Eyjafjallajokull vs. Barcelona

OK now about Barcelona.

Going into this trip I had very high expectations. Good friends of mine as well as anyone I have talked to only had high praises of Barcelona. I was very excited to finally be visiting this cosmopolitan city. After getting a good nights sleep, Katelyn and I successfully met up with my sister. The first thing we did was introduce Shannon to the Bocadillo (a Spanish sandwich). Its so simple yet so delicious, and anyone who knows Shannon knows how much she loves a good sandwich. From there we spent the first day walking through Parc Guell and visiting the various Guadi houses. Parc Guell was my favorite part of Barcelona because it was spring time and everything was in bloom. It was a great opportunity to take photos.

My first impressions of Barcelona while walking around is that it is a densely packed city that shouts style. It also appeared to be a far cry from the fiesta-siesta lifestyle of Southern Spain that I was so accustom to. Barcelona has been breaking ground in art, architecture, and style for more than a century. From the Modernista architects led by Guidi to the adventurous redevelopments of Picasso and Miró.

At the end of the day we were back at the hostel waiting for my friend Morgan to arrive. We had all planned to meet in Barcelona and spend a long weekend together. After waiting and waiting, finding it very peculiar that Morgan hadn’t arrived and that we hadn’t heard from her I went to check my email. Sure enough I had a message from her. Apparently the volcano, Eyjafjallajokull,
that erupted in Iceland was canceling flights all across Europe. Morgan was stuck in Germany.

We first found out about the ash cloud while in the Sevilla airport because so many flights in other countries were being delayed and canceled. I just figured it was because so many flights that had to go through Iceland were backing up all the other flights. We hardly batted an eyelash as we thought there was no way it would affect us. Silly, stupid mortals. Of course it would. It would spread and settle and infiltrate its way pretty much all across Europe, stranding thousands and frustrating even more. But at the time I never thought it wouldn’t allow Morgan to get to Spain. Little did we know that Morgan not making it here was only the beginning of our Volcano troubles.

We were all very disappointed that our plans of meeting up were ruined thanks to Mother Nature but we continued with our sight-seeing. The next day I realized how Barcelona really does contain some of the world’s most bizarre architecture. We marveled at Gaudi’s still-unfolding masterpiece the Sagrada Familia church.

We did a lot more walking around and sight-seeing and also visited the Picasso Museum displaying much of his earlier work. It was this day, Saturday, that Shannon found out her return flight to Ireland was canceled. It kinda felt like we were cartoon characters being followed by a thick, ominous gray cloud because of all the bad luck we were having on this trip. Shannon was very freaked out by the prospect of not being able to return to Ireland as scheduled and even more so as we found out that airports might be closed for up to a week. I kept trying to remind her that there are much much much worse things in the world than being stuck in Barcelona for a few days extra days. Luckily she was able to stay with her study abroad friends once Katelyn and I left.

However, for a period of time Katelyn and I as well weren’t sure if we would be able to get home. All airports in Europe were closed for a short time. On Sunday the Barcelona airport was opened back up but it still showed our flight home early Monday morning as being delayed. Needless to say we were all on edge about when and how we would be getting home. A lot of time was spent on the internet looking for the latest airport updates and watching the news about all the damage this volcano, that no one can pronounce, was making.

We decided to forget about all of our troubles and go out one night. We took Shannon to a delicious paella place for dinner right by the beach. We stuffed ourselves with rice and sangria and then went out to a club and danced until morning (thats the spanish way). Shannon unfortunately ate too much paella as i mentioned in a previous entry and ended up watching Katelyn and I dance but I think a fun time was had by all.

Unfortunately most of Sunday was spent inside and trying to figure out if and when we could get home. Because of this there were lots of sights left unseen. As Sunday evening approached Katelyn and I were still unsure if our flight was departing early the next morning. We decided to go to the airport and carry on as if it wasn’t delayed and see what happens. Remember how I said the airport Katelyn and I flew in and out of was about 45 minutes outside the city? Well for us this meant catching a bus at 4 in the morning to get to the airport in time for our 6am departure time (And yes I was sure it was 6am and not 6pm this time!). In the middle of the night I said goodbye to my sister, told her to enjoy her extra time in Barcelona and to go see all the things I wasn’t able to. (One of the houses Guidi designed).

Katelyn and I headed to the airport with our fingers crossed that our flight would be on time. We both had work to be at that morning and we were cutting it close as it was. (Our flight is the only one NOT canceled!)

Finally something on this trip went our way and our flight was scheduled to take off as planned. Sitting on the plane, drifting in and out of sleep as we were flying over Spain I was realizing how much of an adventure this weekend had been. I realized that the world is so much smaller than I could have ever imagined and I also learned that good company can make a seemingly horrible and frustrating situation perfectly fine. I don’t know what I would have done without Katelyn at my side through every leg of this journey and it is always comforting to have my sister with me. So disaster or delight I can always say to Katelyn or Shannon “Hey remember that trip we took to Barcelona?!”

