Upon Arrival...

Oh boy, we are so excited to have finally arrived!

The trip here was quite an adventure. As we departed from the US, we had a few hiccups but overall it was ok. It all started with our separate seat assignment. Apparently, AA has a new "process" which seem to have caused seat scattering for most people traveling on this flight. The poor staff at the gate were pulling their hairs trying to accommodate everyone's request. Thankfully, they seem to have managed. 

So, on we went to our seats. After everyone was boarded and the door closed, we realized the row of 4 seats in front of us was EMPTY!!!!! Comfortable sleeping arrangements anyone? 

So, we manage to score a whole 4 seats for us! This is gold when it comes to a long flight!!! Especially considering that we land at 8:50am in Barcelona. Now we can rest with more space and comfort. 

Next was out sleeping pill idea. When taking sleeping pills it is adviced that you only take it once you are out of the gate. The last thing you want is to have to get off the plane and you are all kinds of sleepy!!! So, as we pulled out of the gate, Henry was ready for his pill, he wanted to make sure to get as much sleep as possible. Me, on the other hand, wanted to wait for dinner 😏... To his luck, he took the pill and the PA comes on...pilot saying, "We seem to have a "small"' technical issue but they were going to fix it on the runway...so just a few minutes folks..." 

30 minutes later, Henry out cold, we were headed back to the gate! This small issue took over an hour to fix. Thankfully we didn't get off. That would have SUCKED!!!

So off we went, food was ok but the wine was great! I did get some sleep and were very grateful for the full row! After this long and tiring trip, we finally made it to Spain 🇪🇸!!!

Landing in Barcelona was great. The line in customs, as always, took a while. Our luggage was ready when we were out and on we went to get our super cheap tiny European rental. 

We booked a car from Goldcar which is a very affordable car rental company in Europe. The battle for this cheap price is to reject every add-on they offer you. So we were mentally ready to say NO...Yet, we quickly discover we couldn't rent it!!! 

These rentals are only for either Europeans or people with international licenses. This sucked but we had a backup plan. We went to Alamo, good old American company, and with a few keystrokes voila we got a car...manual, but a CAR never then less! 

Now, we just had to drive 3 and a half hours to our destination! 

The road trip was very beautiful, we go to drive down the coastline and see a lot of green farmland. Plus a quick stop for coffee at L'Ametlla de Mar. A small town full of locals. 

 

Finally, after hours of traveling (by air and land) and 50€ on tolls later,  we made it to Valencia! We went from open spacious highways to "out of a movie" tiny ancient European roads. Next task was finding parking. In the city center, parking is either super expensive or non-existent. So we went to the nearest neighborhood called "Bohemian" and got super lucky with free parking. 

At last, we checked in to our Airbnb, which we liked. Its small but has great wifi, working area, view and only $25 a night! Location wise is at the heart of Valencia and everything is walking distance. So for now, the car will just stay parked...LOL

Sorry for the long post, but it was a LONNNNNNG trip! Hope you enjoyed it. 

Love, 

L & H