I have decided I am never going to travel again. It is way too stressful. How anybody can seriously say that jet travel makes life easy. I was totally stressed all Wednesday afternoon, resenting that I had booked to see Hoffmann (that dissipated the instant that Rolando stumbled and fell onto stage!). I was so stressed out on Thursday thinking of what I had to do, but didn't start packing until ten pm.
We left the house just after 8.30 am GMT and arrived at our hotel just about 5pm GMT+1. It's a long day,and most of it spent sitting/standing around. As I went from Gate to aeroplane I fell spectacularly arse over tit and managed to jolt my right shoulder*, graze my left knee, bang both hands and sprain all my left toes - I slipped spectacularly on some thawing ice that lingered on the gang-plank. The Easy Jet staff were very sweet; one escorted me to a seat. Then I asked another if I could fill in an accident form. He said "You'll have to do it onli... I'll speak to my superior," then the head of the cabin crew came to take my name and address, and explained - and I agreed - that the accident happened on BAA property and I should contact EasyJet to forward to BAA; he also said someone else slipped without falling and they made a general announcement to people to take extra care (I had a paid a bit extra for Speedy Boarding; head first, of course, came at no extra cost). I liked the way it was handled, low-key, no defensiveness from them, no need for me to get confrontational, adults conversing with adults. If he had come over all high-and-mighty I would have tossed the rulebook at him, but he didn't and doesn't it make his life and my life so much easier!
Valencia seems a nice enough city. Although very very weird. It's fairly old, and the glimpse we had coming from the airport was a sunbaked southern Spanish city.Then we get to the area we are staying, overlooking the City of Arts and Sciences, which is amazing, spectacular, innovative architecture, quite unlike anything I have ever seen before, just begging to be photographed. I booked a 3 star hotel but we got upgraded at no extra cost to its sister 4 star (so I ain't complaining). The downside is that it is a long walk to where restaurants are and the opera house, although very visible and relatively close, still seems a hike away
* if this had happened pre-shoulder repair op I would have needed an ambulance to cart me off in great pain and I would have been Destination Crawley hospital rather than Valencia
