Driving through the rain to the airport was out first hint of problems. Things brightened whe we got to the airport and found our plane ready to go. But then just as we were ready to board, the FAA put a gate-hold on our flight because of thunderstorms over JFK.
One domino.
So we finally took off an hour and a half late. We landed in a steady downpour in NY, and found that we had no gate. So we got drenched walking from the airplane to a bus that took us to the terminal. When we got inside, we found we'd missed our flight by 10 minutes.
Two dominos.
Fortunately a kind gate attendent in Pittsburgh had already booked us on a flight to Madrid with a connection on Iberia from Madrid to Barcelona.
But a clearly understaffed crew in New York nearly made us miss that flight...we went to the gate for the Madrid flight, but we had to wait for a supervisor to issue us a paper ticket for Madrid.
Were it not for the amazing help of Mr. Nunez of Delta, we probably would not have made the flight.
We were not the only displaced passengers, and the delays in the ticketing process delayed the flight by over half an hour. Then rain and a long wait for takeoff clearance delayed us further. By the time we got to Madrid, it was too late to make our connection.
Three dominos.
We booked another flight to Barcelona, and after a 30 minute delay, we finally wound up in our port city.
With most of our luggage. It seems that Jacey's suitcase hadn't made it to Barcelona.
We had packed a carry-on with essentials, so it was not a disaster, but it was a difficult 36 hours for Jacey waiting for her bag, because she had a whole new wardrobe for the cruise.
This was our second trip to Europe, and both times a small weather delay in the US had led to delayed flights and lost luggage.
Danny's first ride in Business Class overseas |
Sunrise over the Spanish Coast |
Bull fighting rine in Madrid |
Orchards in Madrid |
Apartment buildings in Madrid |
Traffic circle in Madrid |
Landing in Madrid |
Barajas Airport in Madrid |