Obviously the Spaniards Don't Know What They're Doing...

"no mam, they obviously don't" is what the kind English gentleman responded at the Iberia baggage claim counter at London's Heathrow airport. Apparently, Spaniards have many non-fans in and out of the US. After many phone calls to the supposed toll free number to Iberia customer service and reconfirming that our bags indeed landed at Heathrow, Beth and I embarked on a journey to the airport via the tube (aka underground). It cost us $16 USD-- no joke--to go from our hostel to the airport via the subway. This was disheartening. About an hour later we finally made it, though we were both very short on patience and energy. After third degree questioning about our travel to Europe and passport verification we were finally escorted to the baggage claim counter. The gentleman who helped us was extremely nice and helpful and it was just unfortunate that I had no kind words for him. He ended up offering me the advice of having a cup of tea to calm down... All in all though, my angry words weren't in vain. He could see our tired faces and our beat down, stinky dirty 3 day old clothes on us and sympathized. He gave us the cell phone number of the "bloke"-- Mick who was out delivering the baggage so that we could check on the status of our bags. More good samaritans abounded at our hostel where 2 people let us borrow their cell phones to be in touch with Mick. At approximately 11:30 pm London time we were finally reunited with our beloved backpacks. We were giddy with excitement and could finally go down for a good night's sleep.