After a quick but ship shape pack by, well not Flashy, we sneak out for a coffee before a taxi to the airport. The taxi was parked in the street right outside our door. St Anthony? Flashman hopes he hasn't used up all his candles. A nice chap, the taxi driver, who takes us on not too scary a ride to our terminal. We find the very short business class check in line, only to discover an eight hour delay on our arriving and thus departing aircraft. We head for the lounge, which is airside but as Lady P presents her passport, the tall, swarthy, handsome, Spanish passport control captain or major or something, informs her that there are no shops past passport control! Gasp and double gasp. What a nice fellow he is. How did he know? He must be married or gay. So, in front of a huge line up of waiting passengers, we are escorted out of passport control. We get sympathetic looks from fellow travellers who probably think we are drug dealers or money smugglers as we are lead back to the glitter strip for more shopping and refreshments. I'm sure we can fill in eight hours and still remain sober. We exercise great restraint and pick up a few gifts and another Desigual t-shirt for Flashy. His fashion choices are now a major concern for Lady P. What have I created, she thinks. Eventually, we arrive at the combined VIP lounge used by Cathay Pacific and the rest of the universe. Very average indeed. Food poor, beverages average but luckily not too crowded. We will make do but will give scathing reviews. We predict Cathay is on the way out. Hope they don't go broke like Thomas Cook before we get home. As resourceful and calm travellers at the end of our trip we hunt down the hidden Cava (in a corner in little ice buckets – gotcha ya) and swoop on the new bottle of Bombay to make a couple of stiff gin and tonics. Our flight is still showing a blank. Now, where's St. Anthony when you need him? Of more pressing concern is that Flashy will now miss the AFL Grand Final where his beloved Richmond tigers are set to thrash it out with GWS. Even with aircraft Wi-Fi we are not convinced it will be good enough to live stream the match so will have to resort to Facebook updates and a replay on catchup TV when we eventually make it to Cairns. Perhaps the black and yellow cabs of Barcelona are an omen. Esta la vida.
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