Ok, ok, I have to tell you about golf in Zaragoza. Believe it or not, one of the most complicated things here.
First, finding a golf course in Zaragoza is a challenge in and of itself. One day I saw one on the way to Madrid along the highway and got very excited. Later, after a bit of research, I find that to play there you need to be a member, pay 120 € and have a handicap. Of course, I had none of the three magic things to open the gates of golf (the 120€ I was simply not willing to spend after playing Bear Mountain in Victoria for 65$).
Then my search continued. By accident I stumbled across a "public" golf course in the modern Expo site. It is a pitch and putt, 18 holes, looks nice. So I figured to give it a try. The price was also ok: weekend rate of 25€ for 18 holes. I got a friend to call to book a tee time....
But of course, that would have been too simple. Supposedly, in order to play at any non-private golf course in Spain you need to belong to the Spanish golf federation and pay an annual fee! In the meantime, the golf course on weeknights is completely empty.
So on Sunday I decided to go there anyway just in case the guy on the phone was mistaken.
We got to the course and indeed, we could not go play. The good news was that there were people on the golf course so they must have filled out the forms and joined the federation. We ended up going to the driving range, which looks more like an acre of Dubai real-estate: sand, sand, sand. The upside is that if you hit the ball 50 yards, it rolls another 50 :)
Balls were cheap, and after an hour and a half of brisk swing action we ended up in the clubhouse for a refreshment and, of course, to fill out the mandatory forms to join the federation. I suppose the urge to play on the green vs the sand did overtake and I gave into the annual fee of 60€. So now I patiently await my membership card, which is just as important as the healthcare coverage. The process seems similar too.
P.s. After the driving range we stopped by s special seafood fair, where the region of Spain called Galicia were displaying their culinary delights, most of which were seafood. I had octopus with potatoes, mussels and some other yummy seafood, all of which was to die for!
The other day I even tried percebes which are gooseneck barnacles, which are delicious, but maybe weird to look at.
Now off to waiting for my card. Dreaming of golf.
[To see pictures, click on the title picture to go to the gallery of the Blog pictures]
Anatolijus
Saigon New Year's 2018
Saigon New Year's 2018
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Complex History of Spain: Belchite
The other day we took a trip to a nearby town of Belchite. It is about an hour away from Zaragoza, but a nice drive through a landscape that reminded us of driving through Kamloops: deserty looking hills with very green grass at the foothills.
Belchite is a small village with big history. In 1937, during the Spanish civil war, Franco was fighting the socialist-communist forces and the village was one of the key gateways to Zaragoza. The little town was almost leveled to the ground in fierce fighting. Supposedly British, US and other allied forces fought Franco's army, but eventually they lost. Some 6000 people lost their lives there. After the war, Franco ordered the people of the village to build a new village besides the destroyed one, leaving the ruins as a reminder of his victory and his enemies' defeat. (you can find more info on the history of Belchite here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Belchite_(1937) )
We got there on a very sunny day, which certainly helped when seeing what remained of once tranquil village. It is amazing that some structures of houses, 2 churches and a convent are still standing, while significantly Tedder prates since their day time.
We walked into the main church and it was amazing to see some of the decorations still in tact. It was, though, an eerie feeling, trying to walk through a skeleton of a village. Many people say you can hear ghosts in the village. At one point we heard a children's quite singing, very clearly. Could have been from the new village, or...
It was an interesting experience, and a reminder that peace comes at at a significant price at times. Even the children felt sad seeing such destruction and desolation.
After, we went to the new village, kids played in the nice park and we went back to Zaragoza. A very special experience.
[To see pictures, click on the title picture to go to the gallery of the Blog pictures]
Anatolijus
Monday, March 21, 2011
London Town
Since we are not likely to get tickets to 2012, we decidednto pay an advance visit to her Majesty the Queen in the UK. We got ourselves some very affordable Ryanair tickets from Zaragoza and went for a little tourist action in London. (To see pictures from our trip, just click on the Big Ben)
Itinerary
Friday, March 11
Left Zaragoza mid afternoon and got to London at about 4 pm.
