Last Piece....For Now

The other day I asked Jaime to start scouting for a place for me to stay near where he lives outside Barcelona.  I said I only had two requirements - a private bath and wifi.  He found one that fit those requirements (and my budget) - a Holiday Inn Express in Montmelo.  It looked nice, came with breakfast, and had wifi for a charge (no idea how much).

Listed nearby, though, was a Sidorme.  I loved the one we stayed at near Granada, so I took a closer look.  It was about the same price, but wifi was free.  And I found I could book it without breakfast, which saved me $10/day!  (It is easy enough to grab something at a store to have in the room, though the breakfast there was really great.)  Then I noticed the coffee-making facilities in the room - and the indoor pool!  SOLD! I booked it while I was still chatting online with Jaime.  He told me that the area, near the Formula 1 racetrack, was now full of stores and coffee shops, so that will be perfect for skipping breakfast at the hotel.

I am getting to the list-making point for all of the little things that need to get done. I collected a half-dozen geocoins from other CIGA members to leave in caches, so I need to try to identify some caches that they might fit in.  I'm buying some sturdy walking sandals - a little safer than flip flops for walking around all day. I need to get with a friend to buy the leftover euros she has from a recent trip to Ireland.  I need some new tops and pants/shorts.  And I need to spend some time getting reacquainted with my camera and international cell phone.

28 days left!

Split Personality (an idiom!)

I really don't know how some people can plan those 8-cities-in-3-countries-in-14-days trips without completely losing their minds.  I mean, mine is only really 4-locations-in-3-countries-in-18-days and it's getting confusing.  I will be on four planes, in six airports, on three trains (seven, if you count the changes), and four buses (not counting the tourist bus in Barcelona).  And that's just getting there and back.
 

I will also be on a variety of metros, shuttles, and taxis (hmm, and maybe a boat, but we'll see).

Now I'm trying to look at guidebooks to see what I might like to see and do, keeping in mind that I am traveling with other people who have their own ideas, too.  (And wanting to squeeze in some geocaching at each location.)  The fact that the other people are in the UK and Spain doesn't really add any difficulty, since we have the magic of Facebook at our disposal.
 

But I have trouble focusing on one place or the other.  I am very much looking forward to Scotland.... but also to being back in Spain....and meeting new people at Vaughantown.  They are all so different.  And I already know that I won't feel that I have had enough time in any of them.

 

Those Numbers

.....you know, the ones you DON'T want to hear on the news.

Aug. 7  Virgin Atlantic flight 40  ORD-LHR

Aug.13  Ryanair flight 7823  PIK-BCN

Aug. 24  easyJet flight 5478  MAD-LGW

Aug. 25  Virgin Atlantic flight 39  LHR-ORD

Puzzle Pieces

Yep, the pieces are all falling into place.

 

After mulling over the choices and getting opinions from others, I decided to spend my last night near Heathrow instead of Gatwick.  That way, I just have a short bus ride between me and my flight, and I don't have to be up and out early, or wonder how traffic is going to be between the airports in the morning.  So I booked a National Express bus that will get me to Heathrow at about 8:00 pm.  Then I started shopping for hotels, and my price luck kicked in again. I found Premier Inn Heathrow Terminal 5 (to distinguish it from the other Premier Inn Heathrow on the same road in the opposite direction) on Hotels.com.  It was only $54, so with taxes and a 13% discount from Hotels.com, it comes to a grand total of $58.60!  There is even wifi (30 min. free, 3 GBP for 24 hours). 

 

Weird thing about Heathrow transport.  There is a Hoppa bus, run by the airport, that goes every half hour to all of the area hotels and costs 4.50 GBP.  But a few years ago, Heathrow banned individual hotels from having their own shuttles because it caused too much traffic.  In exchange for losing the shuttles, Heathrow subsidizes the public bus system that runs to Bath Rd, where all of the hotels are.  Those buses stop at regular stops instead of taking you to the hotel door, but they run every 20 minutes and are FREE.  Fortunately, Premier Inn T5 is right at the second stop, so it's a five minute drive.  But because I booked the NatExp bus before finding the hotel, I took a bus that goes to T3 instead of T5.  I'm not sure if the same bus goes to both, but if it doesn't, I can just get a free shuttle to T5.  Why do they offer free buses that compete with their own Hoppa buses?  Dunno, but free is a better price than 4.50 GBP!

 

I still need to book some place to stay near Barcelona, but everything else is done!  Now I can concentrate on looking at what I might want to see in each place, and checking out the geocaching possibilities.