Where is Fish?

Well I finally made it to London....

...And if you thought that was it for my bad luck, read on..

The day before I was to leave Barcelona, I decided to make sure that I could get to the airport the next day. So, first I looked at my print out of my plane ticket which read "From: Girona Barcelona, To: London Stansted." And I thought; "Girona Barcelona? why would they put the name of the airport and not just "Barcelona", perhaps there are 2 barcelona airports.."

So, I went up to information and asked them; "Hello information, I was wondering if there was more than one airport in Barcelona" me says, and my reply was ;"No sir, there is only one airport in Barcelona", "Oh Ok, could you tell me how long it takes to geet there by train?, please kind lady" says I, (and yes I did say "Geet" and not "get"). She says; "Aboot 45 minutes, here is a timetable." And I reply, "Thank you kindly, and good day to you" And she says "No problem, Be seein' y'all" (or something similar to that).

So chuffed that I have worked out how to get to the airport, now all that was worrying me is how I'll pay for the train ticket. But, that afternoon, whilst looking through my bag, I find my 10 trip Barcelona travell card that I lost on the first day! Horay for losing things before they can be stolen so you can find them again later!

I felt quite good then, having worked out how to get to the airport, and having the means of getting there, so I went to sleep.

The next moring I awoke, (after an awful night sleep due to shouts every few minutes, construction noise that doesn't cease through the night, and the intolerable heat.), had a pitiful breakfast, and told my story of theft and how I was travelling to London with only 20 Euro to my 2 new roommates. They were so nice to me that they gave me 10pounds so I wouldn't starve to death after getting off the plane.

-A big thankyou to Jen and Jennifer from the USA-

So now, with a bit of money in my back pocket, I thought my luck had changed. I was ready to leave Barcelona!!
So, me says my goodbyes and gets on the train to the airport.
Arriving at the airport, I see a problem. -There is no "Ryanair" desk. (the name of my airline)
So I ask another information; "x'scuse me miss information, why cannot I be seeing my airline desk, and why aint me flight on the board?" To that she took the print out of my flight and said; "You are in the wrong airport. You need to be in Girona airport." I say, "Where that?" she says; "Aboot 90 minutes by train in the other direction from Barcelona." I stare at her blankly for a second. She continues; "You've missed your flight."

So it takes a few moments for it to sink in. Ive got 20euro, 10 pounds, no food, no accomodation, no plane ticket, and Im trying to get to London to meet up with Dave and my Credit card.

No worries, says I, and I put my thinking cap on.

I take the train back to the hostel and plead if I can use the free internet again even though Ive checked out. They say Its ok, and so i get the freecall number from VISA and check plane flights. They are all expensive. I check my email to see that Dave has bought me a ticket for a Drum'n'Bass event in London on Friday night. Hmm. I think. A deadline. I must get to London before Friday.
I ring VISA and request emergency cash. It takes 4 hours, but I get 200 Euro thinking it would be enough. I ponder staying another night in the hostel.
Chris, an Aussie guy I met in the hostel says; "If I were you I'd go to the airport. See if theres any cheap flights going tonite or even tomorrow morning." So, thats exactly what I do. I go to the airport that night.
I get to the (correct) airport at about 10:30pm that night.

"No theres no flights tonight. No theres no such thing as getting on a spare seat if someone doesnt turn up. Youll have to buy another ticket." The early morning tickets were 160euro. The 2pm tickets were 130 euro. All other tickets up to the next week were 160 or more. So I buy a ticket for 130 euro.
So I'm at the airport at 10:30pm with a ticket to leave at 2pm the next day. What to do.

Sleep at the airport!!

Surprisingly there was a lot of people doing the same thing. I padlocked my bags closed, padlocked my bag to a seat, unrolled my sleeping mat, and slept across 3 seats. It was actually quite comfortable.

In the end, I get my flight the next day after nearly spending all my money on expensive airport food, get to london, get to the campsite, explain my situation to the camping people, and they've let me stay till my credit card comes back.

Phew.

Well Im glad thats over.
On a brighter note, Im going to Fabric (a club) tonight to see some wikkid Drum and Bass. Should be awesome.

posted by Fish @ 10:57 AM