Got to our Marriott hotel to relax in a very spacious, by London standards, room. The hotel is located in Swiss Cottage, has a very nice pool and must have been renovated in the last few years. Very nice.
Auntie Glenda was waiting for us at the hotel already. She got to the UK a few days earlier so we planned to spend a bit of time together. We had dinner together at the hotel (menus in english! And dinner served at 6!) and made plans for the next day. Of course, much of the evening we spent watching TV about the Japan earthquake, horrible, horrible situation. Having lived very close to the Chernobyl disaster in 86, I could imagine the stress everyone was under to fix the nuclear situation. Still to be continued...
March 12
We got up really early (not because we did not want to sleep in, but because the girls were demonstrating the reality of 1 hour difference between Spain and the UK), went for a swim in the hotel pool and took the subway to the Parliament buildings. It was a beautiful sunny day, so our tourist expedition was to be marvelous. We stopped by the Westminster Abbey (did not go inside), had some breakfast at PRET (coffee shop chain with amazing quality products and brownies) and then we went to the South Kensington station to the Natural History museum.
The lineup was decent and the museum - fabulous. Best of all, it is free. We saw dinosaurs, live animal show about animal sight, mammal exhibit and, of course, the gift shop where Auntie Glenda treated the girls to a keepsake.
After the museum we met my boss Brian, went for a walk to the Prince Albert monument, which was newly restored, and then for a fab lunch at the Whole Foods.
By that time we had done plenty of walking and were getting quite tired, but given the weather was very nice, we decided to go to the London Eye ferris wheel.
We were lucky with a short lineup, so we got our tickets, saw a 4 D show of the eye (it was a short movie with 3 D glasses and real snow) and then we went onto the eye. The eye rotates every 30 minutes - enough time to get a fantastic view of London. All of us loved the experience and the 52£ was worth it. After the 360 panoramic overview of the city, we had about 0 energy left and kids, having done amazing, were ready to turn into pumpkins. We stopped at Tesco for some groceries, said good bye to Glenda and took the tube home.
We even did not go for dinner, as this would have required walking, which was unthinkable. So with a bottle of wine, grapes, cheese and a few drumsticks from KFC we celebrated our evening #2 in London. Cathy and the kids went to sleep, while I decided to maximize the day and do additional stress-test on my feet and took the tube to the Tate Modern museum. I had 1.5 hours there, which was amazing. Some big names at the museum: Kandinsky, Monet, Pollock, Rothko and many others. And lots and lots of modern exhibits, which always inspires me to do some more painting. I got home about 11:30pm and went into a coma.
March 13
We started the day with our traditional swim in the hotel pool. By 9am we were on the tube heading back to town, starting at Bond and Oxford street, where we handily got ourselves a Starbucks and some light breakfast. After that, we headed off to the Tower of London. By that time it started raining, so the mood for the tour was set. We started with Yeoman telling all the wonderful stories of the fortunate guests of the castle and their unfortunate endings. Made us appreciate the more civilized times we live in...
The Crown Jewels were AMAZING! We did a couple of rounds to see them. Kids were in awe, so were the adults. The masterpieces, the wealth, the craftsmanship and all the tradition on display. Nice to see that some of such old traditions are still well in use.
After we checked out the vistas of the London Bridge with the girls singing the "London bridge is falling down", we could not resist a quick Subway lunch. It still tasted the same, and, given it was my staple food for the last number of years in Canada, I must say I miss it. So it was a treat.
After the Tower we took the tube to the Victoria & Albert museum. We did not spend much time there, but did stop in their tea room.
A special note of apology to Glenda. Glenda suggested that the dining room at the V&A was excellent, which I readily dismissed and said it could not be better than cafeteria food, but that indeed was not true. They had a full spread, which all looked marvelous. We had afternoon tea with scones and clotted cream, preserves and tea. Thanks Glenda for your great advice.
Next, off to the Science Museum, which was also free. We spent time in the hands-on experiments area for kids. A bit similar to the science world in Vancouver, just much larger. They had a whole section on space exploration, similar to the Smithsonian exhibit in DC. I went on a 4D simulator ride to the moon, which was quite fun.
