Thursday, August 30, 2007

Postponing my flight

Well, today was the last day that my visa could come in, but unfortunately it just didn't happen. I still would have had to postpone my flight for a day or so, but as it is, I had to postpone it by 10 days. So now I'm supposed to leave on September 8th (next Saturday), unless my visa still hasn't been approved. The good news is that since I'm flying straight into Madrid now, and not London, I saved about $80 on airport taxes, which Aeroplan actually refunded me! So even with the change fee ($55) I actually made some money! Not to mention I still have a few things to do, and now I have plenty of time to get ready.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Uh oh...

Two days to go till I'm SUPPOSED to leave, and I don't think it's going to happen. Unless by some miracle the consulate gets approval for my visa tomorrow, I will have to postpone my flight, probably by about a week at least. The good news is that I bought trip cancellation insurance, and this qualifies, as long as I can get the consulate to write me a letter that says that it wasn't my fault the visa was delayed. So they'll probably reimburse me for delaying my flight. It's only $55, but still... Now I just have to figure out what to do for the next week, since I don't officially live anywhere or have a job right now.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Visa troubles

Today I finally got a hold of the Consulate General of Spain, in Toronto. I was hoping to be able to get some reassurance about my visa, since I am supposed to leave in 9 days and they still haven't sent my visa! Since I had to submit my passport for the visa application, that means I don't even have my passport back yet! I'm getting a little stressed out, but the Consulate said there's still time. Basically they are waiting for final approval from the Spanish government before they can stamp my passport and mail it back to me. I definitely wasn't expecting this to happen, especially sinec I applied for the visa at the beginning of July, and the Consulate keeps reassuring me that it shouldn't take longer than a month, but I'm starting to wonder if I'll be flying out on August 30th after all...

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

iPod mania

After buying a new iPod video this past weekend, I've discovered something great - podcasts! And not just any podcasts, but travel podcasts focusing on Spain, as well as a ton of other countries. I think they'll come in handy in the next few months, at least to fight boredom on the plane.