General strike in Spain, on the day you are scheduled to travel....

Suddenly we were going to be leaving in less than a week.  We had carefully packed in our single bag in case the baggage delivery service became confused and we would be without our bags for a few days.  All of the instructions had been in Italian.  We figured that we had a few days in Venice for our bags to catch up with us and we refused to consider the nightmare of our bags trying to chase us to South America, or not.

Granada was absolutely being inundated with rain on the Friday before we left.  The Carerra del Darro was flooded as was our little patio.  Because Baggage Express required 5 calendar days to deliver bags from Spain to Italy we stayed home all day waiting for the Bags Express person to pick up our bags.  The pickup had been scheduled for the morning and he showed up a little before 7 in the evening.  Was this Spain, Italy or the weather?

Our landlady Lourdes came by to settle up our deposit and the utilities usage and asked if we had heard about the huelga (strike).  We hadn’t.  She told us that on the following Wednesday, for 24 hours, all of the transportation workers were going to go on strike to protest the austerity measures that effected them and that all transportation would be cancelled except for that which was absolutely necessary. 

Wow, we had scheduled to leave on Wednesday afternoon and have a nice easy bus ride to Madrid, stay overnight and leisurely catch our flight the next morning.  It was time to make a new plan.  We’re going to have to evaluate the benefit of planning.  I think we’re on the verge of understanding something about the Spanish mentality here …….

We didn’t want to leave a day earlier and stay two nights in Madrid but if we caught the overnight bus to Madrid we could miss our flight if there were any significant delays and Easy Jet only flew this route a couple of days per week.  After figuring the alternatives (Ok so I’m a little obsessive) we ultimately decided to catch the 1 a.m. bus to Madrid on Thursday morning (the strike was over at midnight Wednesday) followed by a 45 minute metro ride to the airport.  This would make for a long travel day but …….

We caught our Easy Jet flight to Venice and were glad we paid a few euros extra for priority check-in.  Our flight was on time and uneventful, we even managed to sit together.  The airport in Venice seemed kind of ratty and the plane parked beside other planes away from the terminal and we passengers deplaned directly onto the apron and were directed to a waiting bus.  The bus took us on a winding 10 minute tour of the airport finally depositing us near some stairs.

Luggage collection seemed quick, probably due to the tour of the airport, and we walked out of the terminal to a cold, windy but sunny day and spent the next 10 minutes figuring out how to get to the water coach.  The airport in Venice is a very long way from the city.  Your options are to take a water taxi (very expensive) or to catch the water coach which is like a water bus. We had saved a couple of euros by purchasing our water coach tickets online (fully changeable) at Alilaguna.  The water coach is significantly cheaper (about 14 euros each) than a water taxi (80 euros for the taxi).  Of course the taxi can drop you exactly where you need to be dropped; an important feature we were later to find out.

A water taxi works on your schedule as well. 

After asking some questions we began walking to the local transportation pier that turned out to be another 10 minute walk; some of it over bumpy cobblestones which made rolling luggage problematic at times.  The water coach functions like a bus so you need to know your stop and they are limited.  You tell the pilot/driver/skipper which stop you want and your bags are piled accordingly.  The bus is generally very crowded and during the day they run about every hour.  We were crammed into the cabin of the boat and had limited views out the portholes so the 45 minute trip was rather boring.

The hotel had been trying to contact us and we were worried that there might be a problem but our Spanish cell phone had run out of minutes so we couldn’t return the call.  Just before our stop he finally reached us and we told him we were almost there.  When we reached our stop near the Rialto bridge and upon landing we realized that our hotel was on the opposite side of the Grand Canal.  We crossed the bridge (picture two tired travelers with backpacks each holding one end of a 23 kilo bag climbing and descending stairs that are very crowded) and were really glad that we had sent most of our luggage ahead.  It is impossible to wheel luggage around in Venice, you must carry it because there are many, many bridges over canals, all with stairs. 

