What a day (and if by “day” I mean closer to 40 hours)! This entry starts with some travel challenges, fortunately all ironed out now. More exciting is the way in which my itinerary is likely to evolve based on my Fodor’s reading.
The Wrinkle*
*Note: Feel free to read, skim or skip this section. It’s only somewhat interested if you enjoy travel annoyances or if you’re my dad and enjoy when your son encounters travel annoyances.
As anyone following the news knows there was some sort of icecube that exploded (or was it a volcano in Iceland?) a few days creating significant travel delays. Prior to my departure Jill (or “mom” as she is affectionately known to me) suggested that I scope out whether any flying lava was going to get in the way of my plane rides. I immediately consulted the internet and was relieved to find out that all flights were on schedule.
My itinerary was supposed to flow as follows:
- LAX to Chicago O’Hare (American Airlines)
- Chicago O’Hare to Madrid (Iberia – sounds like a camel carrier to me)
- Madrid to Barcelona (Iberia)
When I landed in Madrid after an 8-hour flight the games began. I disembarked the plane and walked a long way to what will henceforth be known as …
- Line #1. “What is Line #1?” you ask. Customs/Passport Control, of course. I stood in Line #1 for about 10 minutes, passed through and noted from the departure boards that my next flight was in a different terminal, but the gate was not yet assigned (notice the subtle foreshadowing). I then stood in…
- Line #2 waiting for the airport tram to whisk me off to my next terminal. When I arrived I stood in…
- Line #3 to ask someone at the information desk which gate matched my flight and she explained that it would be posted about 30 minutes before my flight was slated to take off. “But senora, that makes no sense. Shouldn’t we be boarding 30 minutes before departure, not discovering the gate number?” … should have been my response. Instead I thanked her and retreated to a café where I could plug in my laptop to recharge and send off some e-mails I had composed. Thirty minutes before my fight there was no gate posted on the departure board, and I was directed to an Iberia desk to wait in the very long…
- Line #4. After standing in Line #4 for about five minutes word started circulating that all flights to Barcelona were cancelled and that we should go claim our luggage and get a bus provided by the airline to Barcelona. When I arrived at baggage claim there was no belt designated for my flight (and many other Iberia flights) and I was told to wait in …
- Line #5. This line was one where you found out the belt number for your luggage and supposedly got a voucher for the bus ride (which I soon learned was a fancy way to reference the fact that the airline agent wrote “BUS” on my luggage claim ticket. So, off I went to…
- Line #6 (also known as the baggage claim belt, interestingly, numbered “6”). Ten minutes later I had my bag in hand and was instructed to take it from the ground level area to the 2nd level where “Desk 970” was located and where I could confirm my bus plans. Didn’t I already do that? Determined to be a go with the flow trooper I set off for …
- Line #7. Another 10’ish minutes and I grabbed one of the last seats on a bus that was supposed to be departing in a few minutes. Apparently this is Spain talk for “Hang around in the terminal for 15 minutes and then an agent will walk everyone to the bus to wait in...
- Line #8. Okay, to be fair, it took me only a minute to get on the bus since I was standing in the front. BUT, once the bus filled I was getting ready to exhale the stress and settle in for a nice scenic ride to Barcelona when … nothing. We just sat there waiting.
And waiting. …until one by one passengers started getting off to use the bathroom, smoke a cigarette, etc. OY! This procedure, or lack thereof, is exactly what I work hard to avoid in my work. Any camp director knows that you get passengers on the bus in an orderly manner and then depart ASAP. The moment you start letting people off … forget about it. (Not to say my camp’s procedures are perfect, and this experience has certainly heightened my sensitivity to parent and camper anxiety when we do keep kids waiting on the bus). After 30 minutes of waiting patiently I finally stepped off the bus to politely inquire about the delay (of course, those that know me can imagine that my use of the word “polite” here is likely an overstatement). I was told we were waiting for some food and water to arrive, and when it did I watched for 30 seconds as one agent climbed on board and put a box of food cartons at the front of the bus and started distributing two at a time. Enough! I went to the front of the bus and grabbed an entire box of food cartons and crate of water and went to the back of the bus and asked everyone to grab one of either item they wanted. Feeling slightly guilty that I overstepped my bounds, I was reassured by a small round of applause from the back of the bus a sheepish “gracias senor” from the agent.
Updated Itinerary
During my flight to Madrid I took time to read up on Barcelona and the surrounding regions of Spain. Wow – I am growing more and more excited for this trip. Barcelona seems awesome, and the mix of art museums, marketplaces, seaside villages/beaches, Gaudi architecture and Jewish sites seems quite promising. My original thought was to spend three nights in the city (giving about three full days), and I saw how I could easily stretch to four if I wanted.
As I started to read about areas between Barcelona and San Sebastian, my second intended destination, I was immediately drawn to a region smack known as the Pyrenees. Known for incredible hiking, my Fodor’s book proceeded to to describe the lush trails, sweeping canyons (one park was equated to the Gran d Canyon, which I’ve never visited), rushing waterfalls … all of the elements speak to my love of the outdoors. It seems awesome.
So, my latest plan is to budget my time as follows (give or take a day)
- Three days in Barcelona focusing on walking tours, architecture, one or two museums, the marketplace, a seaside villages/beach and possibly the Jewish quarter.
- Two or three days in the Pyrenees exploring one or two of the national parks
- Three or four days in San Sebastian with an excursion to Bilbao to see the famous Guggenheim museum
Adios,
Zach
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