April 26, 2013 to April 27, 2013
Friday, April 26 and Saturday, April 27: flying days
Our plane from Palma to Barcelona left at 3 pm, so we had time in the morning to search out a good breakfast and do some last-minute shopping. We went back to the Fibonacci cafe for more excellent coffee and this time tried their delicious hazelnutty granola with yogurt and fruit. We're not big granola eaters, but we liked this so much that we've worked at duplicating the recipe, and now it is a breakfast staple at home.
Just after noon we hauled our heavy duffles and Bike Friday suitcases down the stairs and around the corner to the taxi stand, where a taxi picked us up right away and deposited us at the Palma airport. We were early for our flight, as usual, but always feel more comfortable not having to rush. Our view of the island was obscured by cloud cover as the plane took off, and it was raining when we arrived at the Barcelona airport about an hour later. We had booked an airport hotel with a free shuttle, and since our plane to Amsterdam tomorrow leaves at 6:20 am, we planned to eat dinner at the hotel and go to bed early to try to get as much sleep as possible. We had spent a very enjoyable week in Barcelona a few years ago, so didn't feel we were missing out by not going into the city on this trip.
The hotel shuttle, a small mini-van, picked us up at the terminal in due course. There was only one other couple on board, and with luggage and the driver we pretty well filled the space. Tomorrow morning we would have to take the earliest shuttle back to the airport at 4:30 am, and we assumed we would be the only passengers travelling so early. We paid our hotel bill when we arrived there to save time in the morning, and were able to leave our bike cases in the locked storage room downstairs. The clerk assured us that someone would be available in the morning to open the locked door. The only hitch was that we couldn't check in for our flight on-line and print our boarding passes because the hotel printer wasn't working, but we assumed we'd have plenty of time to check in at the airport. Our room was comfortable and dinner in the restaurant was fine. We went to bed anticipating the 3:45 am wake up call which came all too soon.
At just past 4:00 on Saturday morning we descended bleary-eyed to the lobby and were shocked to find eight people waiting for the 4:30 shuttle. How would we all fit? Then more guests came downstairs until there were more than twenty of us. A line formed at the desk for checkout, and the single clerk was too busy to unlock the door to the storage room. Finally we managed to retrieve our cases, but still wondered how we would possibly get to the airport on time. Just then another small mini-van pulled up outside, and then two more arrived, so the twenty-two of us squeezed ourselves inside the vehicles with the luggage crammed in behind. There was a bit of a traffic jam because some of the vans were blocking the others, but eventually we took off in convoy and reached the airport by about 5:15. By now we had a feeling that lots of planes left Barcelona early in the morning, so weren't entirely surprised to find that the terminal was packed with travellers. We had to walk a good distance to find the correct long check-in lineup for our flight, and just made it to the gate on time. We were relieved to sink into our seats for the two-hour flight to Amsterdam.
After landing at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport at 8:45, the first order of business was breakfast, which felt long overdue. We knew the Mediterranean Sandwich Bar quite well by now, and picked out fruit salad, juice, coffee, and breakfast sandwiches. We had plenty of time for a leisurely meal since our flight to Vancouver didn't leave until after 1:00. It was a good opportunity for people-watching as more and more of them crowded into the restaurant area. Schiphol is a major European transit hub and handles more than 40 million passengers a year—a sobering thought. The airport shops and facilities are extensive, and after breakfast we went through the initial security for intercontinental flights and viewed the paintings at the airport Rijksmuseum in the “Holland Boulevard” section.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
All passengers travelling to North America have to go through another security screening at their boarding gate. This is done with portable equipment and is very time consuming. Our plane left on time at 1:20 and many hours later we landed in Vancouver just before 2:00--a long afternoon! We picked up our car and drove to a downtown hotel, where we stayed for a few days to visit friends and recover from jet lag before the long drive home to the Kootenays.
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 1 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |