As promised in my previous blog entry, I will now take my readers back to Spain for the final two days of my trip in March-April, and my return home to Tucson.
When I last blogged from Valencia, I was preparing for the return trip to Barcelona and the long flights home to Tucson. I am happy to report that all went well, including a welome upgrade to Business Class on the Barcelona-Philadelphia flight on American Airlines, which allowed me to stretch out in a full-size flat bed-seat for a long nap.
Friday, 14 April 2017
Valencia to Barcelona
Back to the present tense of April 2017: I board the Renfe Talgo Express from Valencia to Barcelona for an on-time 8:30am departure. For some reason, there is extra-tight security at the train station (Valencia's newer Main Station, not the North Station that I used to reach Cartagena), with airline-style x-raying of luggage and super police presence.
Unfortunately, train service personnel--those workers who help passengers board and detrain, and provide meals, drinks, and reading material--are on strike today, so although my first-class ticket entitles me to free food and beverages I must go without. But at least the train is running during the walkout, and I am able to get back to Barcelona for my flights home tomorrow.
I arrive at Barcelona Sants Station at 11:30am and walk the few steps to the Barcelo Sants Hotel, a newly-built addition that stretches several stories above the station itself.
My room is quite comfortable, in strictly post-modern, minimal style. There are no doors separating areas of the room, and the bathroom sink overlooks the bedroom area, separated only by large mirrors and glass. The walk-in shower is immense and the two in-room paintings (behind glass domes) are dedicated to ecological themes.
After a quick lunch I walk from the hotel into the heart of the city, passing a park dedicated to the sculpture of Joan Miro and the large industrial fairgrounds, designed to look like Venice (built even before Epcot).
Opposite the fairgrounds, the old bullfighting arena has been converted to a post-modern industrialist shopping mall (most of Spain's cities no longer allow bull-fighting).
An elevator to the rooftop whisks visitors to an open-air circular walkway and a selection of popular restaurants. There are wonderful views in all directions. I stop to indulge in some excellent gelato before continuing on my way.
I use the excellent Barcelona Metro to travel to the eastern side of the city and Citiadella Park, site of the 1888 World's Fair. There are still a number of buildings remaining from the fair, and the park itself is a popular spot for locals to enjoy the outdoors.
Back at the hotel I go online to check in for my flights back to Tucson and find the offer for business class from American Airlines. Since I had accepted this offer on the outgoing flights from Phoenix to Miami (back in March), I am happy to accept again on the long flight from Barcelona to Philadelphia. Since I did not pay for the airline tickets themselves (the price was included in the cruise fare), I did 't hesitate to pay the small amount for the upgrades.
Saturday, 15 April 2017
Barcelona to Philadelphia to Phoenix to Tucson
Barcelona's airport is quite close to the city center and there is little traffic on Saturday morning. So the taxi ride is very quick and quite inexpensive. I enjoy the use of American Airlines lounge for Business Class passengers before being escorted to the gate for the 1pm departure.
After a lovely seven-hour flight during which I have a long nap, we arrive on time in Philadelphia where I am supposed to transfer to the 6:00pm flight to Phoenix. However, as it gets close to departure time (in fact I have already entered the gangway to board the plane), we are brought back into the terminal. An American Airlines agent tells me quietly and privately that the flight is bring cancelled for mechanical reasons, but that I have been rebooked on a flight (through Dallas) that will get me to PHX close to my scheduled arrival time.
I am loaded on a moving cart to the new gate just as the agents are making the announcement about the cancelled flight. Thus, I have a head start on all the other passengers who will be looking to rebook their flight to PHX. The new flight leaves at 6:20pm and even with a stop at DFW (no change of plane), I arrive in Phoenix only one hour later than scheduled--and about two hours earlier than the next direct flight from Philadelphia.
Ironically, I am seated across the aisle from the pilot who flew the cancelled plane into Philadephia from PHX, because he too was diverted to this other flight to return to PHX. He tells me that the reason for cancelling the flight was the new pilot smelled a funny odor at the rear of the plane. The pilot telling me this said that he had sensed the same smell but decided it was too minor an issue to cancel the flight from PHX to Philadelphia. Obviously, the new pilot was being more cautious, as well as inconveniencing a significant number of passengers the day before the Easter Sunday.
As I suspected when my flight was changed at the last minute, there was not enough time for my luggage to make the flight to PHX with me--there was hardly time for me to make the connection. Once in PHX, I was able to catch the next shuttle van to Tucson without having to carry any luggage. Will met me at the van stop about 10 minutes from our house, and I was home and happily in bed by 1:30am. My luggage is delivered to the house on the next afternoon, shortly after Will and I return from Easter Sunday brunch at the Westward Look Wyndham Resort Hotel and Spa.
Not a bad way to end the trip.
When I last blogged from Valencia, I was preparing for the return trip to Barcelona and the long flights home to Tucson. I am happy to report that all went well, including a welome upgrade to Business Class on the Barcelona-Philadelphia flight on American Airlines, which allowed me to stretch out in a full-size flat bed-seat for a long nap.
