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Leaving Sardinia
Jun. 2nd, 2025 04:56 amItaly Travelog #28
36,000' over the Mediterranean - Saturday, 31 May 2025, 9:30am
Today was an early morning for us. It's our travel day home from Sardinia.
We began with alarms set for 5:15am to prepare for a 6:15 shuttle ride to the airport. We'd packed last night so all we had to do in the room this morning was eat breakfast— with packaged food and some drinks we'd purchased yesterday— and toss the last few items in our bags.
I had planned 15 minutes to check out, which was wise because even though the front desk was just steps away from our room there was a problem with the bill. The resort basically charged us twice for lunch at the pool on Thursday. Except the second time they charged us the bill was even higher; they'd added someone else's drink onto it, too. I'm glad I allowed time to check it and argue about it, as the mistake was over $100.
The shuttle to CAG airport took about an hour. We shared the ride with one of my sales colleagues and his wife. We chatted amiably during the ride, discussing the highs and lows of the week's trip, comparing notes on what we'd seen when visiting Rome (they'd visited years ago; we went earlier this week), and talking about how the countryside in Sardinia resembles the remote Central Coast area of California. (Latitude-wise, Cagliari is a bit north of San Francisco.)
We arrived at the airport to find a different scene than we left on Tuesday.
The airport's not that huge. It reminds me of a high school gymnasium, if a high school gym were full of gift shops and food counters. But where it was quiet and relaxed when we landed on Tuesday, this morning at 7:30am it was a buzzing scrum.
If you told me we were departing a different airport than we'd arrived, I almost would've believe you. Almost, because I have too strong a sense of direction. But it sure didn't look like the place we landed. We roamed the upstairs concourse then headed downstairs to find a quieter place to sit for 45 minutes or so. Our gate was downstairs, anyway.
Another thing that was different about departing than arriving was that our departure was from the downstairs level. Downstairs we passengers walk across the tarmac to/from the aircraft and board/exit via stairs. On the way in we had a jet bridge connected to our aircraft. Ooh, luxury! 🙃 I gather the difference there was that we flew in on a not-bargain-basement airline. On the way out today we're on Vueling, which shares the space with RyanAir.
As befits an airline that lands its aircraft next to those from RyanAir— a European discount carrier notorious for nickel-and-diming passengers— everything about this flight other than getting from point A to point B costs extra. Selecting seats in advance cost money— which I'm glad Hawk wanted to pay for right after booking, because we were seated in 1A and 1C. Checking bags also cost money, as would have carrying aboard something larger than fits under the seat.
Even basic drinks cost money. You know those half-cups of soda we travelers often complain about on US airlines because they're just a half cup? Here they're a half cup and they cost $4. Oh, and there's a whole freakin' catalog of stuff you can buy from your seat. I don't know who wants to buy stupid shit at 2x-3x the normal price.
Fortunately we're not tempted by any of the food or drinks as we planned ahead to eat breakfast in our room at the hotel. This flight's just 90 minutes long. We're flying to Barcelona, where we'll have over 3 hours for a connection. We'll eat lunch there.
36,000' over the Mediterranean - Saturday, 31 May 2025, 9:30am
Today was an early morning for us. It's our travel day home from Sardinia.
We began with alarms set for 5:15am to prepare for a 6:15 shuttle ride to the airport. We'd packed last night so all we had to do in the room this morning was eat breakfast— with packaged food and some drinks we'd purchased yesterday— and toss the last few items in our bags.
I had planned 15 minutes to check out, which was wise because even though the front desk was just steps away from our room there was a problem with the bill. The resort basically charged us twice for lunch at the pool on Thursday. Except the second time they charged us the bill was even higher; they'd added someone else's drink onto it, too. I'm glad I allowed time to check it and argue about it, as the mistake was over $100.
The shuttle to CAG airport took about an hour. We shared the ride with one of my sales colleagues and his wife. We chatted amiably during the ride, discussing the highs and lows of the week's trip, comparing notes on what we'd seen when visiting Rome (they'd visited years ago; we went earlier this week), and talking about how the countryside in Sardinia resembles the remote Central Coast area of California. (Latitude-wise, Cagliari is a bit north of San Francisco.)
We arrived at the airport to find a different scene than we left on Tuesday.
The airport's not that huge. It reminds me of a high school gymnasium, if a high school gym were full of gift shops and food counters. But where it was quiet and relaxed when we landed on Tuesday, this morning at 7:30am it was a buzzing scrum.
If you told me we were departing a different airport than we'd arrived, I almost would've believe you. Almost, because I have too strong a sense of direction. But it sure didn't look like the place we landed. We roamed the upstairs concourse then headed downstairs to find a quieter place to sit for 45 minutes or so. Our gate was downstairs, anyway.
Another thing that was different about departing than arriving was that our departure was from the downstairs level. Downstairs we passengers walk across the tarmac to/from the aircraft and board/exit via stairs. On the way in we had a jet bridge connected to our aircraft. Ooh, luxury! 🙃 I gather the difference there was that we flew in on a not-bargain-basement airline. On the way out today we're on Vueling, which shares the space with RyanAir.
As befits an airline that lands its aircraft next to those from RyanAir— a European discount carrier notorious for nickel-and-diming passengers— everything about this flight other than getting from point A to point B costs extra. Selecting seats in advance cost money— which I'm glad Hawk wanted to pay for right after booking, because we were seated in 1A and 1C. Checking bags also cost money, as would have carrying aboard something larger than fits under the seat.
Even basic drinks cost money. You know those half-cups of soda we travelers often complain about on US airlines because they're just a half cup? Here they're a half cup and they cost $4. Oh, and there's a whole freakin' catalog of stuff you can buy from your seat. I don't know who wants to buy stupid shit at 2x-3x the normal price.
Fortunately we're not tempted by any of the food or drinks as we planned ahead to eat breakfast in our room at the hotel. This flight's just 90 minutes long. We're flying to Barcelona, where we'll have over 3 hours for a connection. We'll eat lunch there.
