The alarm goes off at 2:45am. I’d love to say I was roused from a deep sleep but the truth is it feels like I haven’t slept a wink, as all I could worry about was sleeping through the alarm.
I groggily dress, gather my bag and lock up the house. Now begins the drive to Stanstead airport from Hampton. I actually enjoy the drive as it gives me time to wake up and driving around/through London is much more enjoyable at 3:30am when there’s hardly anyone else on the road.
I get to the airport, find my parking, panic that I’ve missed the shuttle bus and have to wait for the next one, run to security, get through security with no issue and get through to the gates to find I’m too early to have been assigned a gate number yet.
I’m pretty sure I only start to relax once the plane has taken off and I can feel relieved that it’s all gone smoothly. Naturally I sleep for the next 2 hours.
That first step off the plane when the heat hits me and I see the terracotta haze that covers everything, immediately slows my heart rate and I start to breathe more deeply. I’ve never been to Seville before and it’s only my second ever time in Spain but my body reactively knows it’s in its preferred environment. I sail through customs and gloat at the people waiting for checked luggage as I swan through with my backpack and cross the one way double doors to the outside world.
I get outside and have a choice, taxi or city bus. There’s no question in my mind it’s bus all the way, one, because a great way to immerse yourself in a new culture is to use their public transport, two, because I’m cheap!
The bus is packed but it’s an easy 15 min to the main train station and once I get there I see a queue the length of the station of people waiting to buy tickets. Surely in this day and age there are machines? I spy the machines and wait my turn, it’s not looking positive as all three occupied machines have perplexed looking customers in front of them. Finally a couple give up and join the queue to speak to a person and it’s my turn to step up to the plate. The machines work almost exactly like the machines at home and in less than 10 min I’ve bought myself a return ticket to Cordoba. Victory!
I have an hour to kill before my train so I get some lunch and read a book. When the platform is announced a throng of people surge forward and I’m surprised to see employees manually checking everyone’s ticket before being let onto the platform. Once on the platform there is an airport style security check before our tickets are then checked again. This must be the most secure train to ever leave a station. I find my assigned seat and am sad that it’s an aisle not a window. I sit in the window anyways and hope no one is next to me, but just as we are about to depart a young woman gives me a look that says “I know you know you’re in my seat!”
We both take our assigned seats and I can’t help but be both amazed and appalled as she then proceeds to spend the next 45 min doing a selfie photo shoot with her McDonald’s coffee. I mean she restyles her hair 3 different ways and adjusts the window shade for different lighting each time. I sit next to her in my aeroplane clothes and baseball hat certain we are from completely different planets! The train pulls into Cordoba and I leave her to her ongoing photoshoot. I’m thrilled that I’ve made it and can’t quite believe that 10 hours earlier I was leaving London on an awfully big adventure.
To be continued…
Live Wild and Free 