Finally, just past the fish market, we turned a corner and found our hotel with our host standing outside waiting for us.  We stayed at Le Repubbliche Marinare which was reasonably priced and excellently located.  Our room was nice and clean and the cost of 190 euros for three nights included breakfast which was basic but good.  Our bags had arrived and we carried them up the steep flight of stairs to our room.  After checking in we bounded down the stairs, camera in hand, eager to explore this famous city, find some good Italian food and perhaps, an adult beverage.

Spain to Uruguay via Venice....shipping bags and all.

With October passing in the blink of an eye we found ourselves getting down to the last crazy things that we needed to finish in order to transition from Spain to Uruguay.  Having found Bag Express we had solved the very expensive and awkward problem of carrying your entire life with you everywhere you go, for this transition anyway.  We were already starting to wonder if we could get by with less stuff….

Bag Express needed to pick up the bags that we were shipping ahead no later than 5 days before we wanted them in Italy.  We booked a hotel for a few days in Venice prior to embarking on the ship since we had never visited Venice, and it gave us a little leeway if something happened to the bags.  The bags were to be delivered to the hotel on the day that we arrived.  We packed them with the idea that we would not open them up until we were on the ship.

We wanted to keep only what we would need to survive in Granada for the last few days we were there and the things we would need while being first time tourists in Venice.  Venice in early November is usually pretty cold, so sweaters and coats and other bulky stuff had to be packed in the bag that would stay with us.  Now, for those of you who know me well you know that I never have a problem fitting a ton of stuff into a bag, however, the problem is weight.  I can get way more weight into any bag than it is ever supposed to hold because I am such a good packer.  With airline weight restrictions that strategy is no longer an option.  With no scale available to check our bags we just decided to make the ones we were shipping heavy and try to keep the final one that would travel with us light, an organizational challenge to say the least.

The weather had turned quite cold and rain was starting to be a regular feature so cleaning the house inside and out and getting all the laundry done so we could pack it away became a bit more challenging than we had anticipated. 

Our friends Allie and Andrew were back from their trip to the US happily married and ready to get back into their real life in Granada.  All four cats had survived the summer without them but were definitely very happy to have their family back together.  We packed in a lot of tapas evenings so that we could spend time with as many of our friends as possible.   We knew we would be back at some point, but with the Peace Corps situation still unknown we really did not have any idea when that time would come and expected that it would be at least a few years. 

Granada does that to you; as soon as you know you must leave you start trying to figure out how you are going to get back someday.

And of course, just to make it memorable my birthday came in the middle of all this and we were able to spend it with Kellie and Brit at Puerta de las Pesas.  Fernando and Paloma were there with us and fixed a spectacular meal, had a very special cake made for me, and served it all with love and a wonderful Spanish Cava (Spanish version of champagne).  

This new life is all about the quality of our experiences.  This was absolutely the best birthday celebration I could have wished for.  The only thing missing was our other daughter Jasel, but she caught up with us on Skype so it was almost perfect!

Western Union, Moneygram, three currencies, one apartment and too much luggage.

October was turning into a whirlwind month with all of our travel around Spain and getting ready to move to Uruguay.  The weather was still beautiful with only some occasional rain and now our friends Ash and Donna from Marbella came up to visit us.

After some frustrating cross connections on our phones we finally tracked them down at the Minotaur Bar at the bottom of the hill and we ordered, what else, bottles of Alhambra 1925 (otherwise known as “verde” or “milno” depending upon the bar and the location).  Since we started late, it was late when we turned in.

Early the next morning (for us, in Spain that’s 9 or 10) we arose and over coffee took turns taking showers.  By noon we were ready for breakfast and we set out for Puertas de las Pesas for our normal coffee, juice and tostadas.  Since it was a weekend and because Ash and Donna were there and, most importantly, because we were in Spain, breakfast was topped off with an adult beverage…..or two.  We sure like it when these two get together with us.

