We managed to get a flight to Savannah, GA. We were at the top of the list and there were only six of us on the flight, along with a large, dismantled helicopter. It was nine hours of being chilly and wearing hearing protection. Tomorrow, we will catch an early flight to Houston,because it was much cheaper than flying to San Antonio. We’ll drive a rental car to San Antonio and pick up our car at Bill’s mom’s house, along with our two troublemaking dogs. Looking forward to seeing them and writing up this trip.
Tag Archives: Space A
Interesting day… But we ate Domino’s Pizza for dinner!
We just weren’t in the mood to go hunting for a lovely and expensive meal. We had beer and then picked up a Domino’s Hawaiian pizza.
We went to the city of Lyon hoping to find really good food. We did have a nice lunch at yet another Irish pub… But it was a rather American meal. I had a cheeseburger and Bill had a “jacket potato”. I’m tempted to rip off the soap in our hotel room. It smells great. But that would be theft, so I won’t do it…
This, even though I got the stink eye from a French lady and yelled at by a crazy street person today.
Riding the train back to our northern Lyon suburb was odd. We ended up with a bunch of very young French guys who seemed clueless. I felt like a den mother in a French frat house. There were about six of them; the train was full, so they were eager to claim our seats when Bill and I got off after two stops.
Arrived in Germany…
Now I’m jet lagged and on the rag. Sometimes menopause seems so appealing to me. It’s nice to see Germany again, though. I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed trees. San Antonio has them, but they’re kind of small and scrubby.
Our flight was full and there were many families with kids. As much as I thought I wanted them, now I see why it’s good we don’t have them. At my age, maybe I’m too old and cranky to appreciate them.
Bill and I landed at a hotel just off Ramstein. It’s popular with Americans. He’s already talked to a guy who works at SHAPE in Belgium. It would be great if this trip turns lucky, but I’m not holding my breath. I’m wide awake at 12:16am, after being totally exhausted earlier. We need to decide what we want to do while we’re here.
I want to go to France. Wine helps soothe the menstrual beast.
Made it…
Flying to Germany from Baltimore tonight. We were #5 on the priority list for space A. In a couple of hours, I expect to be flying over the Atlantic. I will probably be a wreck when we get there…
We’ll see what happens.
Trying to make preliminary plans…
But now that there’s a leak in the roof, I don’t know what’s going to happen. Bill hasn’t said anything about when he wants to try to light out of here. Maybe this weekend? Who knows…
As nervous as I am about spending the money, we’d probably be spending it anyway. Bring on Ireland… or France… or Hawaii… wherever we can get. I need a vacation out of this shitty house we live in.
I think we’re gonna do it!
Bill and I have been talking and I think we’ve decided it’s worth it to risk a trip abroad. If we’re going to be broke, we’re going to be broke. Staying home in the meantime won’t change anything… and we may never get this opportunity again.
We were going to try to fly out of McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, but now we’re thinking we may have to try flying out of McGuire Air Force Base near Trenton, New Jersey. They have been offering flights to Shannon, Ireland lately, with 59 tentative seats. Granted, if we go to Ireland, we will probably have to fly out of somewhere else… either Germany or England.
I would rather fly out of England, since I do want to visit Mildenhall if we can. This is all still very tentative, though. We still have to arrange for everything. To complicate matters, we have to be around for a house inspection on the 13th. We don’t really have to be here for it, but I want to be… this house has some issues and I want to be sure to explain them. I also don’t want to leave the dead bolt unlocked while we’re out of town.
I am a little worried that we’re getting too close to summer and that may make things more difficult. The whole thing could fall apart, too.
In preparation for a potential trip to the Emerald Isle, I got a free downloaded guide, which has resulted in an Irish tourism firm trying desperately to get Bill and me to sign up for some tour program. Maybe we will; maybe we won’t. I really would rather just wing it. That’s where the best stories come from. I look forward to having more pictures to post here on my travel blog!
England next month? Dare to dream!
So Bill is about done with the Army and has until July 1 before he’s unemployed. In these last weeks, he and I have been thinking about going on another Space A trip. Once July 1 rolls around, he will be a retiree with less priority on Space A trips than he has now.
