THE JOURNEY

She looked around with awe at the bright shiny airport, as she waited for her bag to arrive. It was so clean - squeaky clean actually. And empty – where were the crowds of people jostling each other at the conveyor belt to get the perfect spot to catch their incoming luggage? Well, she had to remind herself, she was in Madrid…not in India anymore.

The journey till here was surprisingly comfortable. She had boarded her flight from India at two in the morning – she didn’t expect she would get much sleep due to the excitement. Very soon she drifted off to a restless sleep. She kept waking up intermittently for the never ending meals. And to check on the early morning twilight sun – she had been racing the sun throughout the journey. Finally the sun caught up with her as the aircraft started its descent to Paris.

The view of France from above was beautiful – picture perfect. The fields looked large, very green and so neat – with quite straight borders. They looked so well tended – a sight of perfect harmony. Even the occasional woods in between were so well defined. The trees were not like anything she had seen before. But it was the towns which differed from anything she had seen in India. They were organized and structured so well – like the sketches of a 10 year old child – perfect straight rows of houses which all looked the same differing only in sizes. They all had cute red roofs sloping into porches and backyards. It was so pretty, and tranquil.

As the aircraft landed in Paris, she had scanned the horizon for the Eiffel Tower, telling herself that there it was not necessary that she could see it from a landing aircraft – but just couldn’t stop herself from searching! Queuing up to disembark, she didn’t pay much heed to everyone putting on extra layers of clothing - it looked bright and sunny outside. She regretted this the moment she stepped outside. It was 5 degrees, and windy – so cold, she couldn’t breathe for a few seconds. Fumbling in her bag for her sweater, she hoped Spain wouldn’t be this cold.

She was dismayed to see the immigration check lines in Paris much longer than those in India. It took her forever to get the necessary stamp on her passport and board her Madrid flight. The aircraft to Madrid was tiny but she didn’t mind as she was seated next to a gorgeous looking man. If she knew he would be the first of many such good looking men she would see in the next 10 days, she wouldn’t have stared at him so much. She tried to make small talk, like you do in India but her offer was put down very politely and firmly by the handsome stranger. 

She was brought back to attention with the arrival of her bag. As she walked towards the exit, slowly taking in the sight of very different looking people – someone pounced at her with a pair of scissors. She was startled as she hadn’t expected anyone to approach her. But it was just an airport attendant helping her cut off the tags from her bags. That simple gesture felt so good, made her feel welcomed. She fell in love with the place all over again. 

Once out of the arrival gate, she met up with her friend. They made their way to the airport metro which would take them to the bus stand – where the bus would take them to Granada – their first destination. She was fascinated with the ticket vending machine and insisted that they take tickets from the machine. Waiting for the metro train was fun. The tunnel looked just like in the English movies – clean, bright and completely empty. She could hear her own echo. There were quite a number of people in the train – but couldn’t hear anyone having a conversation. Everyone was either reading a book or staring away into space. She imagined the bustling trains in her city, and couldn’t stop herself from smiling at the comparison. 

The main bus stand in Madrid was quite like those back home – just more cleaner and larger. The buses too were quite well maintained. But she had expected this. What she didn’t expect was that not a single person in that entire crowd of people was using the cell phone. The sight was so different to her. Unlike the train, here everyone was busy chattering away. The sound level in the small eating joint was quite high!! She felt good to listen to it, after all that silence. 

The trip to Granada was quite amazing. The sky was so blue with soft tufts of clouds. However, it was not hot despite the bright sunlight. This was something she would get used to in the coming days. Initially the landscape was quite bare, in the outskirts of Madrid. It was slowly replaced with huge plantations of some shrubs, the plantations continued on the small hills too. After a few hours, they reached Andalucia, and the road took them through the rocky hills and cliffs – so inviting for treks. The journey was quite tranquil and comfortable. 

They reached Granada late in the afternoon. After checking on the information desk, they realized they had to take a bus to the place where they were to stay. The bus was the most sophisticated and shiny vehicle she had ever seen. The bus driver doubled as the ticket collector and he listened intently as they explained where they needed to go. With no luck, as he didn’t know any English. With the help of some passengers they were able to reach the place where they were to stay. The hostel manager was an old man. He welcomed them warmly and gave interesting snippets of information and tips on how and what to see in Granada – they were soon to find his tips and maps quite useful.

By the time they checked into their rooms, it was dark outside. She was quite excited to see everything around their place. They dumped their bags, and set out again to explore their street and surrounding areas. From the closed shutters of shops, they could make out it was a busy street. Everything looked beautiful to her – the buildings, the streets, the pavements. She was completely fascinated when she found a tree laden with ripe oranges right on the pavement! But it was quite dark and the streets had become deserted. She decided to leave the exploring for tomorrow. 

She was finally here – the crown of Spain – Granada!!! Tomorrow would be some day. 
                                                                                         

                                                                                                   To be continued….