Travelling To Europe

I am back from my trip to Europe.

I will write about it in 4 parts (Traveling to Europe, in Catalonia, in Germany and Coming Home.)

Travelling to Europe

My Sister drove me to the Bus Station the night before my flight (since she couldn’t the next day due to her work.)

I haven’t taken the Bus to Logan Airport before (usually I’m only at the Bus Station picking up or dropping off my Dad when he goes to Logan.)

The Bus itself was nice and clean.

 I’m glad I decided (at the last moment) to take the Bus coming an hour earlier since we got stuck in Boston Traffic and arrived at Logan Airport late.

I went through Logan Airport (which I haven’t been to since 2017) and walked the Delta Check-In Kiosks and since there were no lines I checked in for my flight the next day and continued to the Hilton Logan Airport Hotel.

Hilton Logan Airport Hotel

There are few signs to the Hilton (which is connected to Logan with a covered passage way) and you have to take an escalator and then the elevator to find it.

Once you are at the Hilton you have to walk a long way (including taking an escalator) to the Lobby to Check-In.

I stayed at the Hilton Logan once before when I had a very early flight to Alaska the next day.

There were several people a head of me waiting to Check-In and only 1 person working (although a Female Employee kept walking up and down the Check-In Desks not doing anything.)

After I Check-In I went to my room to relax and freshen-up since I was meeting Friends I haven’t seen since Elementary School.

I waited 2 ½ hours in the Lobby for my Friends who never showed or contacted me. I was starving so went to eat at the Connolly’s Publik House.

It was loud inside and the Waitress was slow, but the food was good.

After I ate I went back to my room.

The next day I got up and ate at the Restaurant (next to Connolly’s) Restaurant. The food and service were good.

There was a loud Woman who wanted everyone to know she didn’t have much time before her flight and needed to eat quickly, but other than that everything was fine.

I then Checked-Out and walked the long way back to the Terminal and dropped off my bag with Delta.

Boston TSA Security

I then started to go through TSA Security. I already had my laptop and 1 bag of allowed liquids out of my Carry-On as well as my Passport and Ticket.

The whole experience with TSA at Boston Logan Airport was very disorganized, chaotic and unprofessional.

It didn’t seem like the TSA Officers themselves knew what was going on or what they were supposed to do (and there were few signs telling us Passengers what to do.)

We were just supposed to know that you don’t walk up to the bag scanner until called up by the TSA or that you are supposed to put your shoes in a separate plastic container than the one for your electronics and liquid bag and another separate plastic container for your Carry-On and coat.

The TSA Officer was screaming at a very sweet old Lady in front of me and she was both scared and confused. I had to help the Lady because the TSA Guy wouldn’t.

I made it through TSA Security DESPITE the TSA and all their screaming random commands that countered the commands another TSA Officer was screaming at you.

I will do everything I can in the future to avoid going through Boston’s TSA in the future (I have been to many other American Airports where the TSA actually does their job without making the Passenger feel like a Criminal.)

My Flight to JFK

I was waiting at the Gate for my flight to JFK and noticed that there aren’t many USB Charging Stations (there were 4 for about 4 Gates.)

While waiting and looking right at the plane being loaded we were told by Delta that the flight would be delayed – with no explanation given.

When we finally boarded and were ready to taxi away from the Gate the Flight Attendants came throughout the plane and blocked the aisles for over an hour with the only official explanation given that there was an “Incident with Passengers.”

The rest of us were able to figure out that 2 Passengers were kicked-off the plane by the NYPD and then we had to wait while their luggage was removed from the Cargo Area.

The flight to JFK, once we were in the air, was problem-free.

In JFK

When we landed in JFK I had to walk a long way just to board a Shuttle Bus to another part of the Terminal for my next flight.

I ate at a Shake Shack (which I haven’t been to since we lived in Virginia.)

Waiting at the Gate there were USB Charging Stations for every other seat – which was much better than what Boston’s Logan had.

I boarded my flight to Barcelona and had no issues while on-board.

The person sitting next to me was nice, but not annoying.

In Barcelona Airport: Part 1:

When we landed in Barcelona it was like walking into an oven. It was boiling hot.

Then I noticed something that I would encounter throughout my 2 times in the Barcelona Airport (no one spoke English.)

I’m not talking about Random Strangers just using the Airport, but the Airport Security, the Police working at the Airport, the Employees working at the Sleep Fly Hotel inside the Airport, Employees in the Stores and Restaurants, at the Airport Information Desk, etc.

I know that makes me sound like the “Ugly American” but it did get annoying especially since Barcelona Airport is an International Airport (I mean I know 8 Languages myself, but unfortunately none of those include Spanish or Catalan.)

There were also a lot of Beggers and Scammers inside the Airport (in both Terminal 1 and in Terminal 2.)

Back to me landing at the Airport.

I had a very long wait going through Spanish Immigration and when I went up to the Immigration Officer he didn’t say one word to me (in any Language.) I handed him my Passport, he scanned it, stamped it and gave it back to me.

I have never been to any Airport (in Central America, in the Caribbean, in the Middle East or in Europe) where the Immigration Officer didn’t at least ask if I was there for Business or Pleasure, how long I planned to stay or welcomed me to the Country I was now entering.

After Immigration I got my bag and went into the Public Part of the Airport since I had to wait a few hours for my Dad’s flight to arrive.

I tried to figure things out while I waited, but the Barcelona Airport, while clean, is very confusing. They don’t seem to like using signs to tell you where things are and even when they do use signs they have a down arrow to mean go straight instead of go downstairs like it means everywhere else.

When I met up with my Dad I was able to show him the Italian Place I found for us to have Lunch. It was really good.

We then went to the Enterprise Rental Company to pick-up our rental car.

Every single person we dealt with at Enterprise (at the Counter Checking-In, in the Parking Garage getting our Car and in the Parking Garage Returning our Car) was very good. They all spoke English and were very friendly and helpful.

After we got our rental keys we needed to take the elevator to the Parking Garage to get the rental car  - only to learn that all the elevators weren’t working.

We had to walk down 2 flights of stairs with our suitcases (and did the same days later when we returned the rental car.)

Our Rental Car was pretty nice, but was too big for the very narrow Parking Garage road. Somehow my Dad managed to make it out with no problem and we headed away from Barcelona to start our trip to see our Relatives.