February 26-27, 2015
We arrived in Spain yesterday after a long travel day. We left in a hurry on Wednesday night to go to the airport in order to be close in case the snow storm predicted would snow us in our house in Winston-Salem. However, it wasn't as bad as they expected, but still bad for North Carolina. About 4 to 5 inches. We stayed close to the airport and were able to get there early for our 3:30 flight to Philadelphia and then on to Madrid. Due to the storm, our flights were delayed and then the plane's arrival was too late to make the Madrid departure. Fifteen minutes earlier, and we would have made the connection. Thanks to our good USAirways agent Sandy, she had us backed up on USAirways to London, and then Iberian to Madrid. So instead of getting in at 8:30 AM, we arrived in Madrid at 3:30 PM. Fifteen minutes can make a big difference.
Question - Has anyone ever thought that we shouldn't be judging airlines On Time Departures and should be looking instead at On Time Arrivals? Seems to me that because they wanted to make their departure on time, they pulled away from the gate in Philadelphia and then they sat out there for another 1/2 hour. I don't care if they depart on time, it's more important to me that the flights arrive on time. And more importantly, we got here safe and sound. Thanks USAirways and Iberian!
We then got our rental car at Thrifty, and we had a great experience with our person there too. Very helpful and polite. She told us how to get to Valencia - M40 to A3 and all the way to the City. We are without a data plan and we opted to not rent the GPS for the month - we made it in about 4 hours. Cathy couldn't believe it when we arrived in Valencia and in a few turns, our hotel Ad Hoc was right there. In fact it was - "Un - Blanking Believable". Our Friend Vinny said that the area we were in was designed by the Muslums to help deter invaders from conquering the city because the streets don't make sense - they lead all over different ways. We'll see how long the sense of direction holds out for us.
We did a quick little walk around Plaza de la Reina in Valencia. The marble courtyard/Plaza looked shiny and new, like it had just been waxed and ready for you to skate across. It was reflecting the yellow glow of the spotlights that were flooding the plaza,which would be seen by hundreds of thousands of people as they pass through over the next weeks as the Fallas would develop. On one side borders a small park that has orange trees and a slanted pine tree that looked like we felt, ready to lie down and relax.
We had a quick meal at a small Italian Restaurant and they offered up a great Rioja Wine that we had to complement our Italian pasta dinner. Appetizers were Fried Eggplant with Ham and Mozzarella between the eggplant, and a wonderful mixed salad with the freshest greens and vegetables. Then Pasta Carbonara and Pasta with Artichokes. Finished off with a Tiramisu and then off to bed.
We both were exhausted after the long journey, and when we finally hit the bed, we didn't wake up until 11:00 AM the next day. As my mother would say "Well, you must have needed it!" I just hate that we missed our free breakfast!