My LOVE/HATE relationship with Ryanair

I’m not sure how best to describe Barcelona, either delight or disaster! Don’t get me wrong the city was a delight but the traveling part of the trip was a disaster. Before I tell you about my weekend I first must explain to you the phenomenon of cheap flights via the airline, Ryanair.

Ryanair claims that it is the best thing to happen to the British consumer since sliced bread. This is quite a strong claim by the company many hate but still fly. I am one of those people. I absolutely despise Ryanair but without it I would not have become quite the jet-setter I have the past year. Ryanair may have revolutionized the pricing of planes and therefore how we travel around Europe but it definitely has its downside. The truth is never quite what it claims and the prices are never quite what they seem. Pay 5 euros for the flight and the outrageous, rip-off of taxes, credit-card processing, and baggage handling will ramp up the costs before you can say 1-2-3.
As long as everything goes perfectly from the very beginning, the moment you choose your flight, then you can get from point A to point B easily and cheaply. I know this for a fact because I have successfully flown with Ryanair to London, Italy, Ireland, and Valencia. But as soon as you have a tiny problem (ie. you can’t print your boarding pass, you can’t fit all your luggage in a small enough carry on) then small fees start to incur. Basically the only thing they aren’t charging you for at this point is to pee during the flight but there is actually a rumor that the charge is being implemented. So what’s next? Paying for your seatbelt or oxygen mask?
It is not uncommon to be sitting at your gate for a Ryanair flight and seeing people all around you putting on 3rd and 4th layers of clothing just so they can get away with only having the one carry on luggage limit (I always picture Joey in the friends episode where he puts on all of Chandler's clothes and says "Could I be wearing any more clothes?"). On numerous occasions I have seen passengers have to fork over 35 euros at the last minute because their luggage exceeds the small luggage limit that is allowed. It is also not uncommon to see people lining up at the gate for their flight up to an hour ahead of time because it is first come first serve seating, similar to Southwest Airlines in the US.

I have to admit I have either fallen victim to many of Ryanair’s ridiculous fees or I have been seen wearing 2 pairs of pants, 3 shirts, a winter coat, and 2 scarfs, just so that I can board the plane. But the worst thing that has happened to me when preparing to board a Ryanair flight is discovering that my flight number didn’t match the one that was leaving. When arranging my plans to fly to Barcelona my friend and I were booking our tickets online. Barcelona has one airport right in the city that is very convenient but more expensive to fly in and out of. Not only that, but Ryanair doesn’t fly into this airport. Ryanair uses the 2 airports Reus and Girona, that are at least 45 minutes outside the city. This doesn’t have to mean an expensive cab ride because there is also a bus into the city that directly correlates with the flights.
So let me put this into perspective for you. First, I found an incredible 5 euro flight to Barcelona and an equally incredible one from Barcelona back to Sevilla. After clicking on the flight I am immediately charged 15 euros for taxes. That is no big deal, 20 euros each way, 40 euros round trip. Still a better deal then I could find on any other airline. At this point as long as I check in online, on time, have all my information correct on my boarding pass and don’t have an oversized carry on bag, then I’m still only paying 40 euros. What they don’t tell you is that the bus each way from the airports out in the middle of nowhere are 10 euros. And in my friend and mines case, if you miss that bus in the middle of the night then you are stranded at a deserted airport or you are forking up 100 euros for a taxi.

Anyways, back to realizing I had the wrong flight number on my boarding pass. My boarding pass had been stamped and approved, I had been given the go ahead to make my way through security, when I realized my flight information was not matching up with my friend Katelyn’s. How did the lady miss this? I ask the lady at the Ryanair check in desk about it and she rips the ticket from my hand, yells at me that my ticket is for a flight that left that morning, and tells me I can’t get on this flight. That is another thing about Ryanair, they have no customer service. So I can’t get on this flight, I have a woman screaming at me, and all I can think about is how my sister will be waiting for me in Barcelona the next morning. I completely shut down. Luckily for me though, my friend Katelyn takes charge. We find out that NO I can’t just exchange my ticket for a different one, no I can’t pay in cash to book a spot on this flight, no I can’t give them my mom’s credit card number to pay for the flight....WAIT how much are you charging me for this flight? It turns out that the incredible 5 euro ticket deals are only offered for a limited time and can only be purchased online. If I want to get on this flight, I need to pay the full ticket price, which is about 15x what I originally paid. Katelyn and I take care of it. The ticket is paid for. I can’t not get on this plane.
Now supposedly what happened is I wanted to book at ticket for the 10pm flight to Barcelona but somehow booked the 10am one that had already left that morning. What’s completely ridiculous is after everything this year, living in a foreign country, dealing with the language barrier and getting by on my Spanish skills, what this error came down to was an error of numbers, which are the same in every language.
After having time to think about this and even researching into Ryanair a little online. I have read many horror stories of similar and worse situations happening to passengers at the last minute when they are attempting to fly Ryanair. Because when forced to make a decision at the last minute, who wouldn’t pay to get on the flight? Who would turn around, go home, and cancel all their travel plans? So I will never know if it was my error because I was rushed and nervous when booking the ticket or if I fell victim to another one of Ryanair’s schemes to get money from its passengers?