Iberia Flight 522 – London to Madrid
London Heathrow (LHR): Terminal 5, Gate C63; Scheduled: 6:30p; Pushback: 6:25p; Takeoff: 6:40p
Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD): Terminal 4, Gate 65; Scheduled: 9:55p; Landing: 9:40p; Gate Arrival: 9:45p
Flight Time: 2h 00m; Direct miles: 774 (actual unknown)
EC-GUP; Airbus A340-300; First Flight: Feb 1, 1998; 289 seats (24 B / 265 E)
Seat: JT: 2J (aisle), Katie: 2L (window), “Business Plus”

On our taxi to the gate, we received a water salute from the airport’s fire crew. Ends up it was the captain’s last flight! Sadly, nothing was announced so we only found out because JT asked at the cockpit on the way out.

We easily made our way through the large wooden-roofed terminal and through immigration. We were surprised that they did not scan our passports! The agent just checked that our faces matched the passport, turned to a blank page in our passports and stamped right in the middle of the page. Ugh!! We need those blank pages! At the very least, we need to be able to fit 3 other stamps on a page like this. Anyone know how to get immigration offers not to do this (without signing up for extra screening)?

Wavy wooden roof in the Madrid terminal

At baggage claim, the bags took a while to come out, but they eventually did with Katie’s bag cover having a few punctures. Thankfully her bag was not damaged underneath.

Baggage collected, entered Spain, and off to the Metro!

After withdrawing €140, we bought a pack of 10 metro tickets (~€12) plus two airport surcharges (€3 each). With these passes, we took the 8 and 10 metro lines to Príncipe Pío and walked shortly to our AirBnB.

Riding the metro with our bags

Outside of Principe Pio Metro/train/bus station

Our host greeted us and we quickly settled in. The bathroom is a bit small (the toilet is up against the shower, making it uncomfortable to sit) and the bedroom isn’t spacious, but otherwise it seems fine!

Nice view from our bedroom’s mini balcony

We were very happy to finally get in bed at 12:45am!