After the museums, the family headed back to the hotel and I went for a bit of shopping down Oxford street. We met back at the hotel and had dinner at the restaurant there. My first steak in 5 months... So enjoyed every bite. Wine, on the other hand, more expensive and less variety. So guinness was the order of the day. The kids had nice kids meals which came with very nice chocolate deserts, which adults enjoyed just as much.
That night we watched a bit more news on Japan and off to bed.
March 14
We got an early sub and train to Stansted airport. The day was sunny and warm. We landed in Zaragoza a few hours later to a cloudy and rainy day. The whole week after our trip was windy, rainy and relatively cold. But the sun is now out and temperatures are back to the Spanish standard.
We loved our trip and surely will visit the Queen again. After 2012 rush is over.
P.s. Lots of public works on the subway, many stations closed due to improvements. You can surely see London getting ready for the games.
Anatolijus and family
Itinerary
Friday, March 11
Left Zaragoza mid afternoon and got to London at about 4 pm.
Got to our Marriott hotel to relax in a very spacious, by London standards, room. The hotel is located in Swiss Cottage, has a very nice pool and must have been renovated in the last few years. Very nice.
Auntie Glenda was waiting for us at the hotel already. She got to the UK a few days earlier so we planned to spend a bit of time together. We had dinner together at the hotel (menus in english! And dinner served at 6!) and made plans for the next day. Of course, much of the evening we spent watching TV about the Japan earthquake, horrible, horrible situation. Having lived very close to the Chernobyl disaster in 86, I could imagine the stress everyone was under to fix the nuclear situation. Still to be continued...
March 12
We got up really early (not because we did not want to sleep in, but because the girls were demonstrating the reality of 1 hour difference between Spain and the UK), went for a swim in the hotel pool and took the subway to the Parliament buildings. It was a beautiful sunny day, so our tourist expedition was to be marvelous. We stopped by the Westminster Abbey (did not go inside), had some breakfast at PRET (coffee shop chain with amazing quality products and brownies) and then we went to the South Kensington station to the Natural History museum.
The lineup was decent and the museum - fabulous. Best of all, it is free. We saw dinosaurs, live animal show about animal sight, mammal exhibit and, of course, the gift shop where Auntie Glenda treated the girls to a keepsake.
After the museum we met my boss Brian, went for a walk to the Prince Albert monument, which was newly restored, and then for a fab lunch at the Whole Foods.
By that time we had done plenty of walking and were getting quite tired, but given the weather was very nice, we decided to go to the London Eye ferris wheel.
We were lucky with a short lineup, so we got our tickets, saw a 4 D show of the eye (it was a short movie with 3 D glasses and real snow) and then we went onto the eye. The eye rotates every 30 minutes - enough time to get a fantastic view of London. All of us loved the experience and the 52£ was worth it. After the 360 panoramic overview of the city, we had about 0 energy left and kids, having done amazing, were ready to turn into pumpkins. We stopped at Tesco for some groceries, said good bye to Glenda and took the tube home.
We even did not go for dinner, as this would have required walking, which was unthinkable. So with a bottle of wine, grapes, cheese and a few drumsticks from KFC we celebrated our evening #2 in London. Cathy and the kids went to sleep, while I decided to maximize the day and do additional stress-test on my feet and took the tube to the Tate Modern museum. I had 1.5 hours there, which was amazing. Some big names at the museum: Kandinsky, Monet, Pollock, Rothko and many others. And lots and lots of modern exhibits, which always inspires me to do some more painting. I got home about 11:30pm and went into a coma.
March 13
We started the day with our traditional swim in the hotel pool. By 9am we were on the tube heading back to town, starting at Bond and Oxford street, where we handily got ourselves a Starbucks and some light breakfast. After that, we headed off to the Tower of London. By that time it started raining, so the mood for the tour was set. We started with Yeoman telling all the wonderful stories of the fortunate guests of the castle and their unfortunate endings. Made us appreciate the more civilized times we live in...
The Crown Jewels were AMAZING! We did a couple of rounds to see them. Kids were in awe, so were the adults. The masterpieces, the wealth, the craftsmanship and all the tradition on display. Nice to see that some of such old traditions are still well in use.
