Overnight international flights are quite an ordeal. You rush to get on the plane so you have spots to store your luggage. The storage under the seat in front of you is always narrower than your carry-on bag and when you are short and try to put the carryon in the overhead bin, you are afraid you may never see it again. And, if you don’t get everything you want out of that piece of luggage before letting is slide way above you, don’t think about getting it out during the flight. You have to try to stand on the seat or find a nice tall person to help you. I will plan better next flight!
The in-flight food and beverage service comes and goes, they turn out the lights and you try to find a comfortable spot to sleep, except for those around that keep the reading lights on. Note: get a mask to sleep in on the plane!
Then when you finally dose off, the airplane crew turns on the lights and “hands” you a light snack and juice as you are now close to landing. It’s morning somewhere.
Wait, we are arriving in Barcelona.
Off the plane you make your way to baggage claim. That’s when you start to hear the stories about finding your luggage and if the luggage handlers are on strike. Was I supposed to check that before I left home?
Wait, I see one of our bags…..but the conveyor belt stopped, no more bags. How do I get my international wifi to work or should I just use the international day pass on my cell phone? I set up everything and call the company that is going to meet us, wait they are texting me……ugh. How does this international data stuff work? Connect… please.
I texted back to say we are still looking for luggage and will be there as soon as we can…..the conveyor belt started again and I see our luggage! What a relief!!
All bags on the cart, now to find the ride.
This was no ordinary taxi from the airport. We had arranged a car and guide to drive us all around Barcelona to get a idea of what was where and what we wanted to try to see beyond our arrangements for Sagada Familia and the Picasso Museum.
Christian from Barcelona Day Tours (www.BarcelonaDayTours.com) was waiting for us as we emerged from the customs/baggage area ready to help us sleep derived tourists.
We settled into the car and started off on our 4 hour tour of Barcelona including a stop at Gaudi’s Park Guell. Christian was fabulous and when we told him we really needed to eat rather than continuing our tour, he found a lovely local cafe where we could get a great sandwich and respite from the heat.
A little more touring, well kind of. I feel asleep in the back of the car so Christian made his way to our hotel to drop us off and get checked in for the rest of our time in Barcelona.
There is so much to see in Barcelona, 4 hours showed the variety in the city and we would only see a very small amount. We have to come back and even have another tour with Christian and explore this great place.