We both want to visit Ireland and there are regular trips to Mildenhall AFB that leave from McConnell AFB near Wichita, Kansas. If we can get to Mildenhall, it wouldn’t be too difficult to get to Ireland. We could just take a train to the Welsh coast and then hop on a ferry to Dublin. Of course, when it comes to Space A travel, one must stay very flexible. It could turn out we start this trip and end up somewhere totally different. Or it could turn out we end up nowhere.
Bill has a job interview this week. If it goes well and they offer him a position, we could take this trip as a way of saying goodbye to Army life. If it doesn’t go well, maybe we won’t… We probably shouldn’t spend the money. But travel memories are precious and can’t be repossessed.
It’s fun to think about it. I would love to take one last trip before we become civilians. And it seems fitting that we would visit Mildenhall, since that’s where my dad ended his Air Force career.
Hammam, carriage ride, funny bum, and way too much wine…
I booked our appointment at Aire for 12:00pm. That left us with our morning to wander around Seville. It was Monday and Bill was starting to fret about how we were going to get out of Spain and make it back to Texas in time for his leave to end at 11:59pm Texas time on Thursday, the 23rd. I, of course, was annoyed with Bill for not arranging for leave through the weekend. He later explained that he wanted to get to the office to take care of some stuff for a briefing with his boss. But as we watched the flights leaving Rota Naval Base in Rota, Spain, it wasn’t looking like we’d be able to get out of Spain in time for Bill to get home before his leave ended.
Breakfast!
Because Bill is hyper-responsible, he was super stressed out. So we went for a walk and ended up passing a bunch of guys with horses and carriages. One of them approached us and asked if we wanted to take a carriage ride. They started at 11:00, when the cathedral opened. I asked how long the ride would take, since we had the hammam appointment at noon. The guy said it took an hour. I said we’d have to do it in the afternoon because we didn’t have time at that point.
Alphonso XIII… A very expensive hotel…
As we headed toward the Guadalquivir River, we were accosted by a pushy woman wanting us to sign up for a Hop On, Hop Off tour. I was immediately turned off by her approach and also realized that for us, the bus tour would not be a particularly good buy, since we like to walk a lot. I listened to her spiel and finally said, “I don’t think we’re interested.” That seemed to piss her off, but at least we were able to cross the street.
We walked past the naval museum and along the river, then crossed into the beautiful park near the palace. Bill and I were engaged in conversation when I got bombed by a pigeon of some sort. Then I spotted some swans and ducks, so we turned toward there, just in time to see some guy hastily zip up his pants. Apparently, we had interrupted him as he took a piss.
Rental bikes in Seville…
Naval museum
We walked along the street in front of the palace, then headed back toward the hotel, so I could pick up my bathing suit. We went looking for Aire and, of course, got a bit lost in Seville’s narrow streets. I think we might have been a little late when we finally found the place.
Aire offers two hour sessions in which you can get massages or other treatments and soak in one of five pools or sit in a eucalyptus scented steam room. You’re supposed to speak in a low voice, drink lots of water and tea, and relax. It was just what Bill needed. Of course, it turned out that many staff members at Aire didn’t speak much English, so we had to rely on our crappy Spanish skills to figure out what to do. I actually could understand a lot of the Spanish, but my ability to speak it is almost nil now.
The outside of Aire…
I wasn’t completely understanding what we were supposed to do, but managed to get into my swimsuit and found my way around the peaceful facility. The lights were dim; there was relaxing music; and had it not been for a couple of chattering Spanish ladies, it would have been a very calming experience. Bill and I only got fifteen minute massages. I kind of wish I’d gotten a longer one, but I’d read on TripAdvisor that the massages weren’t all that great. I ended up with a pretty good masseuse, though. We rotated around the salt pool, jetted pool, and warm, hot, and cold pools until we heard the chime letting us know our time was up.
After we went to the hammam, we visited what turned out to be a chain restaurant called Robles. Once again, we ordered too much food. The restaurant was pretty quiet and I noticed a manager type walking around, looking like he was proctoring an exam or something.
