Getting to Valencia

Flying isn’t fun anymore.  Perhaps it hasn’t  been for a while but this trip has been particularly aggravating.   As I’m writing this we are enroute from Frankfurt to Valencia, five days later than anticipated.

We flew out of Puerto Vallarta airport on the afternoon of February 14.  Problems arose almost right from the start. At the security check, the inspector decided that my fold up camping chairs were dangerous items and insisted that they had to be forfeited or that I had to check my suitcase.  Reluctantly I checked the bag.  

The luggage arrived ok in Frankfurt but we still had  another connection. A direct flight to Valencia.  I once again reluctantly checked my bag, but it was a direct flight. Or so we thought.  Lufthansa, the airline on which we were flying, was already experiencing some computer problems, but everything looked ok until we were lining up to board the flight.  Then the shit hit the fan!

Lufthansa staff advised us that our flight was cancelled. In fact, all Lufthansa flights out of Frankfurt, had been cancelled.  All passengers  were instructed to procede to the Customer Service counters to get a  hotel voucher.  The other option was to book a hotel and submit a receipt for reimbursement.   Since we didn’t know where the Customer Services counter was located and hundreds of passengers would be heading in that direction, we decide to find the Metro station, get away from the airport and look for a hotel.  ( one of the airport employees gave us this advise). We took the metro out of the airport to the first stop.  The first two hotels we tried were fully booked, so we got on booking.com and made a booking at a nearby hotel. Five minutes and 26 Euros later we arrived at the hotel. By this time it was about 10 pm. So we went to the bar for a glass of wine to discuss what might me our next step.  

We discussed contacting Lufthansa via phone or internet chat but we realized that these options were a waste of time.  With the booking system down, what could they do? We decided to wait for morning, return to the airport and see what could be done.   

Remember that bag I checked?   It was supposed to be my carry-on so it contained many essential items. I now had no clothing change, no toiletries (except the liquids), no chargers and limited cables, no EU power adapters, toiletries, etc.  Lufthansa gave me the go ahead to buy necessary items so I bought a couple of things… a shirt, underwear and a toothbrush.  That was all I needed.

The next morning we returned to the airport and found our way to the end of the queue for the Customer Services counter.  It was a long queue! We waited in line for 6 1/2 hours to speak to a customer representative.  During our wait we learned more good news… there was an airport workers strike organized for the following day. The strike would affect several airports, including Frankfurt.  There would be no flights arriving or departing.  

This is a photo of the queue to rebooked cancelled Lufthansa flights.
  It is not obvious but there are 3 rows, each over 100 metres in length.
When we joined the queue it extended another 100 metres along a hallway.
It took an average of 90 mins to move 100 metres along the line.

While waiting we researched various travel options. One that seemed feasible was to travel from Frankfurt to Valencia by train.  I approached one of the roaming agents and inquired about cancelling our flight booking and retrieving my checked luggage.  She was very helpful and made a couple of calls.     

She told us that cancelling the flight was no problem. We would get a full refund plus expenses but I could not have my bag back.  WTF! I thought. It is my bag and it is here in the airport.  I was told that retrieval of my bag was not possible but if I gave them an address, they would send it to me.  I tried to explain that I didn’t have a European address that I would not be at one, long enough to receive the bag.  It didn’t make any difference. I was not getting my bag and that was that!

We finely reached the front of the line and spoke to an agent. There were not many flight options available.  After some discussion and failed attempts to finalize a booking we settled on a multi-leg flight.  Even if we get to Valencia, meeting up with my bag was looking pretty iffy. It will be a big surprise if is there when we arrive.

We now have a set of flights that will hopefully get us to Valencia at 1am Sunday morning Feb 19th.  We are scheduled to fly from Frankfurt to Brussels, then from Brussels to Madrid, then from Madrid to Valencia.  There are two changes of airlines and only and hour or so between connecting flights. 

We have spent 3 nights in hotels on the Frankfurt stopover. Yesterday we had a nice day wandering around the core area of Frankfurt. It was interesting.  

Inside the market in Frankfurt.  Phenomenal vegetables.

We just arrived in Brussels and we are enjoying some drinks in a departure area bar.  While we were waiting at the gate in Frankfurt, Linda spoke to the gate agent and asked about out checked bag.  The agent was able to confirm that the bag was still in the Frankfurt airport and she offered to make some calls to see if it was on the way to our new flight. She also offered to speak to the pilot. We still don’t know if our bag is travelling with us but the pilot made an announcement that the flight was delayed slightly, waiting for baggage.  We are hopeful, thanks to Linda’s initiative, I may be reacquainted with my luggage.

We are now on the flight to Madrid. We had been assigned seats but they were changed as we boarded the flight.  I’m in row 3 and Linda is in row 16. We were told that an overbooked flight necessitated the seat change.   From my seat I could see that two passengers, a woman and a child were seated in the cockpit jump seats.  Strange?   Perhaps employees? Who knows?    We also departed 30 minutes late so that cuts the time on the ground in Madrid to 45 mins, if the next flight departs on time, which is unlikely.  

The short stop over in Madrid was uneventful. We had time to stop for a refreshment in one of the boarding lounge bars. The flight departed a little late and we arrived in Valencia airport at about 1:00 am.  We didn’t have to wait long in the baggage area to reach the conclusion that my bag was not on the flight.  

We were directed to a baggage office and showed the attendant our baggage receipt. She was able to tell us that my bag was in Valencia.  Good news!  However the office that handled Lufthansa baggage was closed for the night.  We had anticipated this possibility and had booked a hotel near the airport. After a few hours sleep we returned to the airport and successfully retrieved my bag. A huge relief!

After a quick breakfast we jumped on the metro and headed downtown.  It is about a 20 minute ride on the metro.  Then it was only a 10 minute walk to our rented apartment in Russafa.  Russafsa is an older residential working class, now gentrified, neighbourhood of Valencia. 

Calle Cuba. A street in Rossafa with bike path 

We had about an hour to kill before the arranged meeting time to get the keys, so we had lunch at the DDL Boutique.  This is a strange name for a bakery/cafe/restaurant but it is our favourite cafe in Valencia.   Apparently it is popular with many people. There was a line up out the door most of the day.  It’s one of those places that is well organized and despite the lineup, service is quite fast. The food is excellent. 

 

Linda is in front of our apartment building. In the foreground to the right is the outdoor tables
 of DDL Boutique cafe.   DDL is short for Dulce De Leche which translates in English to Caramel.

This is something that you don’t see in Canada.
Do you see it?


It’s not the clearest photo




    Hint. Four legged table mate.

Our apartment in an “ático”.  This is the name of a top floor apartment.  It is very nice.  The downside, for some, is the access. It is 6 story building and there is no elevator., but only 104 stairs to reach the apartment.  

After unpacking a few things we headed out for a walk. Almost immediately the stress of the last few days melted away.  Sunshine, comfortable temperatures (17C)  and the pleasant atmosphere of Valencia put us both in a much better state of mind.  

It wasn’t long before we found a nice plaza in the sunshine and stopped for a drink.  Sangria for Linda and a cerveza for me.    It is really nice to be back in Valencia!