{Barcelona/Malaga time = San Jose time + 9, time at all other ports = San Jose time + 8}
Excluding trips to Taiwan, this is our first 2014 trip abroad, a little nervous about all the uncertainties. We will board connecting flight at Frankfurt to Barcelona.
11/20/2014: Jack came by at 10:50, we drove in rain and got to SFO at 11:45, took a while to check in as my name on the reservation does not match that of my passport. Side note - there are more self-checkin individuals these days, UA opened up one whole isle (of counters) to accommodate these people. We went in the UA Club using 2 complimentary passes (from Mileage Plus Explorer credit card) before boarding, it is a very basic lounge, only coffee, cookie, small carrot bag, and cheese were served. UA has a different/better lounge for business class travelers - no free lunch after all. Boarding was delayed by 10 minutes, and departure was delayed by 75 minutes - 3:05 instead of the scheduled 1:50pm.
Anita selected seats 61E and 61G on the last row of the plane during reservation, hoping there won't be anyone sitting between us, and we were lucky this time⊙﹏⊙.
The new flight time was 10 hours and 34 minutes, just 50 minutes before our connecting flight at Frankfurt, not sure if we can make it (︶^︶)
The flight's delay was caused by some kind of mechanical problem, after 2 and a half hour's flight, our pilot announced that this plane is to land in Chicago - the problem which caused the original delay at SFO was not fixed. We landed at Chicago Oh'are airport at 6:48pm (8:48pm local time). Got to councourse B at 7:10pm for customer service. Waited over 3 hours until a special/different counter called us over and processed our rebooking and motel/meal voucher. When we were done and walk by the original line, there were still 30 people waiting. The direction given by the clerk was very unclear, it took us quite a while to find the shuttle bus stop. We waited almost an hour for the bus but could only watch buses from other hotel/motel came and went. There was no phone number to call and the Wi-Fi does not work. Finally we found out from someone waiting in the vicinity that the motel phone number is right at the help desk (there was none there at the desk as it is 11:45PM local time), we called the motel to learn that they do not send shuttle unless we call - nobody told us that, plus it will take half an hour for the shuttle to get here, well... We got on the shuttle at 12:23, it left for La Quinta Inn at 12:30, got to the motel and checked in at 1:00am, this is a cheap (very) motel, we did not have any hanger in our room and the front desk clerk could not provide any, gee……, oh since we did not have our luggages with us, we had to manage with whatever we had on.
The temperature here was 15°F -> 9°C below zero.
11/21/2014: Stayed awake most of the night, got up at 7:30 to get some breakfast, there appeared to be more guests than we thought, the breakfast area was filled with people - I guest we checked in really late to see anybody then :-) Breakfast was OK, muffin, pastry, bagel, bread, boiled egg, coffee, and fruits (banana and apple). Rested in our room until 11:30 when we checked out and waited for the shuttle, boarded the shuttl at 11:55, got to Ord airport at 12:20. We asked an UA representive to help with our luggages, making sure that they are routed properly to Barcelona. Went through security, a little different from SFO, there was no special line prepared here. Bought an jalapeno burger , one mid size bottle water, and a snack bar for just over $13, used 2 of final 4 vouchers (worth $7 each). Anita went to another UA counter to check the status of our luggages again, took nearly 15 minutes, hopefully they will show up at Barcelona airport when we get there. Bought a Chinese benton box and a bottle of water from the food court next to boarding gate C18. Anita went and checked with UA counter once more time and learned that they are ready to be loaded onto the plane, good job Anita! Flight 2059 was late to the gate at 3:55, boarding started 60 minutes late at 4:35, plane took off at 5:45pm (4:10 scheduled). Based on the large crowd at the waiting room, we thought this flight will be jam packed, but after boarding (we belong to group 2 because of tickets purchased through MileagePlus Explorer credit card), the back portion of the plane was only 60% full, a pleasant surprise for us, Anita (at 57D) is sharing 4 seats with one other passenger - she would have all 4 seats to herself if that passenger did not move from her originally assigned seat. I (at 57C) was also lucky to see the 2 seats next to me stayed unoccupied throuhout the boarding process, thank God. Had dinner and a light breakfast during the flight - meals on UA are at best edibles.
