Against all odds, I arrived safely and on time in Zaragoza. My heart sunk this morning as I was on the first leg of the journey – a bus trip – and realized that I left ALL the tickets I had printed (airport shuttle, flight, and hostel) on my bed at home. It was too late to go back; I would have missed my flight and all the connecting means of transportation before it. So I just prayed and prayed, and hoped, and prayed that in this age of computers I would be permitted access to everything without my tickets. Fortunately the shuttle driver took pity on me and offered to use his cell phone to call the main bureau and check my inscription. Access permitted sans extra fees. Then I got to the Ryanair desk and was told that I'd have to pay 40 euro to have my boarding passes printed at the check-in counter. I explained my situation and the fact that I had already checked in online, as requested. Can you imagine? $60 USD for 1/3 sheet of paper that takes two seconds to print? For once I didn't try to hide my surprise and the fact that I thought a policy such as this completely absurd. But I complied and headed towards the queue for the “Passengers Without Print-outs” window. No sooner had I stepped into line but a young lady came up to me and said, “Mademoiselle, the lady at the register said to come back. She said that if you have your passport she can give you your boarding pass, no problem.” Perhaps my reluctant but polite compliance softened her heart. She was very kind and smiled warmly as she handed me the boarding pass. Once again, access permitted. Two hurdles successfully cleared.
Upon arriving in Spain I had the most wonderful realization. I understand and speak more Spanish than I would have ever guessed!
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