Day 0--Travel Day

 I can't count this as Day 1 because it's not exactly a vacation LOL. 

We had our pick up set for 3:30pm. Originally I thought I would be able to work that day, or at least the morning, but decided not to. However, I was READY TO GO by 1pm and was going crazy. The weather was so beautiful for here (22C!). I was sitting on my deck getting work done, then Rob and I went for a good walk. 

Our driver from Mr Limo arrived promptly at 3:30. Also named Rob, he and my Rob had a lot in common. The drive in was quick and smooth considering how bad it could be. We could have left a bit later but then we would have gotten traffic. Or we could have taken the 407 and paid the hefty toll. One tip--pay with cash and get a discount. They hadn't told us that. 

We were at Lester Pearson International Airport Terminal 1, for Air Canada. We paid so much but yet had to do most of the check in work ourselves! Pay  for the bag, print the tag, weigh it, send it on its way. Our checked bag weighed 40lb. I do wish I had packed a couple other clothing items but while we had weight room, unless we unzipped the expander zip, the bag was full! We wanted to make sure we had room for any souvenirs--though we really didn't end up buying much.

We went through security super fast. Did not have to take shoes off, didn't take liquids bag out of the carry on. It was just after 5 and we still had 2+ hours until boarding started!

There aren't a lot of food options in Terminal 1 where we were. More shocking, there were no bottle fillers! Get with the times, Pearson!

I opted for a green curry bowl. The worker said the green part was the spicy part. So when I got it, I dug in, avoiding two green blobs. It was spicier than I thought it should be considering I was avoiding the green parts. Well. Turns out those green parts were broccoli LOL! Most of the bowl was rice which I left. I don't remember what Rob got. 

The waiting area near our gate was quite nice. Dimly lit, windows to the planes. We got there early and relaxed. Put on our new compression socks LOL. Boarding started on time, though I thought it was strange they called for groupsthe last 3 groups at the same time and then, while we were in a long line waiting, they called final boarding call. It still took 15 min to actual board.

We got on, Rob joked with the attendants and then nearly whacked someone in the face in the premium section with his backpack. The lady thought it was funny though.

Got back to our section and it seemed really empty. We had the window and the aisle seat on the left side, and no one showed up for the middle seat. Turns out the economy section was only about 50% full--if that! In the centre section of 4 seats, many rows had only one person. There were rows on either side with no one. As soon as the door was closed, many couples spread out. The attendant said their return flight back from Barcelona was oversold by 60 seats though!

Look at the empty seats in the middle!! Crazy!

My window seat didn't exactly line up with a window. 

Our ticket said we were getting breakfast so we were surprised when they came around with dinner. It was decent. 

I was able to capture this picture of the Oshawa Harbour (bottom right) and most of Whitby, Brooklin and Oshawa. It's the first time I'd flown this direction, but I could immediately recognize Highway 12, and the angle it takes before getting to Brooklin. Uxbridge is in the centre top.

We settled in and tried to sleep. I'd get comfy, thought it was perfect, but in 10 min something would have a kink or fall asleep. I laid down with my head sort of on Rob's leg and that was good, but then he got up and left. I thought he might be coming back so I sat up but after awhile I gave up. He had gone to the back and found an empty row on one side and laid down. I never really fell asleep, but at least my eyes were closed. The sound of the plane was louder than I expected. I had actually hoped our flight path would be considerably more northern (like Rob's was when he went to Europe in the summer), so that we might see Northern Lights from the plane. But we stayed much further south. 

As we got over Europe, I watched the sunrise and viewed the new landscape. 

Wind turbines galore! Everywhere! It seemed much drier looking than I expected. We swooped around for landing, and could see the Mediterranean Sea! I was so excited. Like, SO EXCITED. 

They did bring us a small breakfast, I can't even remember what it was. A pastry type thing.

I'll leave off here because even though we were feeling like it was 4:30AM, it was morning in Spain and the official start of the trip!!