Getting to Seville

There wasn't an easy way to get into Seville from the west coast. Flew on United Airlines to Barcelona. I was voluntarily bumped on my domestic leg and took the voucher credit for a future flight. I think this was the omen of what was to come. Dun dun dun.....On the bright side, I was able to use upgrade certificates to snag 1st/business class seats on the international legs of my trip. The trans-atlantic flight was on a two class Boeing 757 plane and I was curious how the seats would be configured. I was pleasantly surprised that the pod chairs were on the international leg versus the "wide" business class seats you see within the US.

My layover was in Newark which makes this the third time I'm visiting this airport. By going through Newark, the equipment used is from Continental's inventory rather than original United. In being on several Continental planes, I have begun to appreciate United's inventory more for international flights. With this particular layover, I was scheduled to meet with the Global Entry department. The United perk of the applicatio subsidy to Global Entry made this a very easy decision to opt into this program. I've also begun to get tired of the long lines at customs....

I greatly enjoyed my meal on the second leg of my trip. I'm also really happy to have had this meal given what was about to come when I landed into Barcelona.

Appetizer cart

Spanish themed - melons with prosciutto and smoked salmon

Catfish creole

 

From Barcelona, my options were limited to low cost European carriers. I opted to purchase my flight to Seville on Vueling via IberiaAirlines. After navigating Veuling's website, there were too many add-on fees and I became too confused on what is and isn't allowed on the airline. Since it was a partner airline with Iberia, I thought it easier to buy the code share flight and not worry about luggage fees. I also hoped that I would get credit on my British Airways frequent flier account.

Upon arrival at the Barcelona airport, the Vueling flight I was scheduled on was cancelled. The cancellation resulted in a five hour delay and an obscene amount of face time in the terminal. For those of you ever have to deal with flight cancellations with this airline, you are in for a treat. The board did not indicate that the flight was cancelled when I entered the arrival terminal. Once I waded through the 18+ lines and 20+ people deep to check in luggage, I was told to get out and go to the ticket office to reschedule my flight. In line number two, I was able to strike up conversations with my line mates since the line was at least an hour long to reach a representative. When I was able to get to the counter, the very official stamp on my email itinerary printout indicated that I would be able to fly out on a later flight. Unfortunately, it wasn't the next available flight to Seville and I ended up arriving into Seville around the dinner hour. After ticketing, I was able to repeat my luggage line check-in experience. The whole scenario took about 3 hours.

When it comes to cancelled flight and length of delay given, I was expecting either an explanation to the cancellation and/or compensation for the flight delay since it wasn't weather related. The harried representative didn't seem to know anything about the situation and was just typing in new information. I later went on the website to review the contract of carriage to verify the cancellation compensation before sending them an email. We'll see how that all goes....

Vueling did give me two meal tickets for the delay for three specific restaurants. The vouchers were not for a dollar amount but for specific entrees and one drink. I chose a pasta place in the food court and regretted the experience immediately. I used the second voucher and was able to get a passable sandwich. I was also introduced to papas bravas which is home fries covered with mayo and hot sauce. Given the combination of line waiting and bad meal option warrants a complaint to Vueling that will likely be ignored.

The first of many papas bravas to come

Once I was able to fly into Seville, I opted to take a taxi into the city. If the airport wasn't super crowded, I might have figured out the bus option. The airport cab fare is a flat rate from the airport to the city center for about 30 Euros. Finally checked into the Hotel Alfonso XIII and enjoyed the Spanish architecture throughout the hotel. Commissioned by King Alfonso to house the World Fair back in the 20s, the hotel was intended to be the most luxurious in Europe. If you read the Lonely Planet Spain guide, it is called ostentatious but I found it impressive given the detail of work involved. Whatever people's opinion may be, the hotel is centrally located for a tourist visiting Seville. Everything you could want was within a 15 minute walking radius.

Arabian influenced design in the hotel room

Bathroom

Lobby restaurant courtyard view from room

Met with family and had dinner at Giralda Cerveceria. My family had arrived a few days before and enjoyed a dinner at this particular restaurant. I was looking forward to having Iberico ham and sangrias. The table ordered a variety of tapas plates and liters of sangria. Like most European cities, the Spaniards enjoy their alcohol with their meal. You couldn't get away from beer or wind anywhere. A day didn't go by without sangria or mojitos to be had. The sangria quality was always good and even non-drinkers will enjoy a glass.

My first Spanish meal!

Afterwards, walked the city streets to orient myself to the city. You can see the history in Seville just by the architecture of the city. Turned in for the night to head out early the next day to check out the city sights.

Cathedral at night