raoul, looking at us over her head says "she will help you now, and when she is done, you come back to my desk."

And off he goes.

But my DH doesn't let Raoul slip by as he comes out from behind the Wall of OZ. "Raoul," I hear my DH ask, "what about our luggage?" "No problem, sir...you didn't make the flight, the bags are downstairs, they will be waiting for us to get you on the next flight and matched to the new itinerary."

My husband hears this, but I can see by his face that he doesn't believe it.

I turn my attention to our new "problem solver." She refuses eye contact and begins to work not so fervently on our solution. It is now, 11:50 PM, Madrid time.

As she works on this, people come by the desk, complaining and begging for help about some Iberia Airlines cancelations that they are experiencing, there are people constantly coming and going, and the pleasant woman tends to them.

Our agent continues to work the computer, mumbling or tilting her head in quirky ways as the computer offers her "ideas". She turns from time to time to her colleague asking a question or two, only to return to the computer and punch in more info.

This goes on.

It is now 12:30 AM.

My body is aching, my neck drenched with sweat, my stomach a cavern of echos calling "hey, remember me! I need food, water and a place to rest!"

Our "hero" suddenly looks up and grimaces--one cannot call it a smile--and she says, "you wait here" and disappears behind the wall. It is 12:35 AM.

We wait.

A large family comes up to the other woman on the left side of the counter....wait, that isn't the woman, when did she leave, who is that?....I never even noticed that the pleasant woman had been replaced with another. This approaching family is agitated, angry, arguing. The agent remains calm, refuses them help, they argue some more, she wins, they go away, unhappy, un-helped.

I feel my optimism ebbing as their angy backs recede into the glare of the black glass of the caterpillar.

I turn to speak to my DH, he is nowhere in sight.

I look down the row of counters, I see no one familiar and I note that there are very few people around.

I feel lost in a foreign land, alone.

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

"I'm back," my husband called to me, as he crossed over the rope that demarcated where the line formed. "What's happening?"

"Where did you go?" I asked.

"Mother Nature called, I told you I was taking a quick run...don't you remember?"

No, I didn't. I was beginning to feel so fatigued and lightheaded, but as I forced myself to focus, I realized that yes, indeed, he had told me he was making a quick dash.

"Well, our agent has disappeared, and I have been standing here waiting, wondering..."

We stood together. Minutes dragged by. A large tour group formed near us, and one of the other agents moved from behind the desk to address the crowd. All of the words were foreign to my ear, and I kept thinking, "what tour is starting at this hour of the morning?" It was nearly 1 A.M.

Just as the tour group began to walk away, our agent emerged from somewhere and strode toward us. She again made that effort to smile, failing and looking more like a broken pumpkin face.

"Okay, this is your ticket." She thrusts a piece of cardstock toward me. "You will have to come back tomorrow monring and see American Airlines for your husband's ticket." She begins to walk away from me....

I have a ticket in my hand, but it is only one half of a solution ....

I call to her, "Excuse me, I am sorry, but please don't walk away from us....I don't understand what you are saying here....why is it that you have one ticket for me, and no ticket for my husband."

She sighs, turns back toward me, sighs again, "There is a problem, and the American Airlines counter is closed. There is no one here to solve the problem. We cannot get him a ticket. It is their problem. You will get a voucher for a hotel, we will see that you get to the hotel, and you will have to see American Airlines to get his ticket. They open at 7 AM."

She seems satisfied that this is acceptable.

"I am terribly sorry," I hear myself say, "but no, this is not how we are going to accept this. Iberia is the cause of this problem. Your airplane was delayed. Your delay has been the source of all our problems. No, it is not American Airlines that will fix this. You must fix this." I stand firm and my husband walks up closer to her.

He says, "Why can't you get me a ticket? Please explain this to us." And he smiles, God bless him, he smiles at her, all I can think of is shaking her, but instead I am clutching the ticket she handed to me, afraid to lose control of that ticket.

She seems to gain confidence, and once again repeats her explanation.

"Please, could you identify for us, what is THIS PROBLEM you are having." I ask her.

She walks back behind the counter and pulls out several sheets of paper.

"You see, here is the ticket number for your husband's ticket. It has a series of numbers, ending in 61 - 63. When we go to exchange the ticket, this is what happens: the 62 sequence shows that your husband's ticket was used."

DUH? What is she showing us? Bleary eyed, we try our best to read the sheets she waves in front of us. Finally, we see that the "middle" of the itinerary shows that a Claudio R. has taken a ticket with the same number, flying from Madrid to Miami.

"So you see? American Airlines is closed. We have tried to exchange the ticket, but we cannot. You will come back tomorrow and they will fix it." Once again she seems satisfied with herself.


...deep inside I hear myself, screaming..."this isn't happening! if we come back at 7 AM there will be a thousand people in this terminal and who knows what level of skilled person to fix this....this can't be happening." .