Just like that, time has flown by and we are sitting in the departure lounge waiting for our flight to Frankfurt. After that flight is a ridiculously long 10 hour layover before our flight to Bilbao. Trust me, if I wasn't needing the frequent flier points, I would have found a better way to get to Spain. We will spend one night in Bilbao, then take a bus or train to Irun to start our walk.
Many people wonder why we don't walk to the airport in Singapore to begin our Caminos but all of our Singapore know that answer. Even though it is only a 7km walk from our house, it would be 85% highway which is illegal to walk on here. Furthermore, I got sweaty just walking from the door of our house to the taxi on the street out front. If we walked longer than that, we would be drenched for the whole flight to Frankfurt! BTW, that last exclamation point was thrown in for anyone reading this blog who happens to be a Trump follower on Twitter. Sentences just aren't worth reading unless they have at least one exclamation point.
We are excited about what lies ahead for us. As always, we are also a little nervous too. One day, I'll twist an ankle stepping onto the plane or forget to bring my wallet. I just hope it's not this trip. Did we forget something important? Will I lose my passport? Will the ATM machine eat my card? Will the sole of my boot fall off in the middle of the first day? Again, hopefully not this trip. Please be kind to us God.
More later. Peace y'all.
We landed in Frankfurt without problems and got a day room at a local hotel. The layover is far too long to hang out eating airport food. One quirk to the flight: the plane was the massive A380 and when I could get into Lufthansa' website last night to choos seats, I was surprised and happy that the plane looked to be fairly empty. Our pre-assigned seats were in the crowded last 10 rows but the first 20 rows of economy were empty. I moved our seats up there so we could spread out. When we boarded, we were first in that whole section. YES! Ugh, no. Slowly it filled up with people who obviously don't bother with pre-assigned seating. The plane was at 100% capacity. Oh well, we tried.
ReplyDeleteFor anyone following us, if you are flying into Bilbao and staying for a day (or taking a train from San Memés Station to somewhere, there is a bus #3297 that leaves just outside the arrivals area at the airport. The bus was 1.45€, had luggage racks and went straight through the middle of Bilbao, terminating at the San Memés bus / train station. Also, if you flew in from outside the EU, even through alayover connection inside the EU, you will have to collect you bags at belt 6 or 7 even though everyone else on the plane gets theirs from another belt. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention, we received our first "Buen Camino" while entering the hotel in Bilbao. That didn't take long. Two young women saw Melanie's shell on her backpack. Also, there are yellow arrows right outside the door of the hotel. We will be passing this way again in a few days, for sure.
ReplyDelete