May 31 arrived and it is time to go. We are flying Lufthansa to Frankfort and then connecting to Barcelona.
Covid 19 warnings
Holland America Line (HAL) notified us almost 3 months back that we will need to be fully vaccinated and have a negative Covid 19 test within 72 hours of embarkation. The final vaccine must have been administered within 6 months of departure or a third “booster” must be received to meet compliance. Masks aboard the ship are optional except when we are in the port of Greece where they are mandatory.
Lufthansa also notified us of similar requirements to board the plane. Same Covid protocol as HAL when traveling going to Germany and Spain. Masks are mandatory on the plane for the entire flight. Failure to comply can result in the airline or HAL the right to refuse boarding.
Many notices and warnings were sent by HAL and Lufthansa about the protocol. In the past week, it was daily.
Our neighbor Courtney picked us up at 1 pm and we were off for our 3:40 flight. Check in went smoothly. No warnings from the Lufthansa staff or any inquiring about Covid 19 documentation. Our flight left 40 mins late and I was worried about a tight connection we had in Barcelona for our next flight. The mask police were in full force on the flight. I received numerous orders to put my mask over my nose. I forgot that the virus is very aggressive on European planes. People piled on top of each other in the terminal sans mask is ok but when they get on the plane the mask becomes the symbol of compliance. Get with it.
We arrived in Barcelona late. I received a notification while we sat in the plane at the gate that our next flight was already boarding. We were in the very last row. We guessed that we didn’t stand a chance in making the next flight. It is in this kind of moment that everyone seems to be in your way. People were trying to get by us that also had connecting flights. It seemed that we were all in the same situation.
The line for customs in Spain was long. There were only three agents working in an area that could have had eight. Don’t they know we are in a hurry? Each of the agents had a very serious “don’t mess with me” expression on their face but I knew better from the years that Terri and I travelled together. She travelled a passport that had her maiden name on it. Her passport was valid because she correctly updated it to her married name but that information appeared on the very last page of the passport. The picture page that all of the agents looked at had her maiden name. They appeared to look intently at her ticket and at her passport. They didn’t match but did any agent notice? Did any agent go back and look at the last page? The answer? One. In the many years of travel, France gets the award.
I assumed (incorrectly of course) that all of the warnings about entering the country of Spain with the correct Covid 19 credentials would be met here. Nothing.
Once through customs we began to walk quickly to get on the next flight. The Frankfort terminal is massive. Of course our next flight is not in the B terminal, it is in the A terminal. Lots of very quick walking to the shuttle. We had to wait for the shuttle to arrive. It seemed to take forever. We did have plenty of time if we had to rebook a flight but who wants to spend the day in an airport? The shuttle came and delivered us to the A terminal. When we got off we began to run. Our gate was near the end of the terminal. The terminal was huge. When we got to the gate we saw the last three people boarding the plane. We made it. We boarded and they quickly shut the door. Back to mask police but we were on.
A two hour flight put us in Barcelona. Surely (don’t call me that) Spain would ask for Covid credentials after all of the warnings. Not a chance.
We met with the HAL transportation folks as we exited the terminal. We are always very impressed with how organized they are. We waited for about 30 minutes. The shuttle came, porters packed out luggage and we were off to the port. We received numerous warnings from HAL during the past few weeks about arriving at the terminal at the correct check in time but we had little control over that. Check in was a breeze. I can remember some Carnival cruises we took decades ago where we waited in line for a very long time as they processed thousands of people. Not the case here. We showed our boarding pass, had a photo taken, and finally showed someone our Covid 19 credentials. I think a note from my 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Haney, that read “Jeffery has been immunized” would have sufficed. The appearance of propriety is what counts. I worry too much. The HAL process took about 3 minutes and we were on board. Our keycards were in our mail slot next to our room. We are good to go
We weren’t in Barcelona long enough this time to hit something on our bucket list. La Sagrada Familia. I did speak with a HAL employee at the airport about this. She is writing a book about Antonio Gaudi and was very knowledgable about this church. Definitely worth going into. Tickets must be purchased online in advance. I could see the church from the plane as we flew in. Next time, I thought.
We did manage to play team trivia. I encouraged a couple to join us. It was actually a woman and her son. He just graduated from Med school and the cruise was a gift from Mom. They were from Ft. Worth Texas and proved to be valuable team mates. We did miss the question about the most expensive spice by weight, what cynophobia is and the year Facebook was launched …