Saturday, January 24, 2009
We slept in this morning, I took a shower, and then we had breakfast at about noon. During breakfast Julia was getting riled up about our luggage and encouraged me to quit messing around and just go to the airport myself to figure this mess out. She said it’s happened to Francisco and some other people she’s had and it’s better than leaving it to Verónica or trying to do it over the phone. So after lots and lots of encouragement we decided to take the 4:00 bus. We did a little shopping first and Taylor had to pay way too much for some face wash, deodorant, and contact solution. I can’t believe how expensive some stuff is here, even the stuff that’s on sale! (All of Spain is on rebajas right now, tons of good stuff on sale aka the prices I would pay at home) The other day on our way home Taylor said, “Geez, every store is called Rebajas!” Haha she cracks me up... We came back for the best meal I’ve had so far, baked ziti which she called macaroni and cheese with meat J, salad, bread, and an orange. We did a little more shopping before catching the bus and ran into Mitch and Jenny (at different times) just in passing on the street. We went downstairs in the Corte Inglés which is a little café and a grocery store. It’s so funny to see how different it is – the deli only serves one kind of cheese, there’s a huge section of seafood and only a tiny bit of fresh meat besides ham, and the bakery has just a few sweets, other than that it’s all bread. Then we caught the bus which was really nice. I’m glad we went because we got to see other parts of the city and figure out how to get to/back from the airport for next week. Oh, by the way we decided on Barcelona and Paris – YAY!! The customer service desk wasn’t open so I waited in line (or lack thereof, I keep getting budged everywhere I go) to finally get things straightened out. I explained that I still was missing a bag so she typed my information into the computer and told me it was recorded as delivered to the Hotel Meliá last Sunday which it obviously was not. I told her which bag I was missing, we checked the holding room, and long story short- it was nowhere to be found. She couldn’t do anything about finding it or reimbursing me, I had to call in and take care of it when I got home. The lady was really nice on the phone and she sent an urgent message to the airport to check for it and tell their carrier to do the same and I’m supposed to call back tomorrow. The worst part is that they have documents saying it arrived in Granada so if it’s not at the hotel and it’s not at the airport there’s a good chance that I simply will never see it again. Ugh. That’s so discouraging, but even more that the account has been closed since last week and nobody has been looking for it! Verónica told me she had been calling but apparently they weren’t doing anything. Julia was right that I had to do something myself. On our way back we got dropped off at the centro and did a little shopping. I got a necklace, ring, and a black cardigan that I love. Hopefully I’ll be able to submit it all to be reimbursed for. There were SO many people out walking around! It was shoulder to shoulder in all of the shops – absolute mayhem. It’s so cute how it’s not just young people out and about, there are tons of old couples holding hands and babies in strollers (when it’s raining though they’re zipped up and wrapped in plastic, it’s very odd, and they smoke while pushing strollers – it all seems so wrong). Also, there are tons of dogs but no grass for them to do their duty in so they just go on the sidewalks and hardly anyone cleans up after their pets, Taylor stepped in it today and smelled awful during our whole airport adventure. There is a “dog park” by our house but it’s just a big area with a mixture of dirt and sand that I’ve rarely seen anyone use. Ok, so we came back and had leftovers from lunch and grilled cheese with slices of deli chicken in it. Then Taylor headed to the internet place to Skype with her family and hopefully get some good news about her lost bag that’s still in the States. Tomorrow is the Alhambra and I can’t wait!
