Follow our travels through France, Italy, Switzerland, Vietnam, Spain and Portugal

Never let the Truth get in the Way of a Good Story!

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Barcelona again, Dubai, Singapore and Home!!!

October 12, 13, 14

Very fast train from Madrid Atocha station, picked the worst possible time to try to get there as a massive military display was taking place, closing all main streets in the district! At one memorable moment we were underneath the station in tunnel, with the GPS happily announcing that we were at our destination! Grrr..
Barcelona was extremely quiet the second time around. We found a cosy little bnb near the station, and spent a few hours exploring this side of town and nervously spending our remaining euros. There is some stunning architecture here, especially a modern building looking very much like a bullring.

Flight home was not memorable: a 9 hour stopover in Dubai, where it was still 34ยบ at midnight, catching a few hours sleep on the 'comfy chairs', only to be jolted awake at 5.30 by the muslim call to prayer.....

Short stop in Singapore, only to be told to start queuing up almost straight away, and everything had to be re-checked and scanned, very frustrating. I decided to take my sleeping pill as soon as we were back on board.... I woke up over Australia with stir fry all down my shirt. Apparently I insisted that I was awake and hungry, but didn't quite make it to dessert!

And so to Tullamarine- Bliss! Except... 'Sorry, there is some luggage which has gone missing. We suspect it is still in Dubai.' Well, there had to be a third disaster, we reasoned. As it was, after waiting around for a couple of hours, and being told to go home and they would courier the luggage to us when it turned up, it was 'discovered' in a warehouse at the airport somewhere.

So, what did we learn here?
*We have always been lucky in our travels, but it couldn't last forever.
*Don't let a setback (or two) ruin the trip.
*Speak nicely to Consular officials and Insurance assessors.
*Get off the tourist trail occasionally, for your sanity.
*Stilnox tablets work very well.
*Do not rely on GPS for everything- have a backup plan.
*Trust people- they are usually good, and helpful towards tourists in difficulties!

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