After we checked out the vistas of the London Bridge with the girls singing the "London bridge is falling down", we could not resist a quick Subway lunch. It still tasted the same, and, given it was my staple food for the last number of years in Canada, I must say I miss it. So it was a treat.
After the Tower we took the tube to the Victoria & Albert museum. We did not spend much time there, but did stop in their tea room.
A special note of apology to Glenda. Glenda suggested that the dining room at the V&A was excellent, which I readily dismissed and said it could not be better than cafeteria food, but that indeed was not true. They had a full spread, which all looked marvelous. We had afternoon tea with scones and clotted cream, preserves and tea. Thanks Glenda for your great advice.
Next, off to the Science Museum, which was also free. We spent time in the hands-on experiments area for kids. A bit similar to the science world in Vancouver, just much larger. They had a whole section on space exploration, similar to the Smithsonian exhibit in DC. I went on a 4D simulator ride to the moon, which was quite fun.
After the museums, the family headed back to the hotel and I went for a bit of shopping down Oxford street. We met back at the hotel and had dinner at the restaurant there. My first steak in 5 months... So enjoyed every bite. Wine, on the other hand, more expensive and less variety. So guinness was the order of the day. The kids had nice kids meals which came with very nice chocolate deserts, which adults enjoyed just as much.
That night we watched a bit more news on Japan and off to bed.
March 14
We got an early sub and train to Stansted airport. The day was sunny and warm. We landed in Zaragoza a few hours later to a cloudy and rainy day. The whole week after our trip was windy, rainy and relatively cold. But the sun is now out and temperatures are back to the Spanish standard.
We loved our trip and surely will visit the Queen again. After 2012 rush is over.
P.s. Lots of public works on the subway, many stations closed due to improvements. You can surely see London getting ready for the games.
Anatolijus and family
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Food, glorious food!
It is the second week in a row that we have allowed ourselves to indulge in the art of Spanish cooking. It is a lot of fun. So here it is, the menu:
Salt cod cakes with properly paired wine. The result: yummmmmmyyyyyy!
Click on the picture above to see what I am talking about...
We went shopping for the cod only to realize that there is about the same amount of different varieties of salt cod as there is of salt! But the lady in the store was very helpful and suggested to cut our cooking time by about 24 hours and try using fresh cod. I have to say, the results were not disappointing. It took about 1.5 hours of prep, with Grace being the best helper and Cathy mixing our first ever aioli in Spain, we sat down to a wonderful and flavorful meal.
Couple of thoughts that came to my mind while cooking. At one point, the recipe called to fill the frying pan with about 3 inches of olive oil to fry the cakes. I know that we are all health conscious in Canada.... I was thinking more about the cost of all that virgin olive oil I am about to pour into the pan.... So, compromising my recipe and staying true to my frugal nature (not) I poured about 1 CM of oil into the pan (good oil, too) and got the things cooking. It worked out just great. In fact, I am not sure what the point of the 3 cm was.
Anyway. The taste of the cakes with aioli and the wonderful 2009 Chardonnay from Carinena (90 points by Penin guide) was MARVELOUS! Grace enjoyed the food also, and she is not a big fish fan.
We made enough mix to have some again tomorrow, so off we go to sleep and dream about something with less calories from Canada :)
Anatolijus
Salt cod cakes with properly paired wine. The result: yummmmmmyyyyyy!
Click on the picture above to see what I am talking about...
We went shopping for the cod only to realize that there is about the same amount of different varieties of salt cod as there is of salt! But the lady in the store was very helpful and suggested to cut our cooking time by about 24 hours and try using fresh cod. I have to say, the results were not disappointing. It took about 1.5 hours of prep, with Grace being the best helper and Cathy mixing our first ever aioli in Spain, we sat down to a wonderful and flavorful meal.
Couple of thoughts that came to my mind while cooking. At one point, the recipe called to fill the frying pan with about 3 inches of olive oil to fry the cakes. I know that we are all health conscious in Canada.... I was thinking more about the cost of all that virgin olive oil I am about to pour into the pan.... So, compromising my recipe and staying true to my frugal nature (not) I poured about 1 CM of oil into the pan (good oil, too) and got the things cooking. It worked out just great. In fact, I am not sure what the point of the 3 cm was.