Where we had lunch…
Bill’s avocado and goat cheese starter. I skipped this because I don’t like strong cheese.
My starter… fried prawns!
Bill’s beef and potatoes.
Chicken and garlic.
Dessert! Everybody loves a parfait, right?
After lunch, we took our carriage ride, though not from the guy who had asked us if we wanted one. Our driver did not speak any English, but we were able to understand much of what he said. He had a grey mare who seemed a little nervous in the heavy traffic we drove through. As he was pointing out places of interest along our route, the driver got a call on his cell phone. Bill and I chuckled, since the guy’s ringtone was a horse neighing. The driver insisted on taking pictures of me and Bill in his carriage. I’m grateful they mostly turned out okay. I hate the way I photograph. When we got back to the starting point, I managed to tell the guy that I used to have a horse. We bonded and he told me his mare’s name is Rosilla. I petted the horse and we went on our way.
That evening, we ended up at this great bar near our hotel. Bill and I wanted some wine, though we were still pretty full from lunch. Our server was a fatherly man who was intent on teaching me how to order shrimp fritters. I was enjoying the music in the bar, which was all from the 80s, so we sat there and drank a shitload of wine. The second bottle was from Jerez de la Frontera, which is where Harvey’s Bristol Cream sherry is made. The quality was excellent and the bottle wasn’t too expensive, but it packed quite a wallop at 15% alcohol.
I ended up getting pretty hammered… and when a bum came in looking for handouts, I ended up in a funny exchange with him. He flirted with me as a means of mock begging. I laughed in response and Bill gave him a couple of euros. Later, when he continued to engage, I laughed again and told him to “beat it”. He took his leave with a courtly bow. Sadly, I don’t quite remember the end of the evening… at least until we got to the hotel and my body kicked out some of the booze.
Information center…
There are buildings related to Spanish speaking countries in Seville…
Beautiful park
Swans!
Palace views!
Beautiful Seville by bullet train!
The morning of January 19th, we awoke to chilly, rainy weather in Madrid. Not wanting to hunt around for food, we decided to have breakfast at Pans & Company, a Spanish fast food chain that emphasizes “healthy” options. I discovered Pans & Company in 1997, when my travel buddies and I found it in Barcelona. It’s especially known for its bocadillos, sandwiches that Spaniards like eating as snacks.
I had orange juice, coffee, and a chocolate pastry. Bill had a more savory option. While we were in there, a young couple with a cute little daughter came in. I was heartened to see how her parents cooperated in looking after her. She was basically well-behaved for her age, but I could also tell she was a bit of a handful. For fast food, Pans & Company offers an inexpensive yet decent quality breakfast. It was a lot more economical than the 10 euro per person buffet the hotel was offering.
Eats from Pans & Company…
We checked out of the hotel and took a cab to the train station. I have to say, the Atocha station in Madrid seemed a lot nicer this time than it was when I was last there in 1997. We were there a bit early for our train, so we hit a wine bar and enjoyed a nice glass of rioja.
Nice palm garden at the Atocha train station…
The view from our table…
Bill enjoys his vino…
After we had our wine, Bill visited the one and only pay toilet we encountered on our trip. The train station had an automated toilet that cost 60 euro cents, but allowed you to go twice if you needed to. Of course, once we went through security to get on the train, I noticed there were free toilets. I guess they do that to keep the bums from abusing the train station’s public bathrooms.
I had taken the AVE train to Seville before and it was in second class. I remember it being a decent experience. It was this time, too. The seats were comfortable and our car wasn’t full of people. The 300+ mile journey was knocked out in about two hours and twenty minutes and we whizzed through beautiful Spanish countryside. I listened to music the whole way, enjoying the ride immensely.
Bill prepares to take his seat on the train…
We arrived in Seville to sunny skies and relative warmth. It wasn’t *warm* per se, but it was definitely not as cold and bitter as Madrid was. A cab took us to our hotel, Hotel Casa 1800, a cute boutique hotel in the Jewish Quarter. I promised Bill he would love Seville. It is my favorite Spanish city.
