leaving on a jet plane

(beyond 4)

If I leave here tomorrow
Would you still remember me?
For I must be traveling on now
‘Cause there’s too many places I’ve got to see

Lynyrd Skynyrd, Free Bird

tenerife – day 16

The alarm goes off but I lie till after seven. It’s the airport run today – our airport run.

Oh, I could hide ‘neath the wings
Of the bluebird as she sings
The six o’clock alarm would never ring
But it rings, and I rise
Wipe the sleep out of my eyes
My shavin’ razor’s cold and it stings

Daydream Believer (Songwriter: John Stewart)

We’ve been told that the Ryanair check-in at Tenerife Sur can be a bit hectic and with five or six Ryanair flights going out within about an hour of each other we decide to get to the airport a bit earlier than normal. We are dropping the hire car off at the airport in the public car park which is directly opposite departures. It’s a twenty minute drive to the airport from our apartment. We arrive at 9.00am. And yes we are opposite arrivals. Once inside the terminal we find out that the Ryanair desks are at the far end of the new terminal. This is quite a long walk. Check-in is busy. What looks light six queues is actually six queues merging into three queues at the check-in desk. (Please Merge In Turn). All-in the process takes about fifty minutes, which is better than i thought it might be. Security and passport control is quick. Duty-free is immediately after security; you can’t avoid it – it’s the only route to the departure lounge. The new departure lounge is gloomy. That’s the only way I can describe it – it’s a little disappointing. There isn’t a queue at Burger King which is pretty unusual for a Spanish airport, but we head for a drink and sandwich elsewhere. Our flight to Prestwick is delayed by forty minutes (headwind on the way down to Tenerife seemingly – we benefit from the tailwind on the return).

The skies are clear and there are good views of Tenerife from the plane after take-off. Unfortunately this only serves to remind us that we are on our way home. The further north we fly the cloudier (and darker) it gets. By the time we get get to Prestwick it’s downright dull. The temperature when we land is a lofty 9 degrees (20 degrees less than what we’ve been used to. Welcome back.