Anyway. The taste of the cakes with aioli and the wonderful 2009 Chardonnay from Carinena (90 points by Penin guide) was MARVELOUS! Grace enjoyed the food also, and she is not a big fish fan.
We made enough mix to have some again tomorrow, so off we go to sleep and dream about something with less calories from Canada :)
Anatolijus
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Pictures, Pictures!!!
We have added quite a few pictures to our blog. To find them in the future, just click on to title picture on this page and it will take you to our photo albums. If that does not work, click on the link below or copy and paste this link into your browser:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aragon-adventures/sets/
Isn't technology wonderful!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aragon-adventures/sets/
Isn't technology wonderful!
Picture Perfect Pyrenees
We are sitting in a guest room of hotel Vicente, built in 1877 and run by a family for 5 generations. It is 10 am on Sunday, January 30 th. The sun just peaked from behind the mountain and the church bell chimed 10. We are in the Pyrenees!
We came here Friday night after a 2 hour drive from Zaragoza. Funnily enough, it was pouring in Zaragoza, which never happens and as we drove into the mountains it was snowing. Needless to say, there were at least 3 bad accidents we passed.
Before we left, people at my work told me I needed to get chains for the vehicle. Seems they are all very serious about them. I figured that living in the dessert and not ever having snow would make you worried about the white stuff. Just to entertain myself, I went and bought synthetic wheel socks (which are quite neat and take no time to put on) and figured: I will show them some Canadian driving and bring the chains back for refund once we return.
When we got to the mountains, it was snowing so hard that everyone was putting chains on. You could not drive anymore because these roads were not being plowed.
With my Canadian ego slightly dented, off I went and put the snow socks onto the tires. 5 minutes later we were chugging along, no slip and slide. They are truly an amazing feature.
We got into town - Panticosa, which is right in the Tena valley, surrounded by the mountains. We checked into the hotel, which is at the very top of the village, with spectacular views of the valley, the village and the mountains.
We checked in and went for a walk into the town centre, with the snow quietly falling. It was so quiet and peaceful, with the only thing disturbing this idyllic scene was the explosion of the snowballs manufactured by daddy and thrown by Tessa, afterwards retaliated by Grace and mommy.
We could not have picked a better weekend to be here: it snowed the first time in 2011 and first snow since early December. Everyone was excited about the snow, whole 30 centimeters, or one foot of new powder.
The next morning we got into our snow gear and off to the mountain. While there is absolutely nothing in English here, we found our way to the gondola and bout tickets. I was off for some snowboarding and Cathy with the girls were chilling and signed up for some sleigh riding (which unfortunately was not anywhere as exciting as the o-zone at mount Washington).
Snowboarding was great fun, I was able to go on some untrimmed runs with about 3-4 feet of powder. Very fun feeling! After about 5 hours I was very tired, but enjoyed every minute of the sunny sunny day and perfect conditions surrounded by spectacular, sharply ridged mountains.
All equipment, services and staff were top notch. The ski resorts in Spain are run by a joint venture between Spanish government and private company Aramon.
After skiing, we went to visit a local, brand new, rec centre, called La Paul, which has a huge pool, jacuzzi, sauna and Turkish baths. We also got a discount because of the affiliation with the hotel. What we did not know is:
- you must wear a rubber cap
- you must have slippers
- you cannot have kids in jacuzzi
- several other rules they quickly explained to us
conveniently we could purchase caps and slippers, so we were in luck. After a day in the mountain, we were really looking forward to the jacuzzi. But wait! The jacuzzi was only 37.5 degrees Celsius! Isn't that the body temperature? We had to make due with a few minutes in the sauna, which wasn't as fun as sitting in a hot tub.
At the end of the day we had a nice dinner at the hotel, some wine and off to sleep.
We are all packed and ready to go back to Zaragoza and this experience will stay with us forever. We will surely be back.
We came here Friday night after a 2 hour drive from Zaragoza. Funnily enough, it was pouring in Zaragoza, which never happens and as we drove into the mountains it was snowing. Needless to say, there were at least 3 bad accidents we passed.
