November 13, 2022
We began our four week journey last Wednesday with an Uber to Dulles. I mention this only because our Uber driver was one of the most intelligent and informed people we have met in a while. She and her wife have lived here for several years and she had been working for NSA for three years and commuting from CT - nearly 2 hours each way - until finally finding a local job (in addition to the Uber driving). She knew a lot about the area and she answered a lot of questions we had. Great start to the trip!
Our check-in with United for our trip to Barcelona took about four minutes, smiles and professionalism abounded. Zipped right through security thanks to Clear and TSA√ and in a short time we were in the brand new United Polaris Lounge. This lounge is more like an international first class lounge than a United Club. It is open only to Polaris passengers, meaning business class on international flights with the Polaris brand. We arrived at about 3 pm and it was relatively empty so we were able to have a nice look around. Very spacious, lots of natural light and views of the runways. A marvelous bar with three really well trained bartenders and great wines, Champagnes, and beers on tap as well as cocktails. All top shelf! There is a restaurant where you can sit and order food and drink as well as a lovely buffet with hot and cold items that were very tasty, well presented and replaced often. By the time we left the lounge for our 5 pm boarding the place was starting to fill and it lost some of its magic as we noticed that most of the people were under 40, poorly dressed and loud. Nevertheless, a vast improvement for United.
The flight was on a 777 which is most spacious. The downside is that the only seats together are in the center of the plane's 1-2-1 seating arrangement and I hate not having a window. We were therefore condemned to sit apart one behind the other. The flight attendants took our orders for food before takeoff so that they could speed up the service and there were four main courses on offer: fish, chicken, beef and vegetarian. Cindy asked the FA what she would recommend and she said NONE OF THEM! Everyone within earshot laughed, and her honesty earned her a See’s Lollipop. She was correct, the food was not very good at all. They did have decent white wine from Spain, Albariño, but apparently only one bottle since when I asked for another glass I was told it was gone and it was replaced by an inferior white. I slept for four hours, and apparently - according to Cindy - through some strong turbulence. The flight was on time and painless.
We had a five and a half layover in Brussels so we went to their lovely Business lounge where we had the most delicious croissant outside of France. They have little rooms for napping so we availed ourselves of the opportunity for a refreshing rest. The beds are made for one person but we were comfortable head to toe. The room was far too hot and there was no temperature adjustment possible so we only lasted about an hour, but it was better than sitting up. We had a little breakfast and thanks to my scintillating conversation the time pasted quickly for Cindy!!!
The flight to Barcelona was on Brussels Air and was comfortable and quick. They even served a lunch which, as you would expect in Brussels, was excellent and served with real Champagne from normal bottles, not the little ponies. We retrieved our four - yes four - checked bags, grabbed a taxi and we were at the hotel in twenty minutes. It is a new hotel by Hyatt called Sofia and it is a beauty. Check-in was fast and fun, two young and friendly men (Cindy described them as very cute) who handled everything including upgrading us to a much nicer room than I had booked. We checked the two cruise bags to be picked up the night before the cruise the following week. Our cruise includes a room at this hotel before Saturday’s departure so I purposely booked the same hotel for our stay upon arrival in Barcelona.
To be continued….
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