Bill’s first gaze at Seville…
After we checked in, we went across the street for a late lunch, where we were immediately confronted by a waiter who had obviously dealt with a lot of Americans. He was kind of pushy about what he thought we wanted. We had some cava and he was pushing a fish platter, but I opted for a meat platter instead, which Bill and I shared. It was actually very good. There was chicken, skirt steak, and pork, as well as salad. It really hit the spot.
Mucho meat!
We walked around the Santa Cruz area and I showed Bill the very no frills hostel Becky and I stayed in during our last visit. Then we ran across Aire, a hammam (Turkish bath). I had read about this spa as I was researching our Space A trip in 2012. I thought we might end up in Spain then. But then I forgot about it. This spa/hammam is located on a very secluded street. I knew I wanted to try it. Bill hadn’t brought a bathing suit, but the hammam provides them if you need one. I booked us an appointment for the next morning.
Camembert and strawberry sauce…
Tapas sized paella…
Potatoes and cheese…
Ham croquettes
Later, we went to another tapas place and ordered way too much food. We actually went in there because I needed to pee, but stayed because it was kind of an interesting place. A street musician came in and asked if he could play for money. He turned out to be kind of a funny guy. We gave him a couple of euros and watched as people went to mass. A large chapel was close to the bar and it was easy to see people come and go to church.
As we walked back to the hotel, I gazed around Seville at the bountiful orange trees that hung heavy with fruit. Some of the oranges had fallen and were smashed by passing cars navigating the winding, tight streets of Seville’s barrio. We passed Seville’s enormous cathedral and enjoyed the sights and sounds of mostly local people. January is a great time to visit Seville.
These tiles are all over the place in Seville…
The tower at Seville’s cathedral…
I had to take a picture of this… it’s kind of a Carlin quote.
Delayed and in need of rest!
The pilot announced over the loudspeaker that we had “an issue” that prevented us from flying. He sounded really annoyed, but didn’t tell us what the issue was. We had to find that out from a gate agent. The pilot was probably as irritated as the rest of us were as we went back to the gate. I got the sense that the delay was as inconvenient for him and his crew as it was for the families who were hoping to get home.
It turned out the pilots and flight attendant had been delayed for so long at McGuire AFB that they were overdue for rest. We could not leave BWI until the flight crew had a chance to sleep. Though I got the sense that the pilot just wanted to gut through it, I realized I’d rather he get some sleep than risk the lives of everyone onboard.
It seemed to take a long time to get the whole story and figure out what we would be doing next. Bill dealt with the officials while I collected our luggage and sat with the bags in the baggage claim. As I sat waiting, I remembered being boldly accosted just the night before by a bum who was looking for “coffee money” as we got our bags from our Delta flight. He was the first of many bums we would run into on this trip. Fortunately, he was easy to resist and no one else at BWI bugged me in that manner.
Finally at about 2:00 or so, Bill found me and said we’d been given vouchers for a hotel, lunch, and dinner. We were surprised we were being given the vouchers, since we were just on vacation and they were worth a lot more than the taxes we’d paid for the flight. It took some more time to get the shuttle, which took us to the Hilton right next door to the Aloft we’d stayed in the night before.
We were told to be back at the airport at 11:00pm and hopefully we’d be on our way by midnight.
I was slightly chagrined by the late departure, since I hate sitting up all night on planes. But I was already tired from being up so early, so Bill and I gratefully accepted the hotel voucher. We dropped our bags in the room, had a bite to eat and some beer at the hotel bar, then went back to the room. I showered and then crashed for a couple of hours. Surprisingly enough, a couple of the families opted to hang out in the USO lounge at BWI, which was very crowded with folks hoping for the Germany flight. The Germany flight was also seriously delayed, probably because we were. I would not have wanted to hang out in the USO lounge for anything because it was really packed with people.
The bar at the Hilton at BWI was a lively place. The bartender was a former Marine and kind of fun to talk to. We also got to know more of the Lajes folks, who warned Bill and me of the very dry wine made in The Azores. By the time we got on the shuttle to go back to the airport, we were kind of bonding with the Lajes folks. One very nice lady even offered to run us to the Air Force Lodging once we got to Portugal. That turned out to be a very kind favor, since there’s no easy way to get there on foot and as we were arriving on Sunday, no rental car place would be open.
