Ready to Roll on the Camino Primitivo: What could go wrong?

Did I really ask what could go wrong?   Why would I do such a thing??

Our flights were booked from Vancouver to London, then London to Geneva, then Geneva to Madrid. We got a great deal and everything seemed good to go. We would leave on June 28 and arrive in Madrid on June 29, then hop a train to Oviedo and begin our Camino.

The bad news struck while I was getting my daily dose of the Camino forum www.CaminodeSantiago.me (I'd like to give a grateful shout out to Ivar and all the pilgrims who contribute to this incredibly useful forum -- I'm wearing my member patch with pride on my Camino).

A Spanish Air Traffic Control Strike was called for Madrid Adolfo Suarez Barajas Airport, June 28 and 29, 2016. To make matters worse, the Spanish National Rail company, Renfe, called a strike June 24, 29, and July 1st.

I agonized and worried for 2-3 days before buying two Easyjet tickets from Geneva to Oviedo for $200, as "insurance." Actually, this is the flight we wanted originally, but when we tried to book it in advance, it would have cost thousands more to fly into Oviedo rather than Madrid. Why it was at this point only $100 per ticket confused me, but I was grateful.

So in the end, we were booked on two flights to Spain: the "long route" through Madrid, and the "express route" directly to Oviedo. The whole situation came to a head a few days before our flight.

In preparation for the many photos that would be taken this journey, I walked an hour to the hair salon to get my yearly highlights (squeeze those km's in anywhere you can!), but planned to bus back to save time. I walked out of the salon and up to the bus stop, which read: next bus 2mins. Perfect!  However, the bus driver was the biggest jerk!  He didn't stop for me while I was actually AT the bus stop, then I ran and almost caught him at the next one, and a girl getting off even tried to get him to wait as I was like 10 feet away and running, but he pulled away again. 15 mins until the next bus meant I walked all the way down to my transfer stop before the next bus passed.

But wait--it gets better! When I got to my transfer stop, I checked Google maps and the transit site... which didn't agree. Google said my express bus should be arriving in 2 mins (nope). On the transit site, the next bus was quite far away, sitting at the depot. So then I needed to gamble: take the slow bus, or hope my express bus was just running late and somehow not showing on the transit site... well, I gambled on the express bus and won!!

When I got home, I told Cathleen about my misadventures, and she said it was a message from the universe. She was right: it was actually TOTALLY like our strike issues, and strangely symbolic like a dream:

Arriving there at the bus stop (Geneva airport) and can't get on the bus (plane to Madrid). Records not matching (bus/flight schedule vs reality). Getting annoyed that I have to put in extra effort to get on, but still not getting on (running for the bus vs watching for updates and calling the agent). The lady (agent) trying to help, but not being able to get me on the original bus (plane). Using my own resources to get to the next stop (walking vs money for new flight), and in the end getting on the express bus (flight) and getting to my destination (home/Oviedo) quickly.

We cancelled our hotel and train in Madrid and banked on the express flight to Oviedo. A bonus of this route was that we would get a full night's sleep in Geneva, versus the late arrival and early morning train of our original itinerary through Madrid. I couldn't help but think that this was a stressful yet cheaper way of getting the flight plan we wanted from the beginning.

Cathleen mused, "I wonder what catastrophe we are avoiding by NOT flying through Madrid?" Then the morning of our flight, Istanbul airport explodes. Note to self: stop asking what could go wrong!!!!  Note to others: it's very difficult to get away with being a Suzie Shoplifter while everyone with a cell phone is uploading videos of said tragedy to Twitter...

The morning of our departure, I could log in to Air Canada online to get my first two boarding passes (YVR-LHR AND LHR-GVA), but for some reason I could not check-in with Swiss online, which was our flight to Madrid. Even though we were not planning to go through Madrid, we figured we might as well check in on our Madrid flight, because if there a were a strike, we could get a refund; whereas bailing it would void our potential refund. But neither of us could check-in. Another omen about the ill-fated GVA-MAD flight?? Easyjet was the easiest online check-in of all the flights. Hmmm... I'm seeing a pattern here...

Driving to the airport, I saw a plane descending to land. It passed over us while we were driving on the bridge. Looking at the clock, I was sure it was Cathleen's plane.

Colin parked the truck so he could come in with me. We hugged and I started crying (for the third time that day--the last time was saying goodbye to my dog Rory).

I headed towards the elderly man who would scan my boarding pass. He asked, "Why are you crying?"  I explained, "I'm leaving my hubby for 24 days-- the longest we've ever been apart."  He asked, "Where's the hubby?" So I pointed out Colin and waved and Colin waved back. Then the guy said, "Sometimes it's good to be apart for a while." Lol. He walked me to the bag scanners, asking about my trip. Totally ignoring all the other people's passes that he needed to scan. Lol. I went through the bag scanners without a hitch.

Just as I sat down at our gate, I got a message from Cathleen: "I'm here!"

The flight bodes well for our companionship. I nap, we eat and chat (both on the in-seat messenger app and IRL), then both put on our headphones.  :)