Parts Unknown... NOT.. A CANCELED FLIGHT .... Fuerteventura to Malaga by slow boat

5:45
Sleeping more would be nice.... but that is the price to pay to see other places......

The taxi is there at 7:25

8 Euros for a 5 minute drive...... Good thing I took the bus this close to the airport ;-)

The airport is already packed !  Both Spaniards (well dressed & comparably pale) and a lot of British & Germans (large waist sizes, gaudy clothes, and BURN-tanning) are lining up at the check-in counters.
I have my boarding pass already, it's still 2 hours until my plane takes off, so I decide to get another small bottle of wine ;-)

200 ml of drinkable white wine cost 3.25 Euros...... ONE chocolate muffin costs 3.30 Euros... LOL  That's CAD$ 5 for a muffin........ I'll be in Malaga in 4 hours..... I'll eat REAL food there ;-)

Airportsmokers.com reliefs my smoking anxiety a little by informing me that Fuerteventura Airport has TWO smoking lounges in the secure zone....... yet another civilized country !


It's too bad that I'm not traveling to Malaga around Easter.   


 I've witnessed Santa Semana in Majorca when I was not even 10 years old...... 
it's one of those things I want to see again ;-)



























At 8:10 I suddenly realize that I might run into SOMEONE very soon..... if they took a taxi in Corralejo at 7:30, they'd be here by now.....  but I'm NOT particularly looking forward to the possibility of crossing the path of Senseless Fury again....

Isn't this a beautiful painting?

The airport is BUSY but security has a waiting line of 2 minutes, LOL, are you listening YVR?

Oh, what a DIVINE outside smoking and eating area.

It's still half an hour until boarding, so naturally I can't resist when I walk by a Tapas counter and a wine cooler....

I AM in Spain, after all...... I'd be STUPID if I didn't sample the local culture and cuisine ..... and being slightly inebriated during the 2 hour flight won't hurt either....

9:00
The boarding call on the P/A system:  Gate 9:

NOTHING is moving at the gate though....

....the departure time of 9:35 passes..... NO ONE explains what is going on...... after all, passengers are just CATTLE about to be loaded onto a flying rail car......I seem to be the first one having a nap on the floor.....

 ....but others soon follow.

10:00
FINALLY, an announcement: the flight is delayed due to 'technical problems'...... expect another announcement at 10:30..... 

I think Vueling will be one of those airlines I will avoid like the plague in the future ;-)

Is it any wonder that I HATE airports?

10:20
There is an e-mail from Vueling telling me that my flight is delayed, LOL. The e-mail arrives 45 minutes AFTER the scheduled departure time......

10:25
I might as well consume another Tapa (in retrospect: airport tapas SUCK) & more wine...  

...after all I'm the land of Pinchos and don't have to eat at a Milestones .....

I'm not really in a rush, just bored.   And given what happened to that Lion Air flight last week (that plane was ONLY TWO WEEKS old), I'd rather have Vueling fix whatever the problem is PROPERLY, even if it takes another hour !

10:40
An announcement:  My flight is delayed for technical reasons..... more details will follow in 55 minutes...... 

I'm starting to wonder whether I should just book that hotel at the beach again and book another flight tomorrow ..... BUT there are NO direct flights to Malaga tomorrow or the day after .....  I'm NOT flying 10 hours through Barcelona or London Stansted..... the next direct flight is not until Thursday ....  so I wait ...

11:05
WHERE DID THE PLANE GO?  It's NO LONGER outside the window!  Did they tow it to some hangar for repairs ...

People are crowding around a service desk...... there is another e-mail .... ONLY in Spanish........ problemas technicas ..... vuelta reprogramada por manana.....
The plane will fly TOMORROW........ Should I wait ANOTHER few hours to get a 6 Euro breakfast coupon and have the airline give me a hotel voucher for some horrible hole?