The flight and welcome to The Azores…
The Azores are about 2200 miles from New York City and 900 miles from Lisbon. There are nine islands in the group and Terceira, which is where Lajes is, is one of the central islands. Our flight was bumpy and there was no entertainment. We did get a snack and a meal. The meal smelled horrible, so I skipped it.
We landed at Lajes Field at about 9:00am. After we disembarked, we entered the tiny terminal where we were greeted by all the base commanders. They cheered as we entered the hall and shook hands in receiving line fashion. A couple asked Bill if he was PCSing there, but Bill said we were just on vacation. A lot of people seemed surprised we’d want to vacation there, especially in January. But I am here to tell you that the Azores are beautiful. Even in the dead of winter, they look like Ireland.
One of the first islands of The Azores…
Welcome! Many of these people had simply come to the terminal to welcome people back to the island… or just to say hello to me and Bill, since we were the only ones there on vacation.
Our new friends very kindly gave us a basic orientation and took us to the lodge. They gave us their phone number and encouraged us to call if we needed anything. It turned out the woman was a teacher at the local DODDS (American) school, which was responsible for about 200 students in grades K-12. She told us there were plans to stop allowing families to go to Lajes. Seemed a shame to me.
We checked into Air Force Lodging– there it’s called the Mid Atlantic Lodge. The Air Force base is high up from sea level, so there’s a lot of wind and we could easily see the ocean as we made our way to our room. I think they even refer to Lajes as “the rock”. The enlisted/officer’s club is called the Top of the Rock Lounge and you get a great view from there.
Like most military lodging, our room had a sitting room, microwave, fridge, and TVs in the bedroom and sitting room. We guessed these had once been dorm rooms that were turned into visitor’s lodging. There was a free laundry room– you just had to buy the soap– and even though we were not based at Lajes, we were allowed to use the BX/PX and commissary. I was surprised to see that the inn itself stocked some interesting supplies, too…
They even stocked Vagisil…
Safety is always on the brain, even when you’re sitting on the can… This was posted on the door of a bathroom stall in the ladies room.
Bill and I had a quick meal at the bowling alley, which looked the same as it does on every military base I’ve ever been on. Local folks staffed the place. If I hadn’t been so tired, I might have bowled a few rounds. Bill and I used to bowl somewhat often when we lived on Fort Belvoir and in Germany. As it was, the food I ate at the bowling alley didn’t agree with me and I lost it fairly promptly. After a shower, I was ready to get some sleep and get into the new time zone… four hours ahead of Eastern.
Monday… a repeat of Sunday, sorta…
As it turns out, most everything is closed on Mondays on the base. We were not able to rent a car and the nearest town was a somewhat stout walk. It wasn’t actually that far away, but there aren’t any sidewalks and we had to dodge a lot of cars as we made our way along the hilly terrain. We stopped at the front gate to get passes so we could come and go freely. The wife of the AFN guy on our flight recognized us from meeting us in the terminal. She offered us a ride, but we needed those passes, so we declined. Then we started walking and ended up in Praia Victoria, a cute little town.
These are some of the things I saw as we walked.
The view from the Air Force lodging area…
A pretty field on the way to Praia…
Cows everywhere! No wonder the cheese in the Azores is so good!
Chickens!
He overlooks the town of Praia. We didn’t go to the top.
Winding through the park…
Fresco
Close up!
Water view… the water was actually pretty warm for January.
Underwear on the line!
A map of the area.
More dramatic water…
There were what looked like student made tiles on this Passeio…
Near the town square where we spent a pleasant couple of hours drinking Portuguese beer.
Mail!
Picturesque village.
You want American fried chicken? You got it.
This was taken with an iPhone…
So was this…
We patronized this bar because they like Americans.
Super Bock… one of several good Portuguese beers we drank…
Will write more tomorrow, when I’ve had a full night’s sleep. There will be beautiful photos.
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