The travels back to Valencia went smoothly (on the 31st of Aug.). We got back, relaxed in the air conditioned room, showered, and went to see "the sciences." That's what Sara kept calling them, and I'm still not certain what they are...I think it's a museum, the opera, some offices, and other things. It was a huge complex with very blue pools (not for swimming) all around. I saw it at nighttime, but apparently it looks a lot cooler in the day. It was also designed by the same person who designed the Milwaukee Art Museum. After that, we went home and went to bed.
Sara had to work the next morning so she left early. My flight to Florence was at 2:50 in the afternoon; I woke up around 10, showered, and packed my things up. It was a little hard rolling my two 50(+) pound bags, wearing my huge backpack, and carrying my computer bag in the very warm weather. It had to of been in the 90s when I walked to the metro. Anyway, I made it to the airport.
The line for checking in for Swiss Air was really long. Eventually I made it to the front and put my bags on the scale. They totaled 47kg. (The total for two 50lb. bags is supposed to be 46kg.) And the woman said I had to pay because they were over the weight limit. And I thought, okay, one kg over, maybe I can take something out. I asked her how much and she said it was 50Euro per kg over. She totaled it up and said 345Euro (over 500 US dollars). (The weight restrictions for travel within Europe are two 20kg bags, so my luggage was almost 7kg over.) I was really sad! :( When I booked my ticket with STA travel in Madison, they called swiss air to make sure this would be okay and they said it was fine because my flights were all on the same ticket. The travel agent said that I may get to the counter in Spain and they may charge me, but it would only be like 50 dollars. I didn't really have any other options when booking my flights, so I said okay.
I told her I didn't want to pay and they said I wouldn't have to. She made a call and told me I had to pay. At this point, I was near tears. I pulled out my itinerary and showed her how it was all on the same ticket and everything was supposed to be okay because of that. She made another call and told me I had to pay. I asked what I was supposed to have done with the extra 6kg of stuff that I brought to Spain...how was I supposed to get it to Florence? She finally had a coworker come over by her and they pressed buttons on the computer for a good 4 minutes. Finally she said, "It's alright" and put heavy tags on both suitcases. I said thanks and bolted before they could change their minds.
The moral of the story? You may think I should have just packed lighter in the first place to avoid any mishaps. But I think the moral is that crying--or nearly crying--can save you 345 Euro!
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