I QUICKLY book my room of last night again...... find the exit from the secure zone.... hop in a taxi (it is the SAME driver as this morning ;-)  and at 11:55 I am BACK IN MY ROOM, LOL.   Unfortunately, they already finished cleaning it..... which means that the left-behind corkscrew is gone ;-(.... that's ok, they will have one in the bar ;-)

The other unfortunate people are probably STILL waiting for their vouchers at the airport.....

12:20 Sink laundry has been done and hung outside.....Time to walk to the gas station again....... Need wine & munchies!

A cute Asian-descent bartender pulls the corks..... the strange yellowish colour of the wine already makes me suspicious......YUP, the wine is OFF.

I don't know how people can AFFORD to take their vacations here.... In 10 days in Europe, I've already spent the same amount of money as during 6 weeks in Vietnam....  and I was living it up in Vietnam !

I MISS VIETNAM

13:15

19:30

Am I tired or hungry?

The GOAT meat burger will help me decide.

Alas...... No hay !  (Memories of Cuba ;-)
A veal burger instead then .... 


While I wait, I start reading the news .......

BC Liquor Stores rolled out a new Premium Liquor line.... including a $30,500 bottle of 50 year old Whiskey....... There are LINE-UPS in front of the stores for this   (NO, you didn't miss a happy news-release; children are STILL STARVING on this planet).

That's enough..... I stop reading the news...


The food is here.....OMG, NO!

As if the HUGE meat patty was not enough, they added ham & cheese & a fried egg.  It's coming by service elevator from the fancy restaurant upstairs..... and it tastes GREAT .... but it's just too BIG !

4:10
I don't need the alarm clock to wake up..... it's time to finally get off this island today..... 

5:25
A moment of panic when it looks as if my rescheduled flight was cancelled again...... but NO, it's still supposed to leave at 8:10.....

I check out and pay at 6:05....... there is no receptionist on duty, just a security guard who only speaks Spanish.   I get the right change but have to ask "un papel que dice que yo he pagado?".   I get a HAND-WRITTEN receipt and I'm not sure that he entered the payment into the computer ......

I'm at the airport at 6:15
THERE is the bus delivering all the others of yesterday's stranded flight. I would HATE to suffered their fate.  They must have waited HOURS for hotel assignments and organizing a bus to take them there....

But WHAT THE FUCK is THIS?

The plane was supposed to take off today at 8:10..... now the display board says 9:35 again...... My boarding pass still says 8:10...... so WHY am I here this early?   THREE HOURS to wait until that plane takes off?   IF it actually takes off today........

Toi khong vui !

7:15
Wine & Palmera for breakfast.... 
at least they have a smoking section here ;-)





The display boards now seem to agree
........ 
the plane is scheduled to take off at 9:35..... 


FUCKING VUELING! 

...... I could have slept 2 hours longer ....











In the News:

The latest on the Central American Migrant Caravan..... These people are WALKING from Honduras to Mexico to the US.   Repeat:  WALKING.   Most North-Americans can't even walk around the block without feeling weak.   
If the migrants WALK almost THREE THOUSAND friggin KILOMETERS for a better life, just IMAGINE how hard they would WORK once they get there .....



Better to deport some FAT LAZY Americans to Honduras instead of not letting the Hondurans into the US. 


Some FAT POTUS with funny hair and a severe problem with telling the truth comes to mind as someone who should try living in Honduras !



8:45
The display board says boarding is at 9:10 but the P/A system just called us.   UTTER chaos at the boarding gate..... I'm getting a headache from all the incompetence....

..... but the plane actually starts moving at 9:35.

I'm still shaking my head at how Google Maps assigns those flight prices....
I'm paying 1/3 or that price tag for my flight !
Maybe the Google price is for a plane that takes off on its FIRST attempt?

2 hours later, interrupted only by a 20 minute exhausted nap, the plane touches down in Malaga.

The Airport is a Walking Nightmare...... but finally I step out the Exit Doors, light a cigarette, and find myself looking at the Airport Express Bus A.   3 Euros for the ride to Centro de Ciudad, from where it should be a 3 minute walk to the rental agency.....  NICE TOUCH ;-)

Parts Unknown:   I am in Malaga !
.....