Before we left, people at my work told me I needed to get chains for the vehicle. Seems they are all very serious about them. I figured that living in the dessert and not ever having snow would make you worried about the white stuff. Just to entertain myself, I went and bought synthetic wheel socks (which are quite neat and take no time to put on) and figured: I will show them some Canadian driving and bring the chains back for refund once we return.
When we got to the mountains, it was snowing so hard that everyone was putting chains on. You could not drive anymore because these roads were not being plowed.
With my Canadian ego slightly dented, off I went and put the snow socks onto the tires. 5 minutes later we were chugging along, no slip and slide. They are truly an amazing feature.
We got into town - Panticosa, which is right in the Tena valley, surrounded by the mountains. We checked into the hotel, which is at the very top of the village, with spectacular views of the valley, the village and the mountains.
We checked in and went for a walk into the town centre, with the snow quietly falling. It was so quiet and peaceful, with the only thing disturbing this idyllic scene was the explosion of the snowballs manufactured by daddy and thrown by Tessa, afterwards retaliated by Grace and mommy.
We could not have picked a better weekend to be here: it snowed the first time in 2011 and first snow since early December. Everyone was excited about the snow, whole 30 centimeters, or one foot of new powder.
The next morning we got into our snow gear and off to the mountain. While there is absolutely nothing in English here, we found our way to the gondola and bout tickets. I was off for some snowboarding and Cathy with the girls were chilling and signed up for some sleigh riding (which unfortunately was not anywhere as exciting as the o-zone at mount Washington).
Snowboarding was great fun, I was able to go on some untrimmed runs with about 3-4 feet of powder. Very fun feeling! After about 5 hours I was very tired, but enjoyed every minute of the sunny sunny day and perfect conditions surrounded by spectacular, sharply ridged mountains.
All equipment, services and staff were top notch. The ski resorts in Spain are run by a joint venture between Spanish government and private company Aramon.
After skiing, we went to visit a local, brand new, rec centre, called La Paul, which has a huge pool, jacuzzi, sauna and Turkish baths. We also got a discount because of the affiliation with the hotel. What we did not know is:
- you must wear a rubber cap
- you must have slippers
- you cannot have kids in jacuzzi
- several other rules they quickly explained to us
conveniently we could purchase caps and slippers, so we were in luck. After a day in the mountain, we were really looking forward to the jacuzzi. But wait! The jacuzzi was only 37.5 degrees Celsius! Isn't that the body temperature? We had to make due with a few minutes in the sauna, which wasn't as fun as sitting in a hot tub.
At the end of the day we had a nice dinner at the hotel, some wine and off to sleep.
We are all packed and ready to go back to Zaragoza and this experience will stay with us forever. We will surely be back.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Is there first class on Ryanair?
Remember Titanic (the movie)? All those posh people in first class? Yes, you get what you pay for. So we booked our first-time trip to Ireland on Ryanair. Of course we knew it was no Titanic and that steerage was what is being provided by this fine Irish airline, so we booked our tickets with the plan to leave Spain on the 21st of December and spend 10 days in Greystones, south of Dublin, with friends.
Due to a few issues at work, we had to reschedule our trip (which eventually proved to be a wonderful thing: we avoided all the crazy snowstorms and airport shutdowns), so we left Barcelona on the 30th of December to spend the New Years with our friends.
When rebooking my airline tickets, I was intrigued and seduced by an offer of a 4 Euro “Priority” boarding pass. I thought: if that gets me on the plane first and ability to pick seats – great! Especially travelling with 2 kids. Off we go to Barcelona and to the airport.
We got to Terminal 2 (the old terminal) and went to the check in. First, anyone not with an EU passport has to get a stamp in their passport (this is one of very few times where my Lithuanian passport is a gem – I don’t have to do this!), then we have to get our luggage checked in.