11/22/2014: We landed at Frankfurt airport at 8:23am vs scheduled 7:18am. Shuttle took us to the terminal after we got off the plane through rear exit. After non-stop walk, security check, and more walk, we finally got to gate A24 at 9:40am, ready for flight to Barcelona. Boarded the plane a few minutes behind schedule, my seat at 11A was right next to an emergency exit, a lot of leg room. We took off at 10:28, just a few minutes late (10:15 scheduled). A small croissant sandwich was served during the flight - a surprise for us since this is a short one hour and 40 minutes flight, no US airlines would provide anything like this on domestic flights. Landed at Barcelona at 12:02pm. Got our luggages fairly quickly, found and got on Aerobus at 12:55pm (€5.9 each). It took less than 30 minutes to get to Plaça Catalunya (Barcelona downtown bus terminal), walked 15 minutes to get to Pension Mariluz (our hostel), but took all my energy to carry 2 luggages upstairs (3rd floor - our 4th floor). Wi-Fi appears very slow but usable for non-urgent online needs. We wanted to take a nap (started at 2:00pm) but ended up sleeping throughout the night - exhausted. There's no TV in the room - possibly the first time since we started traveling 2008 and living in hostels.
11/23/2014: Got up at 9:30 - totally unaware the late hour. Made it out of the door at 9:50, had breakfast at the nearby cafe elFornet, coffee (more like our latte) and pastry for two cost €8.95 Euros.
Strolled around neighborhood streets, ran into an authentic flee market in Placa Reial where people sell everything from used shoes, used clothes, used cell phones, old coins, stamps, to old watches.
Got several bananas and a large bottle water from a nearby store (€1.21 for 5 bananas, and €2.25 for the bottle water). Got a sandwich (€2.8) for lunch from a pastry store on our way visiting "Palau Guell", the house designed by Antoni Gaudi, ticket for Palau Guell is €12 each. The tour began at 1:12 and ended by 3:00. Got a Subway tuna sandwich for €7 - very fresh.
11/24/2014: Got up at 6:00 although I didn't sleep much at all. Had breakfast at elFornet again - it's a bit early as there wasn't much pastry choices, total cost €7.30. Walked 15 minutes to visit Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar, it looked rundown on the outside but appeared well maintained on the inside. The Picasso Museum is closed on every Monday, will try visiting it the next time. Visied Carrefour to replenish our food supply, got a box of salad for dinner, a box of curry chicken with small shrimp & rice for lunch, a box of Napolitana chocolate and another box of chocolate croissants for breakfast, also got a small box of instant coffee, we also got a bottle of 1L Spanish wine (€1.30) - cheaper than the famous Trader Joe’s two-buck-chuck. Viisited Park De La Ciutadella, Passeig De Lluis Companys, and Arc de Triomf. The Font De La Cascada in Park DeLa Ciutadella is an interesting cascade fountain designed by Antoni Gaudi.
The curry chicken and shrimp rice is our first hot meal since we got here, very tasty :)
Went to bed at 9:00pm and woke up at 1:30am. Did some soul searching, no conclusion as usual.
11/25/2014: Went back to sleep at 4:30am, got up at 6:30, had instant coffee and chocolate croissant for breakfast. Left for Metro station at 8:15, €2.15 to get to Sants station, walked about 5 minutes to get to Barcelona Train Station, speed train ticket to Figueres is €33 round trip - it only took 55 minutes to get to Figueres, less than half the time it would take from a regular train. Schedudle for our train: 9:20-10:15 to Figueres, and 2:55-3:50pm for the return trip. This train continues to Lyon (and can go all the way to Paris), and to Madrid the opposite direction. This train stopped at Girona (it may not stop if no one gets on or off) at 9:59. Arriving Figueres ontime at 10:15. Took the bus (10:25) instead of walking as information center suggested - safer - bus ticket was €1.7. Walked 10 minutes after getting off the bus near the town center to Dali Theatre Museum at 10:43. Entrance fee was €12 per person, we did not expect to see so much stuff from Salvador Dalí, we spent 2 and a half hour there, Dali was a true artist and genius, he paint, draw, sculpt, photograph, write, and film, but to our utmost surprise was his jewelry design, fascinating and breathtaking, we took a lot of pictures from this visit.