Friday, 14 April 2017
Valencia to Barcelona
Back to the present tense of April 2017: I board the Renfe Talgo Express from Valencia to Barcelona for an on-time 8:30am departure. For some reason, there is extra-tight security at the train station (Valencia's newer Main Station, not the North Station that I used to reach Cartagena), with airline-style x-raying of luggage and super police presence.
Unfortunately, train service personnel--those workers who help passengers board and detrain, and provide meals, drinks, and reading material--are on strike today, so although my first-class ticket entitles me to free food and beverages I must go without. But at least the train is running during the walkout, and I am able to get back to Barcelona for my flights home tomorrow.
I arrive at Barcelona Sants Station at 11:30am and walk the few steps to the Barcelo Sants Hotel, a newly-built addition that stretches several stories above the station itself.
The hotel interior is designed in post-modern "space station" decor. All the desks, signage, and bars in the immense lobby are modeled after scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
My room is quite comfortable, in strictly post-modern, minimal style. There are no doors separating areas of the room, and the bathroom sink overlooks the bedroom area, separated only by large mirrors and glass. The walk-in shower is immense and the two in-room paintings (behind glass domes) are dedicated to ecological themes.
After a quick lunch I walk from the hotel into the heart of the city, passing a park dedicated to the sculpture of Joan Miro and the large industrial fairgrounds, designed to look like Venice (built even before Epcot).
Opposite the fairgrounds, the old bullfighting arena has been converted to a post-modern industrialist shopping mall (most of Spain's cities no longer allow bull-fighting).
An elevator to the rooftop whisks visitors to an open-air circular walkway and a selection of popular restaurants. There are wonderful views in all directions. I stop to indulge in some excellent gelato before continuing on my way.
I use the excellent Barcelona Metro to travel to the eastern side of the city and Citiadella Park, site of the 1888 World's Fair. There are still a number of buildings remaining from the fair, and the park itself is a popular spot for locals to enjoy the outdoors.
By now it's time to think about dinner so I head for the seaport district, Barceloneta, full of restaurants of all types, and people of all types out for a good time in the late afternoon-early evening air. There is a huge maritime museum for visitors, but I opt for dinner at an outdoor cafe where I share a table with a young couple from Stavanger, Norway. I regale them with photos of their hometown on my iPad, that I took on a cruise in 2012.
Back at the hotel I go online to check in for my flights back to Tucson and find the offer for business class from American Airlines. Since I had accepted this offer on the outgoing flights from Phoenix to Miami (back in March), I am happy to accept again on the long flight from Barcelona to Philadelphia. Since I did not pay for the airline tickets themselves (the price was included in the cruise fare), I did 't hesitate to pay the small amount for the upgrades.
Saturday, 15 April 2017
Barcelona to Philadelphia to Phoenix to Tucson
Barcelona's airport is quite close to the city center and there is little traffic on Saturday morning. So the taxi ride is very quick and quite inexpensive. I enjoy the use of American Airlines lounge for Business Class passengers before being escorted to the gate for the 1pm departure.
After a lovely seven-hour flight during which I have a long nap, we arrive on time in Philadelphia where I am supposed to transfer to the 6:00pm flight to Phoenix. However, as it gets close to departure time (in fact I have already entered the gangway to board the plane), we are brought back into the terminal. An American Airlines agent tells me quietly and privately that the flight is bring cancelled for mechanical reasons, but that I have been rebooked on a flight (through Dallas) that will get me to PHX close to my scheduled arrival time.
I am loaded on a moving cart to the new gate just as the agents are making the announcement about the cancelled flight. Thus, I have a head start on all the other passengers who will be looking to rebook their flight to PHX. The new flight leaves at 6:20pm and even with a stop at DFW (no change of plane), I arrive in Phoenix only one hour later than scheduled--and about two hours earlier than the next direct flight from Philadelphia.
Ironically, I am seated across the aisle from the pilot who flew the cancelled plane into Philadephia from PHX, because he too was diverted to this other flight to return to PHX. He tells me that the reason for cancelling the flight was the new pilot smelled a funny odor at the rear of the plane. The pilot telling me this said that he had sensed the same smell but decided it was too minor an issue to cancel the flight from PHX to Philadelphia. Obviously, the new pilot was being more cautious, as well as inconveniencing a significant number of passengers the day before the Easter Sunday.
As I suspected when my flight was changed at the last minute, there was not enough time for my luggage to make the flight to PHX with me--there was hardly time for me to make the connection. Once in PHX, I was able to catch the next shuttle van to Tucson without having to carry any luggage. Will met me at the van stop about 10 minutes from our house, and I was home and happily in bed by 1:30am. My luggage is delivered to the house on the next afternoon, shortly after Will and I return from Easter Sunday brunch at the Westward Look Wyndham Resort Hotel and Spa.
Not a bad way to end the trip.
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