Things in the Sky

Parts:

1. Introduction/BOS-CDG
2. CDG-BCN and First Day in Barcelona
3. Figueres and Girona (and Some Barcelona)
4. Barcelona
5. Montserrat and Valencia
6. Valencia and Madrid
7. Madrid
8. Segovia, El Escorial, and Madrid
9. MAD-CDG and CDG-BOS

Well, for the final time, Matt and I awoke to some random ringtone on his iPhone. It was a funny choice at the time I think, but I completely forget now. It was pretty early – I think we got up before 5 to get to the airport. The whole group, exhausted, slowly made our way down to the lobby/loading area. For one reason or another, this process took a long time, just like getting up to the rooms did a couple of days earlier. I think the process involved two elevators or something.

Either way, I was happy to say goodbye to the “Oats-a-no-no” (read earlier installment for an explanation) and its paper-thin walls and physical keys that we had to get at the desk (though, I guess this method has its perks, as the staff at the hotel in Barcelona seemed to make extra room keys with basically no questions asked). But, at least the staff made us ham sandwiches, but I don’t think I ate mine.

Anyway, we got on the bus, and once again, trying to sleep was an excercise in futility. I just get too excited about plane trips, apparently. On one hand, I was sad to be ending this trip, but on the other hand I was looking forward to another 747 ride.

We got to the airport fairly quickly, and the airport was very quiet, though our check-in process was a bit screwed up. I forget exactly what happened at this point, but I think our tour guide said we couldn’t check in, but apparently we could. What I found odd was that the Air France line listed the day’s flights and said what time people could begin checking in. Just something I had never seen before. But once that was sorted out, everything went smoothly and an Air France agent did a fantastic job of taking care of us. I noticed a weird coincidence on the boarding passes that our departure gates at both Madrid and Paris were E70.

After check-in it was time to go through security, which was a bit of a walk to get to but was pretty painless. Then, we got to the terminal. Unfortunately, it was still pretty dark so I couldn’t see that much, but I was pretty excited to see that our plane lacked the distinctive “tortilla chips” on most A320-family aircraft. I was going to fly on one of the few remaining A320-100s!

Meanwhile, I was talking about the rest of the trip with my friend Adam, and how I was disappointed I would be on the main deck of the 747 again, but then he pointed out that my boarding pass was for seat 63A. I really wanted the upper deck the entire time, and when I got a boarding pass for a seat up there, I completely missed it!

Air France Flight #2301
April 19, 2008
Depart Madrid (MAD): 8:16 AM
Arrive Paris (CDG): 9:56 AM
Duration: 1:40
Aircraft: Airbus A320-100
Seat: 26F

Soon, boarding began, and I was excited because I received 24A. For all four flights, I had scored a window seat! But, I noticed that the husband of my Spanish teacher (one of the chaperones), was in the aisle seat so I ended up moving. That way my Spanish teacher and their daughter could have the whole row, so I moved back to sit with my friends Ryan and Dan, and they let me take the window in row 26. Anyway, we soon taxiied and were off, only a few minutes behind schedule.

It was overcast in Madrid, and I love taking off when its cloudy. I just love that moment when one breaks through the clouds and its sunny – it’s absolutely one of my favorite moments in flying.

Breakfast was served. Some yogurt, a sandwich, and a croissant. Not bad.

Soon enough we were descending and landed. I was recording the landing, but was rudely interrupted by Dan and Ryan, who were mocking my airplane geekiness, so I never finished recording. We ended up landing a few minutes before 10, which was a couple of minutes ahead of schedule.

Cool taxiway!

A few minutes later we were parked at terminal 2F next to a KLM 737.

Then, it was time to get our passports checked and make our way to Terminal 2E – though, if my research (i.e. Wikipedia) is correct, we were departing from a new part of it that had opened in 2007, and in my opninion, is its own terminal (in fact one part of the AF website refers to it as Terminal 2 Hall S3). Things were going swimmingly when two of my friends noticed that they had left their passports on the flight from Madrid! So, my Spanish teacher ran off with them to retrieve them, and the rest of us continued the process. I was happy because the agent stamped my passport, which wasn’t done a week earlier.

Our next hurdle was getting to security. Like I said, 2E is essentially two terminals, so there were some nice Air France agents who were directing people the right way. When they asked our destination, my friend Harry considered saying “you know, land of the free, home of the brave,” but figured that this would not be the smartest idea. So, we were in the right direction and then it was time to wait for security, which took a long time because only one lane was open! Eventually, a couple of other ones did, though. Once I reached the head of the line I realized what was taking so long: the agent was basically interviewing each passenger, asking what each of them had with them and indicating what had to be x-rayed and so on. While this process did take a bit longer, it probably is helpful for travelers who don’t fly that often. It was just very different than my security experience last time at CDG.

