Grabeh sa experience.Masaya ang trip namin to Gran Canaria, 500 photos to share, but ito muna.
Stranded kami sa airport ng two nights!
Our plane from Gran canaria was late to fly for an hour. The time we arrive in Madrid to connect our flight to Genève, Switzerland, the plane is gone. 45 MINUTES AGO!
We are 12 passengers to go to Geneva. All complaining, this and that.The service client gave us a hotelroom , shuttle bus trip, rebooked our ticket to fly the next day. At 8:45 AM business class.
Not bad, we were installed for the night at Tryp Diana, 4 star hotel with dînner includes wine ! yehey, and buffet bfast with 6mins call to our family each passanger.
What is annoying in this, was because we are not only 12 when we board the bus to the hotel. We are two buses full of délayed passengers from All connecting flights.
Thanks to Iberia Airlines, they are the best, grrrrr...
This means, queue at the hotel réception with wailing kids, queue at the dinner restaurant, we finish dining at 12 midnight despite waiters are serving us quick then at breakfast 6:30 AM, rushes here and there, full of Japanense tourists going somewhere.
Sumali pa kasi itong mga hapon na ito!
Imagine the crowd, its like we are in a rally in Palestine! Michel ever cool, said "let them be stupid pushing here and there, we take our seat on the table, quietly, and wait to be served."
Madrid airport is huge as if Baclaran going to Cubao ata !Upon entering the airport we have to pass a lot of walkways, escalators, take a tube(train) for a 3 minute train ride, up again, pass the customs, and voila, settle in at the lounge to board. Cost us 30 mins to do this and that , haggling airport attendants where to go, where is this and that, with luggages in tow! Asar na si Lolo ha!Then 3X you do it as we are on delayed flight.
Passport control for my passport is always a delay plus plus. With Michels' passport, maroon color, they just look at his picture,expiry date, and voila, passed.
With mine, I presented the Titre de Sejour,(residence card stamped on passport) the control immigration would look at it, cant read in french, would ask me my Schengen visa , I said none, I got résidence in France, then he would looked again in my name, photo, then, as it is still my maiden name ,asked me again, and it irrittes Michel, would tell the person, we are married, and I have to show stamp of DFA that I am recognised as married to Michel ...etc etc...
Whew! What a lot of business. At the end I got three Madrid Barajas air port stamps because I was in and out of Madrid air port 3X due to these délayed flights. arrrgghhh!
Michel is slightly jealous because he wanted his passport stamped also, he likes proofs of travel, nyah nya yayayahhh… hihihi. But only "refugees'" passports needs stamps of arrivals, not his...
At the hotel in tryp diana, the réception asked us if we are "matrimonyo" ata yon? If we are married siguro and michel said what? A lady passenger translated to us, if we are married and need a room double or twin. Michel as usual would answer back, "of course, you want us to sleep in seperate bed, that's injustice!"
Those who speaks english in the queue laughed!
Anyway, the girl gave us a room in tryp, facing the views with terrasse.
Meanwhile Michel manage to speak properly: gracias and adios to spanish speaking people!
With given 12 minutes free phone calls,by Iberia, I try to call Phils. Not applicable!
Ngek, sayang.(oo, checky lola nyo, hihihihi)
I try to call UK, but, it was 12 midnight. My sisters in UK would kill me.
I try to call any of my friends in Monaco, Michel told me off, telling me, hey, you dont need to use that free 12 minutes,you know???!!! to whom do you call?
I said: Butler, annoy him with the telephone ringing, bwehehehe.
We watch na lang CNN, about the landslide in Leyte. Reminds me of the same landslide in Cherryhills year 1999.Poor people, another natural disaster.No one can escape natural disasters...When it happens, you are in the middle, you have it.
Comment nyo na lang about this, sino taga Leyte ?
Arriving at Geneva(Ginebra in Spanish, nobayan) at 9am,we cant find one of the bags we checked in. We asked from the Suisse Port office, and they found in their computer, Iberia will be bringing it at 2pm!
Fantastic.9am until 2pm ,wait again! Recommended ko rito Iberia, the best talaga!
We went to Easyjet Booth for a trip to Nice, none ,all seats full up, and the available will be tom. And if we take it, we pay 120 euros on top, plus hotel stay for the night somewhere. It annoyed us even more, we went marching,fuming mad to Iberia client service booth and they said, they cant do anyhting about it. We can scream at them, but nothing they can do.
We went back to Easyjet, they told us to go to Flybaboo Booth (SwissAir)we can take a flight same day to Nice. For 170 euros! We took it, than staying another night here in Geneva, pay a hotel, and meal and bfast.We decide it is the best,Michel is working the next day. We were book to Nice 5pm at last.
170 euros for two passengers. ARAY!
May reminders call na naman kami nito sa Bank Manager.
At 5pm departure to Nice, flight was cancelled! Fantastic!Bakeet! Michel was uncontrolable!"C'est pas possible ça!" angal ni Lolo. But, the girl said:
Nice was in big storm, the flight was confirmed cancelled at 730 pm. The flight attendants cant do anything as Nice airport do not allow plane entry as huge, flood, thunder lightning blocking the airport ! Total of 80 flights cancelled on and off at Nice Airport from 4pm !Feb 19,2006.
I called my sister,via my cellphone, she said its true, even her employer cant fly from London to Nice also.
Hmmmnn All hotels must be making good money that night eh, paid by the airlines, includes airline employees accom yan ha!Michel ever so cool(kasi nakabooked na kami, makakauwi na ng Nice) asked the flight attendant, to help us book a hotel na lang. She said, she can arrange us in Crowne Plaza hotel, 2 mins away from air port and a hotel shuttle willl pick us up, and she told us to come back at 8am tom Good.
Upon check in the hotel, the réception said, we dont pay, as flybaboo booked and pay for us, includes breakfast. But if we want dîner we pay at our own pocket.They require our visa card.Pwede na yon, kesa matulog sa airport.
The hotel is very impressive. Photos later, hintay lang ha? The breakfast is as fantastic as in Sheraton and Melia Hotels . I even met a filipina working there, have a little chat with her and Michel while she is doing her rounds at the lobby clearing lobby lounges.She said she is married to a Suisse and they are 5 filipinos working in Crowne Plaza Hotel, Geneva.
We were brought by shuttle bus to the air port at 7am, flight confirmed at 8:10 am.
Michel called his Boss, he cant make it today at work as we are stranded in Geneva last night. Boss didnt answer him back, must be stranded somewhere too!LOL
It was a memorable expérience having this trip. At first Michel cursing silently (to me) all air ports, planes, flight attendants, telling me next time he will bring his car to any travel in Europe. Ngek, can he bring his car in Gran Canaria,?
Lolo Michel, as a typical french , vents his frustrations:
c'est pas possible ça! incroyable! qu'elle embiciles! mama mia! bande des clones!courgette! bananes! etc etc. Ganyan magalit si Lolo. Dakdak! ako taga salo.He told me on one of his angry moments ,that he will not travel anymore by plane, he was put off, etc etc.yadayadayada...!
If not daw strike, cancelled! pilot is late...