We waited for the bus on the opposite side of the street the street where we got off but did not see any coming, so we asked around and decided to walk back to the speed train station instead. The Spain tour book by 邱宗翎 misleaded me, he claimed that the train station was on southeast of the museum, he was actually referring to the regular train station, not the high speed train station. This info screwed up all my intrepatation of my digital map and made me looked stupid than usual :(
Walked back to Figueres/Vilfante station at 2:10pm - with the help of several locals, 2 of the 3 people who helped us spoke decent English, unusual for a small town like this. Figueres/Vilfante is a high speed train only station, much like Taiwan's 高鐵車站 which is separate from regular train stations. Enjoyed a foot-long bread like pizza from the station cafe, not bad. This station has free Wi-Fi (SSID = huawei). Security check opened at 2:40, train took off ontime at 2:55. Got to Barcelona ontime at 3:50. Stopped by Carrefour, got a bottle of red wine for €3.7, 3-pack small Crin Roja red wine for €4.15, and 2 dinner boxes (these will be our dinner for tonight and breakfast tomorrow) for €5 each.
Consumed all but one small bottle of Crin Roja, ready for bed.....
11/26/2014: Slept through 2:00am, stayed awake mostly until getting up at 6:30. Finished most of the packing before breakfast - coffee and leftover Napo pastry - could have gotten more :) It rained heavily in the morning and did not die down by the time we left the hostel, luckily we each prepared a light raincoat, walked to the cruise terminal bus (€2 each) stop, got on and arrived at the cruise check-in area at 11:25. Finished checkin at 11:30 (it pays to come in earlier), waited until 11:45 to get onboard, got to our stateroom at 11:55, this was the first time ever that we made onboard before 12 noon. Need to adjust time one hour back after leaving Barcelona port as the remaining cruise, with the exception of Malaga, Spain, the time zone will be GMT+0.00.
Before setting sail, a routine 4:30 fire drill was held, our assembly station being Deck7, B1. After taking a nap, discovered that due to high wind and high wave (10 m), the capatin has cancelled Casablanca as well as Funchal ports, instead we are going to Valencia, Spain and Tangier, Morroco. Went to bed around 10:00.
11/27/2014: Woke up at 5:00, got ip at 6:30, got breakfast at 6:45 - had an omlete, a pouched egg (interestingly shaped), and a bagel with cream cheese and smoke salmon. Ship docked at Valencia at 7:45.
Left the ship at 9:00, Anita checked with information and decided we take city bus instead, bus stop is right across the street from the terminal behind a building. Bus number 95 goes to Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias Oceanographic whereas number 4 goes to Ciudad de las Artes y Las Ciencias. €1.5 each. Bus 95 took us to Ciudad in less than 5 minutes. This place is a collection of aquarium, theme park, and ... These are modern architecture, very beautiful and grand. Took the same bus back to Estacion de Maritima Acciona at 11:00. Stoppeb by Blue Lagoon (the 24 hour snack bar) and had a 6-piece buffalo wing and chicken tender. Went out again, this time taking bus number 4 to old city center at 1:20. Since we had been here last year and been to most of the must-see places, we only browsed the sourounding area near the bus stop and got on the bus at 2:50 to head back to the ship. While I was trying to get online with Nexus 5 at the terminal, the line waiting to get onboard got longer, by the time we decided to give up getting online, the line had grown even longer, extended outside and crossed the street - this had something to do with 2 ships (Jade and Spirit) from NCL came in at the same time and schedule to leave the port at the same time - we waited about 25 minutes before cleared the security check point and got back to our stateroom. Had a so-so snack in Ruffles as it is not open to dinner yet. The NCL Jade left the port first. The Spirit left after 10 minutes, it pretty much sail parallel to the coast line of south Spain. Went to bed at 9:30.
11/28/2014: Time zone change - roll back one hour. Got up at 6:45, had breakfsat at 7:00.
