T4

I’m at the Madrid airport, in my way to Uruguay. I’m waiting for my flight; boarding will be in one hour, more or less. Then, I will have a 12-hours flight ahead of me… Even though I’m used to fly and I do it very often, I have to confess that these intercontinental flights, especially the ones which cross the Atlantic Ocean, still manage to make me feel a little bit nervous. Apart from the irrational factors that, for sure, are involved, the reason for this is, above all, the length of the flight and the fact that, traveling in economy class, comfort will be something that I’ll miss… Seating in a small and uncomfortable chair, without too much space for the legs, and not being able to leave the place for 12 hours, is something that really drives me mad! And, as if it wasn’t enough, my flight from Brussels was delayed, which summed a little more stress to one day that was already tiring itself… Now, as I said, I’m in Madrid. It isn’t the first time I’m here, but this is the first time I see the new Terminal 4, inaugurated less than one month ago. It’s a huge, modern and not very nice building, I must say. From my arrival gate to the one in which I’ll board, it took me almost half an hour! Almost half an hour walking through a semi-desert gray-and-yellow building! It might be very luminous during the day – especially if it is sunny – but it certainly isn’t at night! It always amazes me how architects or the authorities don’t take into consideration the human factor when building a new airport terminal: isn’t it supposed to be used by people?! And, you know what else? They don’t even have wireless internet connection here!!!

Madrid Airport, February 22nd, 2006, 11.22pm (CET)