This has definitely been one of the most complicated trips to get from point A (Phoenix, Arizona, USA) to point B (Barcelona, Spain). You might ask, "But aren't there direct flights to Barcelona from the US?" And you would be correct. But, like the typical missionary that I am, I can never choose the most direct route anywhere!
So, on Wednesday morning, I woke up at 4:45am (GMT-8) so that I could make it to the airport to catch my 8:30am flight to Charlotte, NC. So far so good. Relatively uneventful, and I even had an exit row seat, so life was going pretty well for my first 4 hours of flight.
We arrived in Charlotte, and I meandered my way through the airport to make it to my next flight. A relatively short hour and a half later, I was on my flight to Frankfurt, Germany (all 7 1/2 hours of it). And here is where the story gets fun. I managed to get a seat near the front of the plane, in the center, but on the aisle. And the next thing I knew, the flight attendants were closing the doors, and all 3 seats next to me were completely empty! That is right, I had the ENTIRE middle row of 4 seats all to myself! And the plane was not even that empty. I am convinced that someone somewhere was praying for me, and God decided to take pity on me for the beginning of my journey.
Only downfall? Yep, it was only 3pm back home, and I was expected to fall asleep this early in my journey? Not happening. Oh well, at least I was able to lay completely flat for the entire trip, even if I didn't end up getting any sleep.
So, after a relatively comfortable and relaxing flight, I arrive in Germany at 6:30am (GMT+1), which would have been great if that was my final destination. But, no luck. I had a 7-HOUR layover before the next leg of my journey would begin. Again, thanks to God's provision, I was able to find a seat that reclined and allowed me to put my feet up for a few hours. I even managed to get 3 hours of work done while I was trying to keep awake.
Then, at 2:30pm, I was able to board my next flight from Frankfurt to Zurich, Switzerland. This flight was only an hour long, and they made sure to serve lots of free swiss chocolate on the flight, so I was really happy.
After arriving in Zurich, I had another 2 hour layover before my final flight to Barcelona. The one redeeming thing about this particular layover was that the Lindt chocolate seller in the airport was giving out free samples of dark chocolate truffles. I am definitely a fan of flying through Switzerland if it means getting this much free chocolate! They sure do know how to make a chocoholic like me happy!
So, back on-board my 4th flight of the day. The photo above was taken on this flight as we flew over the Matterhorn. Since this was my first time in Switzerland, this is as close as I have ever been to the Swiss Alps, and it was a pretty incredible sight. After a relatively short hour and a half, I landed in Barcelona, Spain at 7:30pm (GMT+1)...so door to door, a little less than 30 hours of travel, but at least I arrived in one piece, and filled with chocolate!
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