July 30, 2022: Yesterday, Saturday was busy one…I checked out of my airbnb, gassed up the car, trained for 90 minutes at Global Tennis Team, had lunch in the car, then drove to the Mallorca Airpot (PMI).

The traffic jam should have warned me about the conditions at PMI. It was a zoo, so very very busy. I returned the car ok, not too long a wait, but it took a while just to cross the roads to the terminal, it was jam packed with people coming and going. The check in line at Vueling was long but moved very quickly, there were a lot of checkin desks open. Security was pretty quick too.

When it came time to go to the gate it was somewhat amusing in retrospect. The flight was delayed nearly an hour though that information never updated in the Vueling app or boarding pass. The gate assigned was 96…we all were there then an announcement was made (so loud my ears are still ringing) that we should go to 80…which the large group. of people quickly did…only to be told to go to 82. Then another very loud announcement…go back to gate 80! And the plane did finally leave from there…without any audible announcements regarding boarding. BCN/PMI flights and vice versa on Vueling other than at the start of the day are almost always late.

At baggage claim, there were a LOT of bags which were obviously lost…coming from JFK/NY and AMS/Amsterdam mostly. Big bags too, hopefully they are reunited with their owners. Mine came through on this leg ok fortunately.

I stayed at a hotel that was supposedly an airport hotel, but it was in Gava, on the beach, a nice interlude. I walked out to the beach and finally put my feet into the Mediterranean, which was really warm and lovely. Even at nearly 9pm there were a lot of people on the beach.

Next stop: Helsinki, Finland, then on to Hanko, Finland. Finland is an hour ahead of continental Europe. And a four hour flight from Barcelona. The weather looks dicey for next week, temperatures in the 60s which will be refreshing, but lots of rain forecast.