Europe: Trip to Spain

The plant we are working at is about 90 km north of Barcelona, so my client created a policy that we will always fly RyanAir, a cheap airfare European company, just think Southwest but way cheaper, which makes sense because the airport we fly into is already north of Barcelona so we have a shorter drive to our hotel once we land. There were 5 of us traveling together (finally not going alone!) and we were on the 9PM flight out of Charerloi (way south of Brussels) meaning we would get to our hotel around midnight if we were lucky - another reason RyanAir is cheap, they fly you in and out of the most obscure airports. But, RyanAir tries to nickel and dime you for everything - I mean everything. The main thing is you are only allowed to take one bag on the plane without being charged more money; that means one bag, so if you have a purse or computer bag - it has to go in your carry on bag AND the carry on bag has to be smaller than 55 x 40 x 20 cm (whatever size that is... its just small). Luckily, I knew this ahead of time so I packed my computer etc in the one carry on bag I have and let me tell you was it fun unpacking my suitcase first thing I get into work in the morning to get my computer, power cord, and notebook out! We left work around 6:15PM to head to the airport and I had to 'pack' again to put my work stuff back in my suitcase which I am worried is way too big...

Remember what I said about nickel and diming you? Well, they make every single person put their bag into the metal rack to prove that your bag is not too big, otherwise you have to check it. I try putting mine in and it doesn't fit of course, so she starts telling me in French you will have to check the luggage etc. However, I notice that the bottom on my bag has plastic pieces that stick out on the bottom to protect the wheels so I ignored her, flipped my bag upside down and pushed as hard as I could to get the bag to fit. It worked and she let me go! Security was a blast as well, having to unzip your entire suitcase to find your liquids and your laptop....

We land at the airport in Spain and after 20 minutes of my colleagues talking to the car rental people, they finally give us the keys. What car did we get? A white Citroen Berlingo. What is a Berlingo you ask? 2 things:
1) A car
2) Word that is crazy fun to say. Say it out loud - right now. Ber-lin-go. Again - berrleeeengo. One more time - so fun right?!

Link with a pic - Berlingo
Keep in mind this one is way nicer than the one we had, it only has one bench so its a perfect car for 5 guys... We enjoyed the fact that we had 5 guys, driving a Berlingo in Spain - felt like it should be a movie. We made it to our hotel which is this beautiful, remote hotel that is completely empty during the week for the most part except for us. Evidently, it's a busy place on the weekends and is a great place for couples. Its is definitely a different lifestyle here, the hotel staff is incredibly laid back and never does anything in a hurry. Breakfast is only served at 8 AM and dinner at 9 PM. You can ask for them to be served earlier - but they get stressed and you don't push it. Check out some of the pics.