Heading to Barcelona, Spain

 HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

        Carl drove us to DFW airport Wednesday afternoon, arriving there at 2:55pm for our 5:30 flight.  Surprisingly there was plenty of drop off parking right in front of the American Airlines ticket counter in Terminal A.  We said our goodbyes and headed in to check bags.  We had our bags checked, through TSA, and at our gate 15 minutes later.  We could not believe it but the terminal was not crowded.  Even less than a normal non-holiday day.

        This is our departure gate for flight to Madrid, Spain.  AAL did not have a direct flight to BCN so we had to connect in Madrid to an Iberia flight on to Barcelona.  I wanted to get some more Euros so took the Skylink train to Terminal D where there was a foreign exchange.  Again the train was maybe a third full.  Really unusual!!!  Back to our gate in no time.  Unfortunately, when we got to Barcelona I could not find the wallet with the Euros.  Probably $150 worth of Euros lost.  Can't figure how I lost it.

        This Customer Service area almost empty so no one was having flight problems.  Amazing as was day before Thanksgiving's busy travel day.  As we were early for our flight we ran up to the Admiral's Club for a glass of wine.

        We boarded the plane 55 minutes early and were second in line to board.  Regent cruises booked us in business class and we had second row center seats.

        Of course I had to run up to the cockpit to say hi to the 3 pilots (on flights over 8 hours the FAA requires an extra copilot for rest purposes).  The Captain was not there but the two F/O's made me feel right at home in the Captain's seat.  This is a Boeing 787-900.  It came along well after I retired.  I did fly the Boeing 777 however.

                                             Meanwhile, Rebecca was settling for the flight.

        This is our menu for today's flight.  You may have to click on it to enlarge.  A couple weeks before the flight I had gone AA's website and pre-selected our entrees.  I had the beef and Rebecca had the chicken.  

                                   We enjoyed some champagne during the boarding process.

        This is big Frank, the purser on the flight.  He was a hoot and gave us special service knowing we were AA retirees.

        This gives you an idea of our business class cubicals.  Individual tv's with lots of movies and other things to chose from.  Our seats were "lie flat" for sleeping.  Bose headsets for audio.

        We pushed off the gate on time at 5:30 and we were off on our 9 hour flight to Madrid.  Our flight was full with nearly 300 passengers so the F/As got busy when at a safe altitude.

        Let the party begin!!  I needed some Woodford Reserve bourbon to wash down the heated nuts. 

                                                 Rebecca enjoyed an Italian chardonnay.

        This was our "starter".  Greens, edamame beans, feta, sundried tomatoes, and chicken.  Also served with warm sour dough breads.  YUMMY!

        This was my horseradish beef short rib entree.  It tasted better than it looks.  VERY tender beef with twice baked potato.  The green beans were not cooked enough.  Sorry Marcia.  I didn't get a photo of Rebecca's Latin spiced chicken but she assured me it was very good.  I had a glass of an Argentine cabernet with my beef.

                     I had this hot fudge sundae for dessert.  Of course, Rebecca passed.

        After dinner we each took a half of an Ambien (sleeping pill) to help us sleep.  It worked well as we both got probably 5 hours of good sleep.  We had a 7 hour time change from Dallas time to Spain's time.  

        About an hour and half out of Madrid it was time to eat again.  Mushroom and leek frittata with honey roasted sweet potatoes, some fruit, and a biscuit.  Very good.

        When we landed in Madrid the stress began!!  Never flown through this airport before.  We only had a 2 hour connection time to change terminals and catch our Iberia flight.  There was no one to direct us.  We did not have a jet bridge so had to go down mobile stairs and hop on a bus.  This took us to the terminal where we went through passport control.  It was fairly fast but then we had to walk forever to get to the train that took us under the taxi way (5 minute ride) to the Iberia terminal.  Problem is we did not know if we had to get our checked luggage and clear customs there in Madrid.  I had asked AA reservations and agents at DFW but got conflicting answers.  We had to go through Spain's version of a TSA carry-on bag xray.  I asked the Iberia gate agents and they said our luggage would be in Barcelona.  There was no signage and not much help in this airport.

        We made it to our gate in plenty of time and just praying our luggage would join us on the flight to BCN.  I liked the way Iberia had organized the boarding process with lines for each group number.  Of course we were in group 1, as again, had business class seats.  Well, business class in name only as seats just like coach seats.  Didn't care as flight was only hour and 20 minutes.

        During the flight I really started worrying that our bags were still back in Madrid.  I was thinking we should have collected the luggage and passed through Customs there.  What would we do IF they were still in Madrid!!

        We parked at the farthest gate from baggage claim after landing in BCN.  We had to walk a mile but did need the exercise.  Upon arriving at the baggage belt we really started praying again.  Would our bags appear??  We stood there for probably a half hour waiting and watching other bags go by.  I was about to give up BUT HERE THEY CAME.  The luggage carts are free here (unlike US airports) so we loaded them on the cart and headed for the exit.

        Regent now provides a private car pickup due to hour Diamond status with them.  We were looking for a driver with our name on a sign but none.  One of them suggested I check with the cruise greeters.  Sure enough there were two Regent reps and they took us out to the garage to meet our driver.

 

        This is Juan Carlos, our driver, in a nice big van.  He took us to the Hilton hotel that we always stay at when in Barcelona.  We arrived at the Hilton at 2:00pm.  Miriam checked us in again.  She was our desk person end of May this year at the end of our 2023 world cruise.  I had written a very nice note about her then to the hotel manager.  She remembered and put us in a huge suite on the top floor of the hotel.  It is very nice and very quiet.  Problem with the TV as only one channel (BBC news) in English.

        After settling in the suite and getting our phones and my laptop on the hotel's internet, I headed out to get a bottle of chardonnay for Rebecca.  There is a huge and very nice department store just a couple blocks away that has a big grocery store in the basement.  Got the wine and bottle of water.

        I have spent the past over 2 1/2 hours working on this blog post.  Timing is good as happy hour starts in the hotel's Executive Lounge in 15 minutes (6pm).  As a Hilton Diamond member we have access to it also.  Last times here we had dinner with the food they put out there during HH.  Very tired so not going out for dinner tonight.  Maybe tomorrow night as will be here two nights.  No turkey for us!

        This Thanksgiving we are VERY thankful to be here and all our luggage with us too.  Ready to board the new Grandeur on 25th.  Only big problem now is my lower back.  It was doing better but after handling three 50 pound bags today, I am hurting.

        More tomorrow.  Heading to HH.  6pm here in Barcelona is 11am in Dallas.