Day One - LHR - Madrid - Quito

(I have missed a few weeks worth of posts as I didn´t quite get up to date before I left but once I have longer access to a computer I´ll bring it all up to date then.)

It´s Saturday 13th June and I leave home at lunchtime despite being a little concerned my cat hasn´t appeared for breakfast. My neighbour assures me he´ll show up when he´s hungry and it´s probably just as well he´s not around to see me leave. He´s not stupid and when I was trying to pack yesterday (Friday) he sat directly on top of the rucksack not allowing me access to it.

There´s not much I can do about his non-appearance besides, I hate goodbyes.

I spend a lovely afternoon with my daughter and we go strawberry picking followed by the biggest cream tea I´ve ever had.

I have until midnight fine tune my packing, freshen up and change into my travelling clothes. It´s a long evening into night.

Suddenly, it´s time to leave. Amazingly, according to her bathroom scales I well under the weight allowance for both my rucksack and daysack so that means I can buy a few souvenirs while I´m in Quito, if I can carry them!

The M25 is clear as you would expect at gone midnight but as we approach the turn-off for Heathrow I worry that the signs say the M4 (or is it M40) is closed between j16 and 17. I have no idea if this affects me so I just keep on driving and hope for the best. I´ll deal with the diversion if one appears and hope my daughter can find her way out of it too on the way back to hers.

As it turns out, all is well and we arrive at 01:30. We say our fond farewells.

My daughter warned me nothing would be open at this hour in Terminal 3. It´s not that I didn´t believe her but I hadn´t expected absolutely nothing to be open. I remember T3 being a hell-hole last time I flew from there in 1997 and nothing has changed; in fact I think it´s worse. There is a scattering of very uncomfortable metal seats but these are already fully occupied by sleeping travellers. I venture upstairs and find one available seat and settle myself down to sleep. I wake myself with my snoring. I should be wearing my anti-snoring device but I was so tired I forgot!

After an hour of dozing, I wake realising people have moved away. Either the check-in desk as opened or they can´t bear my snoring!

I join the queue which is going nowhere for the next 50 minutes, so I try to find somewhere open for a coffee. At 03.30 still nothing´s open yet there are many people already here waiting to check in. By the time I rejoin the queue it has multiplied by 6 and stretches round area F. My back aches from sleeping bent over and I look forward to a comfortable chair, a thick, frothy cappucino and Krispy Kreeme doughnut. I know I shouldn't but I am on holiday!

I am very, very disappointed that nothing is open airside either except Duty Free! I can´t even buy a Sunday newspaper to take to the folk at the project on Galapagos. I buy a bottle of water and aimlessly wander round for a few minutes before heading off to the departure gate.

On the plane, I discover all food has to be paid for and my money is in my bag in the over-head locker. I´ll manage without.

I sleep on and off during the 2 hour flight.

We land in Madrid on time. As I write this post first in longhand in an "espressament" which serves the best coffee I´ve had in a long time and a dark chocolate covered ring doughnut that didn´t touch the sides, I wish I´d learned a few more Spanish words before I left. I´ve been doing a lot of pointing and sign language and I feel really ignorant, maybe because I am. My knowledge was always hopelessly inadequate and I´m ashamed that even the shop assistants here can speak virtually fluent English. I´m not being patronising towards shop assistants but this isn´t something that would happen in the UK.

The fact I have never learned Spanish at all is no excuse. Because I can get by in French and I understand more German than I can speak, I feel I´ve done enough haven´t I? I can´t beat myself up - I have a phrase book in my hand luggage so as long as I don´t sleep too much from here to Quito I should have revised a few more useful phrases before I land.

I fear my lack of basic words will be a hindrance once I get to Ecuador as I can´t even count to ten!

Terminal 4S seems relatively new and shiny and at least everything´s open! I forgot to bring Euros with me so I change fifteen pounds so I can pay cash for my coffee and cake and also use the internet cafe. It´s slightly cheaper here than at Heathrow - 3 Euros but only for 20 minute sessions so I´ve got to type really fast from my notes.

Unlike the recent past where the internet cafes were very busy, now they´re virtually deserted. I see people all over the WiFi area with tiny lap tops tapping away on tiny keyboards. It´s good for me they have them as it means I don´t have to wait for a computer and as I only have 20 minutes to go before I need to get to the gate for the next leg I have to get a move on...