Home!

I'm home!  And it was a pain in the ass too.

I had a great breakfast buffet at the hotel!  I took the hotel shuttle to the airport.  We left at 8:15 and I got through all the security and passport and walking and made it to my gate about 9:25.  So yeah, it took about an hour to get through everything.

My gate was at the end of the terminal (of course), and there was 1 other gate there, so Iberia roped off the very end and they started pushing us through passport checks/boarding pass checks an hour ahead of time.

I had an aisle seat at the rear of the plane.  At first they closed boarding and the girl in the center seat moved to an open seat further up.  Then that person showed up, so she moved.  Then those people showed up and she had to come back to her center seat. I was a little annoyed at this point, because we sat there an extra 10-15 minutes because we were "waiting on some passengers."  Apparently we could wait today, but not yesterday when a bunch of us were running to make the plane.

So, we get to Chicago.  At least one airport has a fast line for people who only have carry-on luggage, but apparently it's not Chicago.  The line wasn't too bad, though. 

Got through customs, got past the baggage claim, and then you have to go through arrivals to get to your next plane.  So I'm wandering around arrivals, and eventually see a security-type guy and he tells me the train is broken to I have to take a bus to the next terminal.  And there's the line.  It was really long, and it did not move very fast.  I was glad I had a 2 hour layover!

So I get to the correct terminal, then I have to go through security again.  I came in in the middle, and that line said Pre-Check.  So I followed a sign to the right and went through security way down at one end.

Get through security and now I have to figure out where my gate is.  There's gates H, J, K, L and I check and I'm at L22, which is at the opposite end from where I am.  So I follow a sign that says Terminal L, but then the signs stop and I don't know where to go.  I keep going into K, and eventually find a damn map, and it shows that I'm way down the wrong way.

So I find my way to Terminal L.  Now I have to find the section with Gate 22.  I've been checking the Departures boards as I go, to make sure the plane is on time.  I'm around Gate 20 when I get to another board, and now it says Gate 10A.  So I have to go back into a completely different branch to get there, where I had already been when I was buying water.

I get to Gate 10A and there's a plane for Salt Lake City there.  We wait, and they board and then nothing happens.  It gets to our boarding time, and nothing happens.  Then we get told we're moving to Gate 6.  So we all move down there.  And wait.  And then the Captain gets on the intercom and tells us that a plane didn't work and they had to get everyone off and onto a different plane and then that sort of cascaded so everything was late.  Our plane was on time, it just couldn't find an empty gate.

So we wait, and then we get sent back to Gate 10A again.  At least now the Salt Lake plane is gone.  Overall, we ended up being about 45 minutes late, so it wasn't too bad.  And I'm home!

It's been a long, crazy day Part 4

So now I'm set. Basically I'm taking the same flight, just tomorrow. And I get a hotel voucher!

This has happened to me before. I was in Chicago, going to XNA, and the airline decided to cancel my flight, because there weren't enough people on board. Seriously. I got a hotel voucher for 50% off. This was an American airline of some kind.

The last time it happened, we missed our connection because there was a storm system nearby, and the pilot didn't want to land at XNA, so he went back to where he'd flown out of.  Seriously.  We made it to Atlanta just in time to see our plane to Paris leaving the gate.  There weren't many connecting flights to Slovenia, so we had the choice of spending the night in Atlanta and catching the same flights tomorrow, or taking a late flight to Paris and catching the same flight to Slovenia tomorrow.  I told them to get me to fucking Paris.  They put us up in a hotel, but the AC was broken.

So those are my main experiences with delays. Well, Iberia rocks! I got a hotel room, lunch and dinner tonight, breakfast tomorrow, and a 6 minute long distance phone call.

The lady gave me directions to the hotel bus, and I started the airport trek again.  Back to the end of the terminal, down the escalators, tram, escalators, passport control.  I didn't think I was ever getting out of the airport. I was exhausted, covered in sweat, my feet and back hurt, and then the cute passport guy stamped my passport and winked at me and it was all better ;)  Gotta love the Spaniards.

It's been a long, crazy day Part 3

I get to the service desk and there's an automated number machine. You tell it why you're there and it spits out a number. There's no option for "missed flight" so I picked "customer service."  I mean, the other options were like handicap access and missing bags.

So I wait. And wait. Two American guys turn up who also missed the flight. We wait. And then their number gets called. Again, WTF!?!

I look at the machine to see if I need a different number, but no one else has really moved, so I keep waiting.  We've gone from 3 reps to 2 at the desk.

It took about 50 minutes to get my turn. The lady was very nice. But it took forever! Eventually the other rep left, 

and mine said I had all my stuff, but she was waiting for a callback because there was an error in my reservation. So I go sit back down again, this time only for about 10 minutes.

