6:30 a.m. Feb.6 - arrival at Geneva airport and the Air Iberia desk had a winding line that wasn't budging. Computer glitch- ugghh. At least Denis was there to push the cart with the 3 suitcases we were checking in, help chase the boys around, and get me a Starbucks. We left an hour late and arrived in Madrid around 11:30 a.m. Our plane to Chicago was scheduled to take off from another terminal at 11:50 a.m. I asked the flight attendants for help, but they just instructed me to go to the Air Iberia desk which had a long line. If I had waited there, we'd never make it. I look up and see the screens for our flight "embarcando" and then our terminal was 24 min away walking! OK Etienne- run! Here I am pushing Xavier in the stroller holding his car seat and 2 backpacks and making Etienne run in his snow boots through the Madrid airport- we get on a train, arrive at a passport/boarding pass check. Wait- I don't have boarding passes for this flight due to the computer glitch in Geneva! I cried and the man let us through after a 5 minute lecture in Spanish about how it wasn't his fault if we couldn't get on our flight. We arrive at the gate Etienne hacking up a lung poor thing only to be told the flight just took off!
Sent to the Air Iberia desk. Lady talking on phone to her friend, nobody cares. No more flights to Chicago that day but they'd be happy to pay for our hotel and fly us out the next day. Umm no. I cannot carry a car seat, 2 backpacks, push a stroller and 2 kids, and 3 checked suitcases to a shuttle and then into the hotel and back again the next day. OK- they hand write us tickets for a British Airways flight to London and then we can connect to Chicago the same day and arrive at 7:30- 5 hours later then planned. I hate Heathrow due to our October move to France, BUT just get me there. Etienne is screaming because his ears were hurting from our first flight so I make him a bed on the floor with our 3 coats and let him lie down while I'm shushing Xavier and pushing him back and forth in the stroller. We finally board the flight to London and I mention to the flight attendant that my son has an earache and if she had tylenol or something that would be great. 10 minutes later the pilot and 2 flight attendants tell us we have to get off the flight because Etienne's eardrums could burst and he has to see the airport doctor to clear him to fly. I cry. I cannot get off of this plane I tell them. We barely just plopped down with all of our stuff. They try for 45 min to get a doctor to come to us, but it didn't happen. We had a medical team help us at the gate and Etienne who wouldn't let go of me and I got to ride in a wheelchair a few kilometers to see the airport doctor. Xavier followed in his stroller pushed by a man who also carried the car seat for us. The doctor tells me his ears had lots of fluid, but they weren't infected, and told me to give him ibuprofen from the airport pharmacy. He was ok to fly, BUT we had to stay the night in Madrid. 2 women- one from British Airways and the other from the wheelchair service helped me to a phone to call my mom and Denis to let them know we were stuck and then helped us on the shuttle to the Barajas Hotel in Madrid.
We got a free night's stay, free dinner, and free breakfast- woo hoo! The next day we waited in line to catch the shuttle back to the airport as several Spanish people woosh by us because we were too slow and I couldn't push to the front with the boys and the stroller and car seat. We missed the first shuttle. Luckily a lady decided to advocate for me and help me get on the next one or we would have been boxed out of that one too. We finally made it to the airport, through security and to the wheelchair service for Etienne (I didn't want to make him walk miles again with his cold and ears) and they put us in a special van to drive us to the terminal.
Now began my 9 hour flight with a 1 year-old AND 3 year-old. This was supposed to be the hard part. They slept for about the first 2 hours because it was nap time but then we had 7 hours of entertaining ourselves and all of our neighbors. I apologized in advance to all of the passengers around us and filled them in on our story to appeal to their humanity. The boys were about as good as can be expected. Changing a diaper with 3 of us in the bathroom was fun. You should have seen Etienne run and jump into my mom's arms when he saw her. We were so glad to be "home."
We fly back on Friday. I'll let you know how it goes. As one friend said, "well it can't be worse than the way here."
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