Finale

One funny story that Steve told us while he was driving us from Palau Saverdera to Figueres was about a litigious woman who they called "Claimerella."

But back to the present (now the past) -- for dinner, we had the fixed price menu: for starters, almond vichysoisse
and fries with egg and bits of some kind of Spanish ham. Both sounded weird but both were good. The soup had a drizzle of olive oil and toasted almonds on it; the fries had a balsamic vinegar reduction. Our main courses were veal entrecôte (a disappointment)
and pork tenderloin with applesauce (not applesauce like we know it in America; rather, a sauce based on apples). For dessert we had a bread pudding and a macedonia (there's that mixed fruit again).

We were back in room around 9:30, in bed around 10 and awake at 3:30 for the 4:30 shuttle to the airport. It was jam packed full of people.

When we got to the Barcelona airport to take our flight to Amsterdam (Schiphol), we checked in at the machines to get our boarding passes, and then stood in line to check our baggage. We were originally not seated together, and the machines hadn't been able to offer us any alternatives. But the clerk at the desk actually ASKED us if we wanted to be together, and moved us in an exit row (funny, the machine was going to charge us 30 euros apiece for those seats).

Security was easy: no separate check of liquids and no shoes off.

We started boarding 15 minutes before scheduled time and everything was very civilized. We did experience a bit of a delay coming out of the gate because five people who had checked baggage apparently never got on the plane, so we had to wait while their baggage was taken off.

Linda had a tight (1 hour) connction to start with, and the slight delay had narrowed the window somewhat, and we arrived at the C gates and had to hoof it over to the E gates. We had to pass through another passport check, but there was a special line for people whose flights were due to depart in 30 minutes or less, so Linda went through those. Lisa also got through quickly and was able to catch up with Linda before Linda boarded her flight. We hugged and both said what a wonderful trip it had been; we were both sad to be done with it. It went fast, it was interesting, it was fun...and it seemed EASY.

Lisa had hoped to buy some duty-free perfume, but they were already boarding her flight (originally scheduled for a 10:25 departure and then moved up to 10:15. Lisa went to the duty free shop, hoping to make a surgical strike, but there was a huge line at the cash register, so she decided to forget it.

It was a case of hurry up and wait, and at the end of the wait, there were individual interviews with gentlemen who came to get you out of line personally, check your passport again, ask where you'd been, whether you'd packed your own luggage, whether you'd had it with you the whole time...and then there was another baggage scan, this time with fluids needing to be taken out. Went through one of those body imaging scanners (left shoes on) but got patted down for my watch and my passport holder that I was wearing inside my shirt.

Another delay: flight now due to depart at 10:45. Everyone boarded quickly when the time came...and then there was another issue -- the plane needed to take on more fuel. Apparently there had been a problem related to the fact that the plane that had been at this gate just previously had left late. And then there was confusion with the paperwork...not sure what time we actually left (after the Atlanta debacle, looking at the clock was not a priority), but given the time we are now due to get into seattle (1:22 pm), we must have departed sometime around 12:10 pm.

I guess this is the final entry of this Catalonia blog. It's been an interesting experience. Thanks to Paul for the inspiration and to Peter for being such a good audience. And to Linda for checking my work, helping me to remember what I'd forgotten, and for being such a great travel companion. I love you all.