A great night's sleep did us all well and we were up and headed to the airport out of Santiago by 7 this morning! Well, we thought we all were back on track after a good night's sleep, but once we got to the airport we found that one of us.....NANA....might not have been as sharp as usual.
In an attempt to consolidate bags and manipulate all of the stuff we've acquired onto our Ryan Air flight while incurring as few costs as possible, Mom was in charge of packing two small duffles we bought to use as multi purpose carryon bags. She was carrying one on....Cait the other. Well, it was quite obvious as we passed through the security point at the airport that something was not right with our bags. Cait, more than a little irritated at the stir her bag was creating, thought that we had packed something liquid in with her stuff. Not quite so simple as that.
We have bought an assortment of trinkets and interesting items for people we love from different spots. Mom put all those into Cait's bag. What she didn't consider was that one of the items that Cait bought was an 8 inch Moroccan dagger! Its amazing what a stir a hooked dagger causes in an international airport. As soon as I realized what was happening, I claimed the bag as mine. At the same time, Cait was plaintively explaining that her grandmother had made the mistake...after all how could someone be upset with a grandmother. When there were four armed policemen huddled discussing the bag, I thought for just a moment that my stay in Santiago might be longer than I expected! I handed Mom and Cait all of my other stuff, their passports, my check-on bag...and told them to go on. All we needed was all three of us in trouble!
Well, they decided that it was, after all, a simple mistake.....so while they weren't going to make it into a bigger deal than it was, they were not, of course, going to let me take it with me. Since it was a gift for someone from Cait, I knew it was important that it not get left behind. After some pleading, some really bad spanish (again) and finally a local policeman who spoke a little english coming to my aid, they decided that they would allow me to add it to my checked bag. Possibly the funniest thing of all was when the Ryan Air staff person wouldn't call to have my bag brought out front again, the security officers took me back to the baggage loading area, point out my bag and stick the dagger in it! International incident averted and we were on our way with minutes to spare!
However, international incidents may still be forthcoming. You see, we have decided our road trip in Spain went so well, we are going to do the same thing here in the UK. Its a lovely country, and after all, all the road signs are in english. One big problem.....well, three problems so far.......they drive on the wrong side of the road, I have to shift with my left hand, and it took me 10 minutes to find the emergency brake on the vehicle they gave me!
Actually, its not been as hard as I thought it would be. I sort of get in line and just remember to follow the car in front of me...that keeps me on the right side of the road. Shifting is becoming more natural. I've decided that parking brakes are overrated (because while a flashing light on the dashboard told me how to disengage the parking brake after I tried to drive with it engaged multiple time, there is no light to tell me how to re-engage it!) Problems solved. We hope that they are solved.....Cait, in anticipation of future difficulties found a sticker to attach to the car window that identifies me as a "Learning Driver". Maybe people will steer clear of me!
Today we finished recuperating from our walk, did our laundry, ate some incredible fish and chips and are tucked in ready to hit the road in the morning on a three day road trip up to Scotland. Wish us well, and if you have friends or family in the UK, you might consider warning them for a redhead who just might be driving on the wrong side of the road, or a black Fauxhall that just might be rolling down a hill because the parking brake wasn't engaged!
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