Early Sunday morning I hailed a taxi instantly off Dame Street to the Dublin airport for my flight to Spain. The driver was an older Irish man and characteristically chatty like most of the others I’ve had. It took about 1/2 hours to get to the airport, which was was moderately busy. I booked my ticket with Ryanair, an “ultra low cost” Irish airline that allegedly carries more international passengers than any other carrier due to its extensive routes across Europe. I checked a bag without any human interaction via a kiosk where I weighed it, printed a tag, then walked it over to an automatic conveyer belt that doubled checked the weight before scanning the tag before shuttling it away. That was a first for me. The lines for security were short. Overall the Dublin airport is OK but there are no water fountains. Instead there are self-serve shelves stocked with plastic water bottles that cost €2 each. Payment is based on the honor system via a small collection box. I misread the gate number for my flight and went on a wild goose chase for about half an hour down a suspiciously deserted wing of the airport. I still made it to the correct gate with plenty of time to share.
Ryanair charges extra fees for about everything on the plane except for your seatbelt. I paid €9 extra to sit in an exit row with more space. I don’t think there is assigned seating otherwise. I was seated in the window seat, the middle seat was empty, and a young guy in his 20s was seated in the aisle seat… so relatively comfortable conditions for the 3+ hour flight. There were lots of 20 something lads in the next couple of rows ahead of mine. They ordered multiple rounds of cocktails, four at a time each, but thankfully they were unruly. There were no complimentary drinks or snacks. I managed to grab a to-go wrap from Starbucks and purchased a bottle of water bottle before I boarded. The flight attendant’s briefing about the exit row was literally: “in case of emergency open the door.”
We arrived slightly early to Málaga, but there was a long line through immigration control that took about a 1/2 hour. After that, there was a separate checkpoint to scan EU COVID travel certificate and a separate COVID form required by Spain. After picking up my bag, which had been waiting me for awhile, I exited the airport into the hot but breezy air. My friends picked me up soon after, and then we headed to a small beachside town called San Luis de Sabinillas, about 1.5 hours south of Málaga.
Sunday was very low-key. We ate food at the apartment and played cards (rummy) late into the night. Today (Monday) we made a trip to the city of Cádiz on the Atlantic coast, which was considerable cooler than the 90+ F / 30+ C temps where we are staying. Cádiz is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, with archaeological remains dating to the 8th century BC, was founded by the Phoenicians.It has been a principal home port of the Spanish Navy since the accession of the Spanish Bourbons in the 18th century.
We returned in late afternoon, took a siesta, then had a late dinner before enjoying another round of cards. So far not a bad holiday!
Until next time….
