Preparing To Return

In 2020, we were enjoying our second winter in the south of Spain, when COVID 19 changed the world. We followed the situation in Italy, and debated coming home sooner than planned. Calls to the State Department were not helpful. American Airlines could only tell us that our flight on March 11th had not been cancelled, and changing flights would cost $500 per ticket. So, we stayed. Life on the Costa del Sol seemed unchanged, except that all of the shops were sold out of hand sanitizer.

A few days prior to our flight, we went to Madrid. Life in the capital appeared unaffected by talk of “the virus”. The previous weekend, there had been a huge soccer tournament and a women’s march. Seville, on the other hand, announced the cancellation of Semana Santa (Holy Week) processions.

On our final night, we stopped into our favorite tapas bar. A man entered and began telling the bartender that he had just come from the grocery, where people were grabbing goods from the shelves in a panic. The bartender turned on the television, and we saw footage of empty shelves and heard warnings of quarantine. All we could do now was hope that our flight would take off in the morning.

We departed Madrid on time and arrived in Chicago in the afternoon. At O’Hare, we breezed through Customs. Some airport employees were gloved and masked; others were not. Nobody questioned us. When we called our daughters to say we were home, they expressed relief. A few hours later, President Trump announced a ban on flights from Europe. We had arrived home just in time for “Stay at Home” orders,

Fast forward to December 2021. The Pandemic is nearing the end of its second year and we have adjusted to life in the “new normal”. Vaccinated and boosted, we have taken a few domestic trips, and are booked for Spain on January 6, 2022. We plan to stay until mid-March.

I plan to post photos to this site and write about our experiences. I hope you’ll check in from time to time.