Travel Home From Spain

Delta got me from Paris to Detroit to Omaha ... but not my bags.

It seems getting home from a trip to Europe is never easy. And when you are traveling near the holidays, it becomes even more complicated.

Today's venture home started off OK. I actually got a good (five hours) amount of sleep at the Valencia airport hotel before heading out at 5:45 a.m. Thanks to the tiny taxis in use there, my travel party of three (Ted McDonald and Amaël Moinard were also making the flight to Paris with me) was immediately split up. But I waited for Ted outside the terminal so he could check in with me, like last year.

Even arriving more than an hour before my flight, I sensed things weren't going to go as planned. For starters, the line to check-in was long. Thankfully, I have Sky Priority status. The line at security was equally as long – and there I had no Sky Priority line to speed me through. In fact, Amaël arrived much later than Ted and me and took a different line to breeze through before us.

Our flight took off more than an hour behind schedule, turning my one-hour-and-50-minute layover into one much tighter. And that's where my bags must have had a problem. Because when I landed in Detroit, my bags were nowhere to be found. This put a bit of a damper on the special "Sky Priority" baggage claim that Detroit has installed. Also at baggage claim: several Omahans who would be on my next flight.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that a rather large man sat next to me (in Economy Comfort) on my nine-hour flight from Paris to Detroit. Sitting next to me was more like sitting a third of the way into my seat. It was rather uncomfortable having his sweaty body pressed against my leg and shoulder. So much so that I complained to Delta and received some complimentary miles, which was nice.

My final flight from Detroit to Omaha was slightly delayed but we still arrived on time in Omaha, completing about 18 hours of travel. Here's the day in photos:

It was pretty foggy before 6 a.m. in Valencia.

This is what I faced when I arrived at security: a line that wasn't moving.

The line at security was absolute chaos.

It was still pretty foggy in Valencia more than an hour later.

I don't think everyone made the flight, even though we were delayed.

Photo with travel partner and lululemon yoga guru Ted McDonald.

The in-flight monitor on my flight from Valencia to Paris.

Getting from the terminal to the plane is always an adventure in Europe.

I love having Sky Priority status.

Here's the aircraft for my flight from Paris to Detroit.

Seeing the window open reminded me of TWA Flight 847, which was hijacked in 1985.

Heading Home

The VIP Lounge in Valencia was nearly empty. But well-stocked with chocolate milk.

Not many people on board the first of my three flights.

A long day of travel began at 2 a.m. when I woke up to watch the Santos Tour Down Under. Little did I know that this would mark a monumental day of monitoring races because later tonight – in the U.S. – I would be monitoring another stage of the race. Yes, two stages of the same race in the same day, due to the time difference. Who knew?

Anyway, once Stage 3 ended, it was a race to get the story written, audio files loaded and distribution performed. Scott Nydam was a huge help, moving my bags from here to there as I tried to finish my story while checking in. Thank goodness for Delta's Sky Priority lane, which hustled me through that process – and security – and into the VIP lounge to finish things off.

Then it was off to Paris where Scott and I did our best impressions of OJ Simpson, running from one terminal to another to get through security and onto different flights back to the United States. (He flew to Atlanta while I was going through Detroit.)

Dirty piles of snow greeted me in Paris.

I was seated in 11B for the eight-hour flight and the seat map online showed I (fortunately) had no one sitting next to me. Well, that is until a couple came on board and began eyeing the seat next to me. It was a strange thing. Was I sitting in their seats? Was one of them going to sit next to me? Were they getting the fact that I was shooting them back the evil eye?

Well, after they stood there for awhile and spoke to the flight attendant at the door and gone back up the jetway and back, the woman approached me and indicated she was going to sit in the window seat next to me. Okay, so I'm not going to have an empty seat next to me. Fine. But a few minutes later, in French, she told me her husband was up in business class and asked if I would switch seats. Switch seats with him? Of course, he can sit in Economy Plus while I enjoy first class service in the seat he paid for.

But there was a little something lost in translation. She wanted me to switch seats with her so she could have the aisle and go up and back to visit him. Uh, really? Whatever, I thought. I'll hunker down for eight hours with the bulkhead to prop my head against. But that scenario was short-lived because he soon returned and, not long after, whisked her not to business class, but to row 22 (not even Economy Plus) so the two could sit together. Strange. But good for me.

The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful. I watched three movies – including "The Town" and "The Muppet Movie" and three episodes of "The Office." Regarding the latter, I'm not missing much by not catching it weekly on NBC.

Will this all fit in my new suitcase?

Yes. And it made the weight limit, too.