The weather was beautiful so we went “a tapeo” around the Albaycin starting at the top where Ash took some very nice photos at San Nicolas. 

Later we hooked up with our friends Tony and Chessa at Hannigans and ran into Kellie and Brittani while we were there.  Bacon sandwiches ensued!

Strolling back up the Albaycin we stopped for a nightcap at Puertas de las Pesas around 10 or 11 where we ran into our friend  Hassan and his lady friend and decided to go up to another friend, Ray’s place “La Terraza” for some continuing entertainment.  We picked up another friend, Nicole on the way and suddenly we were a good sized group.  It was just a normal Saturday night in the Albaycin.

At La Terraza we were joined by yet more friends and we all enjoyed great food, great conversation and the wonderful sounds of Wahdi playing his guitar.  We were all exhausted by the early morning hours and decided to call it a night although others were going to yet another after hours place.  It had been just the right amount of fun.

We said good-bye to Ash and Donna the next morning after breakfast and they returned home to Marbella while the weather was good.  We now turned our attention to our upcoming move to Uruguay.  Suddenly, we realized, that there was not much more time before we were scheduled to leave and that we were saying good-bye to friends that we might not see again for a considerable amount of time.

The practicalities of moving were upon us.  We had to get ourselves, two backpacks and four heavy (23 kilos each) duffel bags to our hotel in Venice and then to our ship.  After considering a complicated three day journey involving trains and ferries we decided that it simply made more sense to fly if….. we could travel with only one checked bag.  Enter Bag Express.  We found that for about 50 euros per bag, we could send our bags ahead to our hotel.  This was far cheaper than the several hundred euro charge for extra checked bags on the discount airline EasyJet (about 800 dollars for all four of our bags).  The only catch; we had to allow seven days for the bags to be delivered which meant that packing would have to be carefully done.

One problem solved.  Now we had to tackle another seemingly simple task but one that, in hindsight, was a preview to our Uruguay experience.  We discovered that apartment prices in Uruguay skyrocketed for the months of December through March and we finally found what appeared to be a reasonable apartment in the location we were looking for.  Now we needed to send a deposit to hold the apartment.  Simple right?

The imobliaria (rental agent) in Uruguay needed 500 US dollars sent to her but, here’s the catch; she could only accept US dollars, in cash so we were limited to MoneyGram or Western Union, both expensive solutions.  The situation was further complicated by the fact that, being in Europe, we were dealing in euros, obviously, so we were looking at getting killed at least twice on the exchange rates, and possibly three times if they insisted on sending the wire in Uruguayan pesos and then having the imobliaria convert to dollars in Uruguay.

Western Union seemed the easy solution - we could do it on line from our US bank account in dollars and avoid any currency exchange issues, perfect... right?  Wrong!  Western Union would not allow us to use their on-line service because we were not currently in the US (our IP address was alas, a Spanish one and is one more reason to obtain a VPN service) "please go in person to a Western Union office in Granada with your identification and we will be happy to help you", came the auto-response.  In the morning we headed down the hill and after over two hours of walking and three different Western Union offices we gave up in despair.  It just simply could not be done, even after one manager called their headquarters and was told they could and should do it, no one was able to make it work.  Evidently, in order to use my US bank account and send money to a foreign country I had to be either in the US or in the country I was trying to send the money to.  

The following day we dutifully went to an ATM, took out enough Euros to cover it and found the one place in the Albaycin that could send a MoneyGram to Uruguay for us, they of course, charged exorbitant fees and gave horrible exchange rates, but they did allow us to send dollars so we avoided the additional pesos to dollars conversion..

What a stupid way to do business we thought and sure enough, the imobliaria had quite a difficult time acquiring the cash after we emailed the pick-up code to her.  Why on earth wouldn't she accept PayPal or any other normal electronic payment system?  We figured it served her right, but we learned that this was more common than we thought and would come back to bite us again later.