I’m always interested to find that our sense of smell is so powerful and evocative. We boarded our old BA Boeing 787 on time, took off, and after the usual plethora of announcements and a packet of pretzels, I threw my blanket over my head and tried to get some sleep. Even in my sleep induced haze, some 5 hours later I was awakened by the aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafting down the aisle. Not wanting to miss it, I emerged from my blanket and waited hopefully – for a full two hours. Must have been the crew’s wake up treat.
Gotta say that I was rather underwhelmed with British Airways. Now I know that in these COVID times that nothing is quite normal, but I did book with BA because they were a full service airline that I thought would be operating to their self proclaimed amazing level of service. Instead we got an old-ish plane, my entertainment system didn’t work, no magazine, just pretzels and water when we took off, and breakfast ten hours later was a cheese roll and a cup of coffee. Being in the back half of the plane, they even made us walk across the tarmac and board via the rear stairs in the cold and dark. But enough of the whinging – we got there on time, although I might have swallowed once or twice when our interactive route map showed us flying past the Crimean peninsula.
In contrast to Singapore, Heathrow airport was positively buzzing. People everywhere. Aside from having to wear masks, everything was very normal. Apart from a rookie mistake when I didn’t realise that gate 10B was not the same as gate B10, it all went rather smoothly.
Then we got on another BA flight, this time to Spain. Hmm. Now it was really underwhelming. BA doesn’t have a cut price brand, which must be hurting their reputation by doing the cheap stuff under the same name. This time they bussed us out halfway to Swindon, where our plane materialised out of the gloom. Another old Boeing 787. No earphones, no pillow or blanket, a bottle of water, and that was that. At least the screen worked on this one – if only I could listen to it.
Arrived in Madrid around lunchtime. Were duly stamped and admitted into EU territory which was very welcome, as you never know if the official at the desk has a different interpretation of COVID requirements to what you’ve been told. Then through a second station where they checked both our PCR test and vaccination paperwork. Nice new terminal 4, but best of all our bags were running around the carousel waiting for us. No mean feat that. When you consider the logistics, its pretty incredible. They went from Brisbane to Sydney to Singapore to London to Madrid on 4 different planes, in 5 different airports, were handled by a dozen or more people, even moving from domestic to international, and beat us there safely.
With several hours to kill, we spurned our newly arrived baggage, stored them for the day, took the Metro into the city centre, and went for a long walk. Saw parks, palaces and lots of statues of Roman emperors. Had lunch in the McDonalds palace. When it started getting cold we took the Metro back to the airport and retrieved our bags and turned our attention to our next flight.
TAP Airways (the national carrier of Portugal) operates out of the old terminal 2 with the other low-cost airlines, so we had to take the bus. Not normally a problem. Sometimes you head across the runways internally, sometimes you take the road around the outside. In some airports like LAX, you can walk. Not in Madrid. Out of the airport and off down the freeway. It was so far that they handed out cut lunches, and scheduled a toilet stop. Eventually, however, we got there. Looking at the map, it seems that they have built a whole new terminal 4 with new runways, and left the whole original adjacent airport building operating and intact for the budget airlines.
Only a couple of flights happening so one small coffee shop was all there was in the terminal, but at 9pm that was about all that was needed. But the budget airline TAP outshone BA by miles. A brand new, latest generation Airbus A320 with perky staff, and we even got an aerobridge when we arrived early in Lisbon. Shame their government isn’t as up to date. In a recent decree, Australians with a lower infection rate and a higher vaccination rate than either the US or the UK, or most of the rest of the EU, are not permitted to fly direct to Portugal (whatever ‘direct’ means – there are no direct flights). We’re too risky. However, Australians are permitted to enter from other EU countries, so as long as we disembark in Spain (or France or Germany or …), enter the EU, hop back on a plane and fly to Lisbon that same day, we are welcome. Cost us a day, and hundreds of dollars, but that’s what we, and all the other Aussies on the flight, were doing.
Arrived in Lisbon at supper time, showed our vaccination certificate like everybody else had to, picked up our baggage and we were in. Took two Metro trains to Martim Moniz, walked a few hundred metres up a hill pulling our bags over the cobbles, entered the door code to our apartment, and kind of fell onto the bed.
50 hours, 4 flights and 3 airlines, 1 COVID test, and 3 COVID checkpoints, but we were there.
Travessa do Terreirinho 22, 2, Lisboa, Lisboa 1100-601, Portugal