Playing Catch-Up

Now this is food heaven. Friday night's dinner.
I'm a bit perturbed with Blogger and its new interface. It's old one was nothing to shout out. But enough about the issues that erased 10 minutes' worth of writing.

Today's entry focuses on food. I was able to enjoy a cheeseburger and fries Friday night after having my heart set on skipping that meal. Fortunately, I took a trip through the restaurant and discovered a veritable American meal right before my eyes. Yum.


Of the pictures above and below, can you tell
which two plates are mine from lunch Sunday?


Of course, the fingernails in one of the photos – and the shrimp – are a dead giveaway that that photo isn't one of my plates. Surprisingly, there was no rice for the taking for the first time since I arrived. (And believe me, I looked.) You'll see from the small photo at right that the offerings for dessert are pretty vast. Sundays are brunch days here at the hotel, complete with live music. It's a nice atmosphere. And it's only 30 Euro. (I guess that's a good deal if you like the food). Two more food pics and then I'll close the book on that topic (for now).

This was my dinner (and lunch) Saturday.

This was the birthday cake for Mathias Frank Friday.
A few odds and ends:

- Note to self: I need a new computer. My MacBook is about on its last legs. This one is from 2007. It's a workhorse, but yikes, it is sloooow.

- I made another trip to the Valencia airport this morning. I'm beginning to get used to that drive. And I got a few FourSquare check-ins in as well.

- The weather here is sunnier than yesterday, but not quite as warm. It's 63. Wednesday looks the best – with a high near 70.

- I watched a bit of the Barcelona-Real Madrid soccer ("football") game last night. Real Madrid scored 25 seconds into the match on the way to a 3-1 win. They love their soccer over here, as you might know. Like really, really love it. Like more than cycling. And that's a bit disappointing. But times change.

- Marcus Burghardt mentioned Princess Olivia in a tweet (shown below), which was really nice. I hope she likes it when she reviews her timeline.

An Early Morning

Smoke billows across the road from an open burn.
One day after one of the hardest days of exercise I have experienced at a training camp, I didn't make it to the next morning's workout session. That's because I offered to drive a few people to the airport in Valencia. I'll have to make up for it at the night session, I guess. Overall, my eating habits are good, though I snuck a can of pop Friday night to help stay awake.

The BMC Racing Team vehicle (caravelle) I drove has some type of funky satellite radio system that allows you to receive text messages. It kept chirping at me that I could send a message up to 64 characters (pictured at right) that was kind of annoying until I figured out how to turn it off.

The other thing I saw on my 90-minute drive (each way) back from the airport was an abundance of opening burns. Smoke billowed in some cases. The first time I took note of it was without any sign of smoke. I thought I was driving with the emergency brake on it smelled of rubber so much.

Also on the way back, a road was closed. That made for some fun, including a detour the GPS couldn't handle. Ultimately, I checked in with my buddy Chris De Vos, who steered me the right way.

Weather-wise, Friday was perfect (sunny, low 70s), but the weather Saturday turned a bit cooler (low 60s) with a lot of cloud cover. I'm not sure about the rest of the week. From what I understand, it's bone-chilling cold in Omaha. I'm not complaining about 60s or even 50s.

It's Saturday afternoon as I write this and I still have a ton of work to do. Let's hope the rest of the day is as productive as the first party.

Heading Out

The plane (at Eppley) we waited for to arrive from Minneapolis.
There is always so much to do when you know you're going out of town for more than a couple days. In my case, it seemed to be a race against the clock all the way down to the trip to the airport. It's also a good thing I double-checked my Omaha departure time because it was about 30 minutes sooner than I thought.

My rush to the airport (thanks for the lift, mom) was all for naught as the plane coming from Minneapolis was late. Snow in "MPS" meant my flight to the Twin Cities was about a half-hour late taking off form Omaha. We made up some time in the air, but it was hardly enough to ease my fears of not making my connection. Once off the plane, it was a brisk walk to the connecting gate and boarding my international flight to Paris. I made it with 15 minutes to spare.

Perhaps most interesting of the entire trans-Atlantic experience was 1) no filling out a customs card on the flight; and, 2) no questions in Paris about what I was going to do in Europe.

The flight to Minneapolis was full.

We had to de-ice before take off from Minneapolis.

Not sure what the green liquid is. Probably cancer-causing.

Once up in the air, we were greeted by sunny skies.

I told my mom I'd take a picture of dinner. It was good.

I tried to get a picture of this last time I was in Paris.

Compare this shot over Paris...

...to one taken just before landing in Valencia.


Check out how empty my flight was from Paris to Valencia.

Don't know if you can see it, but I got off the plane in the back.