Barcelona

Well, I tempted fate when I posted my last entry.  Just after sending it Hong Kong was struck by a lightening storm - a Code Red apparently, which meant that we were taken away from our comfortable departure lounge and processed through the terminal down to the ground floor as there was to be a change to our departure gate.  All good so far, but it seems there was a total lack of communication within the Cathay Pacific ground staff.  Even the crew were milling around and no-one had any idea when/where if we were leaving.  The time ticked by.

An announcement was eventually made that we would be departing 2 hours late and that if we went back up 6 floors to the food hall we could get 75 HKD food.  Not that we actually needed food, but for something to do, rather than sitting on the floor (yes 100s of passengers, with no seats), we went up with another passenger, a nurse from Havelock North.  The food hall is huge and was mainly of Asian food, which did not appeal.  As we kept walking around, we spotted the Golden Arches, with a McCafe beside it - at least it was "normal" food.  And they had Flat White coffee!!!

Well, it was the best coffee we have had - or likely to have this side of New Zealand.  I had a crayfish sandwich ( no expense spared), so my share of Cathay Pacific's loss was about 45 HKD :-) , Vivian had coffee & a muffin, about 35. HKD.

Time rushed by and we made our way back downstairs to find that confusion will reigned.  We were getting grumpy.  Then, out of the blue, they announced that we were going to board.  With great speed we were sort of processed and boarded a bus for transport to our plane sitting miles away.  Luckily we boarded in between showers.

Turned out to be a full flight, and although we were all aboard and set to go, there was a backload of planes, so further delay until we eventually took off.  The pilot, an Australian assured us that he would try to make up time, but clearly it was only about half an hour.  So, the next 12 hours was devoted to eating, sleeping a bit and worrying about what would happen to our onward flight/bags etc.  Oh, when travelling on Cathay Pacific 777, never be seated in Row 52. The food is served from the front & the back of "Cattle Class" and 52 is pretty well the end of both lines:-)  One meal I got was not even on the menu for either menu, so it was probably a left over from a previous flight designated for the crew.

Our problems didn't improve as we approached Heathrow, as we were stuck in holding pattern and when taxiing in, were further delayed by another aircraft being pushed out.  The long and the short of it was that we disembarked 45 minutes before our BA flight to Barcelona left.  Heathrow is a big airport.

Somehow we followed signs for Transit Passengers to Terminal 5 (we were in Terminal 3).  We ran into what we thought would be a check in facility, but it was a queue (empty) for a bus to take us to Terminal 5. The electronic sign said the bus was leaving in 1 minute. We made it.

It is at least 10 minutes bus ride to T5 - it seemed like at least 10 hours. Thoughts were, where are we going to sleep tonight, what will happen to our bags as they had been checked in at Auckland all the way to Barcelona.  Worry, worry. Made it to the BA counter and most obligingly, we were checked in and told to run to Gate 2 and we may just make the flight - down to T-10 by now.  Oh also our bags would probably come later and we would need to fill out a request when we got to Barcelona.  Not good news.

Next hurdle - &*%#(! airport security).  The strictest and slowest in the world.  Got through sans belt & Vivian shoes in hand, running through departure is funny now.  OK, departure gate (basically scheduled departure),calm, smiling woman says "no more running & no more worrying, enjoy your holiday", the sweetest thing we had heard in ages.  She also said to check with the bloke at the aircraft door re our bags. Well, we did and was able to confirm that they had been loaded. Amazing.  Stress releaved.

Had a good short flight over, sitting with a bloke who worked for BA and has been all over the world.  He was actually Spanish, so gave us some good information and background.  Got through immigration in no time and of course as soon as the baggage carousal started, guess who's bags were first out:-)  Out in under 5 minutes and into a taxi to our hotel.  Got in about 10.30, unpacked a bit, had a showed (yes, after 36 hours flying, we did need one).  Then we went out of the hotel and it was full of activity, as there are numerous eating places around. We just got a coffee & a pastry and watched the activity.  When Vivian found out that it was after midnight, we thought it was time to call it a day.  After all, it was really only a day - a very, very long Friday 30th.

This has been a long entry and I plan to update all the good things that Barcelona has to offer tomorrow.