This is the first sea day. Planned to do some exercise. Checked out deck 7 walk area and got a cold, had to miss the 1:00 cocktail party, Anita was mad at me not showing up but what can I say:-( Slept all day.
11/29/2014: Left the ship 8:30 to explore Tangier - since this is an unexpected stop, I did not prepared any information, ship only provided overall tour info for their excursion.
It took quite som effort (Anita's road direction check with anyone, locals and fellow tourists, we met on the way. The places we wanted to see weren't easy to find without a guide, even though we found the old Medina but we could not find the location where you can see Europe (Gibrolta), there were a couple of locals eagerly pressing to show us the place - we ended up following one and paid a little - he was asking 10 Euros. Got back to the terminal at 11:50 where Anita took a souvenir break. Had lunch at 12:33,
11/30/2014: Second sea day. The ship rocked up and down continuously, the only thing we could do without feeling sick was lying down in bed. We skipped breakfast, I got up at 12:00 and went to Ruffles to get something to eat, surprised to see lots of people dinning there, obviously not affected by the waves. I got a few southern fried chicken, a chicken burger, and a glass of water, took them back to the cabin - this took less than 10 minutes but I was sweating and feeling sick. Kept on sleeping/lying in bed to avoid sick feeling.
12/01/2014: Woke up every 10 minutes, check the time, went back to sleep, ... Finally got up at 7:30, the ship slowly approaches Santa Cruz port. Had breakfast at 8:00 - not enjoyinging it much as my body's still struggling to regain consciousness. Failed to get GPS signal on deck 7, finally got it after going up to deck 13 and moving about several minutes. It was sprinkling and the sky was covered with dark clouds.
Even though I felt weak, I went along with Anita to see the city of Santa Cruz, walked instead of taking ship's free shuttle, had to walk slowly to catch with my breath - I guess the nearly two days of seasickness plus a prior cold all add up. The weather here is sunny with frequent showers and occasional rain. We stopped at a McDonald's on Calle de Castillo, seemed a very popular place, foot traffic was high, Anita bought a coffee from a machine. Walked along the same street trying to find a local market, walked passed it along the upper street and had to come back down and finally found the "Mercado Nuestra Senora De Africa", it's a refinished market that bared the history of early settlers, not very big but has enough stores that provide produce, meat, cheese,... etc for locals.
Left ship again at 2:00, we rode the free shuttle this time at 2:07, arrived at shuttle stop at 2:11. Just strolled around aimlessly for an hour.
Got on the shuttle at 3:20 (waited about 10 minutes) and got back to our cabin at 3:35. Felt much better after taking a hot bath, hope I can build up enough strength so that I don't suffer as much when going at-sea to Malaga Spain the day after tomorrow.
12/02/2014: The night went well, the sail overnight wasn't as bad as anticipated. Got up at 6:50, had breakfast at 7:25. Disembark at 9:00, the free shuttle took us to tourist information booth near Charco de san gines where we started our tour. Rode the shuttle back at 11:00 (waited about 10 minutes on the shuttle, as it must depart at prescheduled time). Got back to the ship at 11:10. Had a snack for early lunch. Disembark again at 11:50, shuttle took off at 12:00. Took 1:10 shuttle back to the ship, earlier than we planned- it got a bit windy and Anita's back hurts. Had dinner at 5:05, try to eat as much as we could since we do not expect to dine in Ruffles tomorrow due to seasickness. Trying to push back seasickness as much as possible by doing things and walking around the decks, but it's a pity that there's only so much one can do.
12/03/2014: Third sea day, pray that it won't be as bad as the last one which disabled both of us and stayed in bed nearly all 36 hours. Woke up at 7:00, ate the pastries we stashed away yesterday, felt better, went back to bed since it's still dark. Woke up again at 9:00, the sea appeared calmer so we went up to Ruffles to have some breakfast, the restaurant was jam packed - apparently most passengers felt the same, found a table to sit (quite challenge), it got warmer as the sun beamed through the windows. We had to lie down after getting back to our cabin, it seemed that lower decks are more susceptible to waves. Stayed in bed the rest of the day. Anita was more affected by the ship's tumbling and throwed up once. The sail became smooth after 10:00pm.