It's been a long, crazy day Part 2

So I make it to Madrid.  I'm on a little hopper plane.  We had to take an elevator to ground level, then hop a bus to drive us out to the plane, and walk up the plane's stairs.  And check our bags there, because the inside of the plane is so small.  Now we've got to do that in reverse.

We're basically on time, but that leaves me 1 hour to make my flight. Ready? Go!

I got up as soon as the plane stopped. Which took forever. We had to drive all over Madrid to get to our parking spot.  Eventually I get off the plane, but I've already missed the first bus.  I grab my bag and jump on the next one.

We drive all over and eventually are let out around K terminal.  I have to get to S terminal. So now the sprint starts. Walk all the way down to the end of the terminal, and then the giant escalators down to the tram. And then the giant escalators back up...to passport control?  WTF!?!

Apparently when you change from the 2 main terminals you go through passport control. Both ways.

So now I'm in a huge line at passport control. Get through there, take more escalators up, and my gate is at the end of the terminal. I fucking hate this airport.  Get to the gate and the doors are shut. The lady tells me and another guy to go to the service desk.

It's been a long, crazy day Part 1

It started out alright.  I got up early, finished packing, and got checked out.  My driver was on time and we made it to the airport.  That's where it got tricky.   

I had been unable to check-in online, so I had to find the Iberia counters.  Got my boarding passes and headed to security.  There was a long line, but it moved pretty well.  I made it through, and my hat wasn't there.  Then it came out of the scanner by itself, not in a bin, and my Burt's Bees was gone!  I had just opened it 2 days ago!  I told the guards and they looked but couldn't find it.  Thus began my search for some kind of chapstick, before my flight.

It was a new stick, but there was a smidge left in the old one, so I didn't throw it out.  It was somewhere in my suitcase.  I found a seat and tried to feel around for it, but couldn't find it.  So I opened the suitcase up completely and still couldn't find it.

I wandered through several tourist shops, asked at various tech and kid shops, and nobody had anything.  I went up and down the terminal until I finally found that damn news/candy shop that exists in every American airport.  And then I paid almost 5 Euros for some Carmex. Sigh.

Update

It is 9:37 am.  My flight leaves at 11:15 am.  According to the Departures sign, I will have gate info in 33 minutes.

Flying

Well, it started off good.  Saw a few movies, had no trouble getting out of my seat to get to the restroom.  Then there was turbulence.

I've flown quite a bit, and been in some pretty good turbulence.  This wasn't even the worst, so I'm hoping something I ate was assisting. 

We went up and down, and side to side, and I got really nauseous.  I mean, I took the puke bag out of the seat pocket and had it open in my hand.  After a while I fell asleep and felt okay after I woke up - almost 3 hours later.  We were descending and there was a breakfast box on the tray next to me.

Last Thoughts on Valencia

So, what are my last thoughts on our Valencia trip?  Well, there are a few.  If you must drive, get an automatic.  There was so much starting and stopping around town, and roundabouts, that it was insane.  Add to that the fact that you often can't get where you're trying to go.  If we wanted to turn left on a street, there usually wasn't a left turn there.  So we'd go down and try to U-turn.  But there was no U-turn.  So we'd try to make several rights, but the streets were one way the opposite direction.  It was a little stressful.

The food was amazing!  And you can sit and just enjoy life for hours.  You will not get a bill until you ask for it.  It was very relaxing.

Valencia is a dog town.  There were dogs everywhere!  Mostly smaller ones, but some big ones too.  And almost no dog poop on the ground.  Everyone had a baggie.

Valencia was very relaxing.  VERY relaxing.  It was awesome.  Just sitting in a cafe was so nice I could feel stress just melting away.  We both loved the city a lot!

Our flight home was a mess.  We were up for about 21 hours.  First there was the insane walking around the Madrid airport.  Then the Madrid passport control.  We only had an hour to get through Madrid and our plane said Last Call so we were really booking it, which meant we didn't get to fill up our water bottles.  The flight was an airbus which was better than the 787.  Then we had to walk all over O'Hare and go through US Customs, which took a long time.  We were sweating the entire way.  Then we find out that our bags are not at O'Hare.  So when we got home we double checked and then had to file a missing bag claim.  Apparently our bags never made it out of Madrid.  Hopefully they'll show up in the next day or two.

So, traveling was a pain in the ass, but the trip was worth it.  :)

And we're off!

I got out of XNA okay. My flight was overbooked by 4 people, and Delta went from 300 to 600 Delta $ for someone to wait. Eventually I think a few people didn't show up, so we were alright.

I had to hunt down a Chick-fil-a in Atlanta because my blood sugar was dropping, especially in the hot airport. Finally got that done, got ripped off changing Euros, and now I'm waiting for mom to arrive. She should get here around the time we start boarding.  Whew!