What could be more relaxing than finishing off a week on a spa island with a weekend on a Spanish beach? That was exactly the plan when I got on the train to leave Norderney - the girls and I would ride the train to Cologne, transfer to get to the Cologne airport, fly out to Palma de Mallorca, Spain, spend all day Saturday and most of Sunday on the warm beach, and then fly back Sunday night with plenty of time to make it to class Monday morning. However, like every travel weekend this one would not go completely as planned.
When we got to the airport and were able to connect to the WiFi we had all received emails saying our return flight had been cancelled due to a French strike (still not sure what that had to do with our Spain - Germany flight but that’s beside the point). Our two options were to get refunded or book a different flight time free of charge so we chose the latter. The only issue was that the next flight left Monday morning, meaning those of us that had been scheduled to do a Bonn hospital visit starting at 7 a.m. would be missing out on a once in a lifetime opportunity. Knowing we couldn’t stay in Mallorca forever, we rebooked the return flight and sent all of our information to our program coordinator, Henning, who simply told us he would see what he could do. Stress was at an all time high. None of the airport restaurants were open so I was stuck eating a bag of gummies for dinner. I tried FaceTime audio calling my mom over the WiFi but the service was awful. I then texted my mom to tell her what was going on and maybe relieve some stress but her response was “Sounds like fun! Make it an adventure.” Finally, I gave up my futile attempts to vent and sat waiting to board the plane, put my headphones in, and sleep until we landed. Unfortunately, our Friday night RyanAir flight must have been a hot ticket because there were 3 or more groups of drunk men in matching shirts that joined us in the boarding line. We initially thought it was several bachelor parties, particularly due to the one guy wearing a penis headband, but the guy sitting next to Arianna explained that they do that just so they can find each other in the clubs. To top it off, their drunkness continued to increase throughout the two hour flight, as they never sat down, never shut their mouths, and never gave the flight attendants respect or even a little break. I was so heated when I got off the flight I just wanted to go to bed, but first we had to hunt down our shuttle and make the 30 minute drive to the hotel. After finding the guy from the hotel holding a sign with our names on it, we got in his van and drove out of the city, seeing nothing but darkness and a few road signs for a good 15-20 minutes. Just when I thought this man had pulled off the easiest kidnapping stunt with six girls in the back of his van, the resort appeared and we were good to go.
After everything that had happened Friday night, the weekend was a welcome break. We spent all day Saturday at the beach cove next to the resort, tanning/burning, reading, swimming, and relaxing. The sun was warm, the water clear blue and refreshing, and the company was genuine. For dinner we walked to Nix Naxs, stopping at the cliffs to take pictures and take in the vastness of the ocean from the side of this Spanish island. Since we had only scheduled to stay one night before knowing our flights had been canceled those of us staying in the resort had to pack up our things Sunday morning and go join Arianna and Elyssa at their hotel in the city of Palma. Once in the city we grabbed a coffee to wait for restaurants to open and then went to a restaurant by the harbor to enjoy the most amazing palleda I think I ever have or ever will eat. We then found a city beach and laid out for the rest of the day, using more sunscreen than we had the day before. Once the sun started to go down we mapped directions to get churros and walked a good 20 minutes just to find the store was permanently closed. So instead we went back to the hotel to shower and then planned to get tapas. By the time we had all freshened up we were very hungry and we only made it as far as the tapas bar next to the hotel. To our delight they had nachos and quesadillas on their menu. Unfortunately the nachos were Doritos with melted cheese on top, but the quesadillas were good and the atmosphere was fun so we enjoyed our time.
The Sunday night sleeping arrangements were yet another hassle. Initially it was going to be eight girls in a two person hotel room, but Jessika and Rachel got another room so we were able to fit a little more comfortably. We pushed the two twin beds together and laid four people across with two on the floor, settling in for a few hours before having to get up for our flight. It wasn’t the best sleep of my life as I was falling off the end and in between the two beds for the 3 or 4 hours we did get to sleep, but I survived and made it the the airport without any security hassles and with time to get a coffee. Of course, the trip couldn’t end according to plan (that would be too easy). So the plane was delayed for a good thirty minutes, taking away any time we would’ve had to eat lunch before class and putting us at the AIB 5 minutes late - but we made it! And despite my initial annoyance at my mom’s advice, it truly was a worthwhile adventure.
Sarah Bohac
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| Thanks Ryanair for giving me an extra day at the beach! |
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