12/04/2014: Got up at 6:50, had breakfast at 7:00. Sunrise here was rather late at 8:13. Got on city bus at the terminal at 9:30, round trip ticket is €4. First stop was La Alzacaba, this one was easy to access (went through a tunnel, bought tickets at €2.1 each, then ride the elevator), but the complex was a bit smaller than expected. It took us quite a while to find our way back to ground level - to trek to the entrance to Castillo de Gibralfaro. The walk to its entrance was very challenging, took nearly 20 minutes. Entrance fee was €0.6 - senior price, €2 regular price. This castle was well maintained considering that it was over 500 years old, the entire Malaga city can be seen.
Got back to the city bus stop at 2:00, bus took off at 2:10, 12 minutes ride and 10 minutes walk through the maze - ran to the ship's restaurant (lunch items would be removed after 2:30) and grabbed a quick lunch. The terminal Wi-Fi charged €2 per hour. Anita went back to the room to get cash for the Wi-Fi as we thought it was free. The stupid login even requires user name be case sensitive, obsurd. It was slow like hell, couldn't get on United website after 5 minutes.
- If Lufthansa cancael/delay our flight
- Weather in Barcelona (12/6)
- Home webcam
12/05/2014: Very calm night, got up at 7:00, at 7:30 the Ruffles restaurant was nearly empty, we wondered if some passengers got off at Malaga, Spain . Started a little packing, I got 6 (5?) T-shirts, not sure if they can fit in the luggage easily. Lunch at 12:00, dinner at 6:00, Star Dust movie - Think like a man 2 - at 3:00. Started packing at 6:30, done by 8:00. Set alarms on iPad and Nexus 7, went to bed at 9:30.
12/06/2014: Did not get much sleep as the worry of waking up late got to me. Got up at 4:40 before the alarms. Disembark before 5:30, we are likely the first ones disembark. Hopped on a black and yellow (official color) taxi and got to the airport at 6:00, charge was €42.95 including €8.40 surcharge (€4.20 for to/from airport and €4.20 for to/from cruise line port) - essentially the sum of meter charge and surcharges.
The UA counter won't open until 7:45, we had to wait. The airport Wi-Fi provides 30 minutes free access after registering with e-mail info. United app on Nexus 7 crashed right after I checked in Anita but before processing cheked bag. Stood in line at 7:15. Line moved at 7:45, finished checkin at 8:05. Security check was tight as this flight goes to NY, after the security check, we passed through passport control, the area that has a lot of stores open on the first floor could not be reached after the passport control - we realized this after the fact. Had to wait at the gate E77 area and rest - which we probably needed anyway. This airport (T1) was the main terminal built in 2009, the old T2 is virtually unused except for some low cost carriers. General observation: no water fountain, no free Wi-Fi (except the 30 minutes basic usage), security check lines are poorly organized, and tablets need to be taken out of the bag for scanning.
UA121 took off on time at 10:40, this flight is 95% full, the two seats next to mine seat at 39D was not occupied and stayed so after cabin door was closed, Anita quickly moved to the vacant window seat soon after the plane took off, thank God. This flight used a relatively smaller 757-200 with single center aisle and 3 seats on each side. Lunch and a snack were served during the flight. Landed at Newark airport at 1:22, 48 minutes ahead of schedule, the plane did not get to gate until 1:36. Took nearly 40 minutes to get through passport control, got our luggages right away when we got to the baggage claim carrousel - we were likely the last passengers there, took airtrain to get to terminal C. Had the cheese sandwiches saved from UA121 and emptied the water bottle before going through security check again, got to gate C80 at 2:55.
Flight UA1284 is completely full, similar to the 757-200, this 737-800 also has a single aisle and 2 3-seat row on each side, each seat has a smaller led screen that sells DirecTV, no meals, only water and soda are free of charge on all domestic flights like this. Scheduled at 5:21, the actual takeoff time is 5:40, arriving SFO at 8:47 - 10 minutes early. Jack pick up us at Terminal 3 (domestic) gate 01 after we got our luggages at 9:25. Got home at 10:10, shared a bowl of instant noodle before normal activities. End of 2014 Mediterranean trip.