Once that was taken care of, we had to take the train to get to our gate. The train ride was incredible for me, as I enjoyed seeing so many heavies going to so many different places. I was going to take a video, but there were some French military members (with automatic weapons, no less) onboard, and I figured taking a video might not be the best move at the time.

Now, to be honest, I may have screwed up the order of events here. The security check may have come after the train ride, but I think I got it right. If anyone has transferred at CDG before thinks I screwed up, let me know!

We arrived at Gate E70, only to find that it had been changed to one at the other end of the terminal (I think it was in the E50s, but I’m not sure). There was some time before the flight, so I called home, and purchased some incredibly overpriced pizza. But the best part was just watching planes. The terminal had very high ceilings and lots of glass (no idea why I didn’t take any pictures of the inside), and it was just great to watch for awhile.

Caught the beacon!

Bonus points if you can spot the tail that’s out of place.

Air France Flight #332
April 19, 2008
Depart Paris (CDG): 3:05 PM
Arrive Boston (BOS): 3:49 PM
Duration: 6:49
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400
Seat: 63A

Eventually, it was time for boarding, which was running about 20-30 minutes behind schedule, but it was great to walk down the glass jetway and just admire the 747.

Last picture I took from the terminal.

When i got onboard the flight attendant indicated to climb the stairs, but I really wasn’t paying attention and just sprinted up, and I plopped into seat 63A. At first I was next to someone else at the aisle with an empty middle, but a flight attendant quickly began moving people around and moved him, and put my friend Jay and one of the chaperones next to me. I’m very glad I got into the upper deck, as I had bugged everyone about how much I wanted to, and even annoyed my Spanish teacher about getting my confirmation number for online check-in (didn’t happen) .

The upper deck is definitely nicer than the main deck, and if I recall reading FlyerTalk correctly, the seats are often meant for elites. The seat pitch is supposedly a bit better and the cabin is much smaller (60 seats in a 3-3 configuration), which meant much faster meal service. Meanwhile, the seats have personal TVs! It’s not on demand, but definitely a plus. There are also storage bins along the sides of the cabin, which is great for people in window seats as they don’t have to disturb two seatmates to use the overhead bin.

Things were taking awhile, and I looked and saw there were still people waiting in the jetway as we were nearing our official departure time of 1:40. Soon, it was announced that we would be delayed for awhile. Apparently loading the aircraft was taking longer than expected. The flight attendants did a great job and soon started pouring water for everyone and the IFE was turned on as well. I really couldn’t care about leaving late. I was sad my vacation was coming to an end and wans’t looking forward to getting back to school.

Eventually, we took off a bit after 3:00 PM. We were supposed to leave the gate at 1:40 PM, so it wasn’t a huge delay.

Soon enough menus were distributed:

Cucumber and tomato tartare with goat cheese

Choice of main course:

Chicken fricasse served with blanquette sauce and rice with carrots, or -

Ricotta cheese cannelloni with tomato sauce and spiniah

Camembert cheese

Wheatmeal biscuit

Berry cheesecake

Coffee and tea

I went with the chicken and really liked it.

Then, it was time to settle in with the IFE. One of the movies playing was The Kite Runner, and I went with that choice as I was going to be reading the book in my English class soon. There was also a very interesting documentary on Marco Polo.

Getting there…

Cool view!

As we neared Boston, a light meal was served. It was just a ham sandwich and some other things, but it was nice.

If I tried hard enough, I could see the engines!

Nice view of the skyline.

I’m not sure when I’ll fly a 747 again, but I hope it happens soon!

We got off fairly quickly, and customs was very easy to deal with. Soon we hopped on our bus and drove back to school. What a week!

Well, I hope you enjoyed my first uber-detailed trip report. I really enjoyed writing this one and it seems like some of my friends who took the trip with me enjoyed reading it. Overall, I’m glad I took this trip, as I think it was perfect timing. I was old enough to understand and appreciate what I was seeing, but at the same time I will still in high school and had very little responsibilities. Seriously, I was just about done with high school and college was still a few months away. It was just fantastic to spend a week with some of my closest friends. Plus, I think doing one group trip abroad was a good way to get a taste of international travel before I start doing more on my own.