If you haven't heard of Ryanair, it is a budget airline that operates in Europe. The service offers astounding air fares from as low as one Euro, but there's a catch. (Of course) First of all passengers are only allowed one carry on item free of charge, and the size limitations are strict.
Here you can see the size restriction on the Ryanair website. The other catch is that most airports that Ryanair operate out of are not major airports and they are several miles away from the destination cities. For example I took my flight from Barcelona to Pisa. The airport that I flew out of was actually in Girona, which is about an hour away from Barcelona. I had to take the bus there, and because my flight was leaving early I arrived a day early and stayed the night at a hotel next to the airport. It was a nice place, but I'll leave a review later.
Many reviews I have read about Ryanair tell of customer service nightmares and overbooked flights. Using Ryan air could be a gamble, but if you follow the instructions from their website the risk of something bad happening will be reduced a bit. The most important things to remember is to follow the baggage specification, be sure to bring the boarding pass you print out from your computer, and remember that you will be charged for any extra baggage. Rather then tell of other peoples experiences on Ryanair I will share my own, that's what I'm here for right?
I booked my flight online from Ryanair's
website and I bought a round trip ticket from Barcelona (Girona) to Pisa. The ticket was about 20 Euro each way (about 55 dollars) with taxes and surcharges I paid just over one hundred dollars all together. After you book the flight you have to print the e-ticket. You will need to go back to the website to accomplish the online check-in. This can be completed up to 14 days before your flight. You can do it from any computer. Like I said earlier I took the bus to the Girona airport and stayed at a hotel next to there. I have to admit that my journey going to Pisa was smooth. I made it through the security checkpoint without hassle and my flight was on-time. I had bought a medium size back pack especially because of the baggage policy. I was relieved to see that it fit in the measuring cage placed at the boarding gate. Aside from the overly expensive food the flight was fine.Things got interesting on the return trip however. I arrived back at Pisa early in the morning. It was cold and foggy. I did everything like I had when on the way over. I met some American students and decided to hang out with them in line. At about the time our plane was supposed to board an announcement came over the loud speaker. The announcer spoke too fast, and there was too much distortion over the speaker for me to hear the message accurately. From what I gathered from everyone around me is that the flight would not be able to fly out of Pisa and we would have to be bused to another city. After about a half hour I found out that we woul be shuttled to Genoa, which was about two and a half hours away. Now this didn't surprise me since I had read several reviews about such occurrences, and I didn't mind too much since I would have the chance to see some parts of Italy that I hadn't had the chance to see. The biggest inconvenience was waiting for everyone to take their seat on the bus. Everyone was talking and chatting as though they had nowhere to be. The bus ride was beautiful. I saw much of the of the snow capped appenine mountains, and we drove through Cinque terre which is a cluster of hill towns, with house covering the hilltops.
While most others were sleeping on the ride, I was wide awake looking at all the wonders passing me by. When we nearing our destination the hills gave way a little bit and we passed many riviera style beach towns. I was realizing that a return trip would be necessary to see the rest of Italy. I had only scratched the surface if that. We finally had arrived to Colombo airport in Genoa, and we had to go through the process of the security checkpoint once again. The upside is that it was sunny and a bit warmer in Genoa.
Once the process was over we had boarded our plane, and at last
I was feeling more than eager to be on my way back to Barcelona. I was
tired, and looking forward to some sunshine. We had finally received an official explanation of why we were moved to Genoa; Pisa was experiencing freezing fog, and planes can't fly through moisture in freezing temperatures. Alas, more problems before we were to depart. A man looked to be having chest pains, I thought to myself that we would be on the ground for another hour if he was having a heart attack. Thankfully he seemed to get better after a glass of water. Soon a frustrated flight attendant was able to finally get everyone to sit down, and we were off to Spain. Little more occurred on the way back, I was home free and back to what felt like home. So
Ryanair was definitely an unforgettable experience. Will it be the same for you? I doubt it, but you can expect some surprises and hopefully they will be no worse than what happened to my flight. If you would like to share your experience please leave a comment below.
I had returned to the train station in Bayeux, France with my hopes dashed. I had not anticipated that a security lock down would prevent local transportation from taking me to the American Cemetery, at Omaha Beach. When I got to the train station with my tail between my legs I saw an elderly man speaking with a teen. He caught my attention because in a foreign land your ears immediately pick up on the voices of your countrymen. This is one of the instances that the angel on my shoulder made itself known. Out of curiosity I approached the man and he was telling the teens that he had been here before, sixty years ago. Recognizing what a privilege it would be to get a first hand account about the events that took place, I eagerly listened to the man speaking. After he was done speaking I greeted him, and thanked him for his services. He told me that he brought his Son and wife along to show them where his company landed during the D-Day invasion. He told me that he had land with the 1st infantry division (The Big Red One) during that bloody day. When he asked, I told him that I was unable to make it to the beach because the transit was not operating. To my disbelief, he told me to join his family in the ride to the beach. I could never have imagined that I would be so blessed with such an opportunity. The amount of World War II veterans is receding quickly, so I could not turn down this chance to have an eye witness account of the largest amphibious assault in World history. I gingerly followed the man and his son to their rental and sat in the back seat with his wife. On the way to the beach we passed through the beautiful country side. We passed small villages, and large chateaus. Before we arrived at our destination we stopped in the village of Coleville-Sur-Mer. There was a small museum there dedicated to the First Infantry division. The owner of the museum had found all of it's exhibits while walking on the beach where the troops had landed. In the museum there were many articles from fallen soldiers; helmets, uniforms, and remnants from the battlefield. We soon left the museum and several minutes later arrived at the American National Cemetery, overlooking Omaha Beach. The main memorial service had ended so we were able to get in relatively easy. As soon as we parked I was out of the car walking through the cemetery. There was a small ceremony I watched with a veteran presenting a flag to fallen comrades. Soon after I made my way down to the beach, through a maze of the infamous hedgerows. I found the beach easy enough, but getting back would be quite the opposite. My guide showed me where his company had landed and he described the event in vivid detail.
is a link to where you can buy one. Also keep your passport safe. It is common knowledge that pickpocketing is one of the most common types of crime in Europe. I have never had a problem until one of the last days of my trip to Barcelona. I was coming back from a bar with a friend I had met at my hostel, when we were approached by a jubilant guy who seemed to be in the mood to celebrate. He told me "Let's do the Ronaldinho dance" being a fan of FC Barcelona, and being a bit off guard from having some drinks in me; I decided to humor him and partake in the ritual. He grabbed my arm in his and wrapped his leg with mine. We began jumping in a circle it was kind of fun- until I felt something going on in my pocket, and no I wasn't that happy to see him! What was happening quickly dawned on me and I caught him red handed. I took back my room key, cussed him out in Spanish and before we let him go we suspected he might have something else, but it was just some fake euros I had from people passing out fliers. This proved that it could happen to me, and it can happen to you too so keep your guard up always.