Wait a minute: you said luggage?! Any Ryanair-ite would know that Ryanair is designed for cheap flights with no bells and whistles. And, if you still want the comfort of steerage, but the price of a regular airline, then you must purchase luggage allowance. What is better yet: how about paying for some baby car seats that you later decide not to take with you anyway? This guarantees that (with not extra service and a huge amount of extra cost) the check in lady will be looking at you as if you were truly from another planet. Especially because this must have been the first time in the history of the airline that the Ryanair passenger paid for cargo that they did not intend to carry! She had trouble figuring out the procedure of indicating this on the boarding pass…
Luggage checked in (now the tickets likely very close to Economy+ on Air Canada), we went through security and started walking to the gate. This is where you quickly realize what you don’t pay for (or rather what you take for granted when you do not fly on a budget airline). We walked, and walked and walked…. And walked a bit more to realize that the gate from which we were boarding was the very last one: a brisk 20 minute walk. I suppose it is cheaper for the Airline to park further in the fields. We get to the boarding area and the lady takes our boarding passes and carefully examines them. “Hmmm…PRIORITY boarding” she says. “Good. Would everyone please form 2 lines: PRIORITY boarding and OTHER”. We go to the PRIORITY line. There is a whole 4 of us in the PRIORITY line. Might as well rename the line “suckers: we paid 4 Euros each to stand in this line!”. Needless to say that was a bit embarrassing. But the kids loved it!
Guess what: this was not the gate to board the plane. Oh no, this was the place to board the shuttle. See, what you don’t realize is that the airline does not want to pay for one of those walkways that attaches to the plane. Instead we take a shuttle to the plane. And, you guessed it: we are the first on the bus, which is very exciting. They even made sure we were on before they released the steerage passengers. The shuttle goes for a 10 minute drive and gets us to the plane. The doors open (the other side from where we are sitting) and the passengers disembark. We get off the shuttle, looking for the “suckers” line, but…. We appear to be the last in the line to board the plane! And believe it or not, we get on to the aircraft last L! Even when we showed our PRIORITY boarding passes, the crew courteously point out that we are not allowed to sit in the first 4 rows. So we find some seats (luckily the plane was not totally full) and enjoy our short lived experience of the 1st class on the airport shuttle.
Ireland was great! Weather was nice: no rain, relatively mild and no wind. Our Friends Gwen and Monty hosted us at their home, where we greeted New Year’s and enjoyed wonderful company, excellent home cooked food and London fireworks over the TV. I even managed to handle a couple of pints of Guinness at a local Greystones Irish pub. Here is a little lesson for anyone who has not handled Guinness in its birthplace. The lady at the bar poured the pint and put it beside my friend’s pint of cider. So, without thinking twice, I grab the two and to the table. Shortly (more like 2 seconds later) I hear the lady screaming across the hall: “the pint not FINISHED!” I look at my friend in bewilderment, question in my eyes whether I should duck or run. He kindly explains to me that the pint must be properly finished before it is allowed to be removed (ouch, like getting your knuckles hit with a ruler). I did not repeat the same mistake on the second pint (pain is a wonderful motivator; I think this was a negative reinforcement schedule, if I remember correctly from my Psych 101 classes).
Greystones is a nice little community. By many standards, quite posh, with lots of sweet high end shops and pubs. You can tell that economy is not doing well at all, which is reflected in businesses closing. We took some nice walks along the Irish Sea on the cliffs, walked to Bray and saw the New Year’s swim and even enjoyed a latte (which are not available in Spain, only coffee con leche). Girls enjoyed our train ride back from Bray.
It was very nice to visit with our friends, drink some tea in between wine and eat lots of sweets. As always Ireland is a very nice and green place to visit. It was our 15th year anniversary of visiting Ireland together in 1995.
But just as in the Bible, there is a redemption story after all. As we get to the airport and embark on our epic journey to the end of the middle earth (aka Ryanair gate) we get to the gate quite late: the passengers are about to start boarding. And guess what!? They have 2 lines for boarding: not for the shuttle, but for the plane itself!!! We get into the PRIORITY line and are the first ones to get on (with some 30 other non-suckers). This was a much better end to the story.
Moral of the story: while the first class may not exist on Ryanair, by buying your PRIORITY passes you will get a 50-50 chance of riding airport shuttle shotgun or boarding the plane first. The choice is yours.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)