Sicily itinerary
Apr 17th, 2013, 04:36 PM
#81
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> Noto was just way too touristy
That's really unfortunate! I reached in late one afternoon back in 2007, just before the last of the day-trippers left. I was able to roam around and see those gorgeous buildings and LOL balconies as the pre-sunset light turned them a gloriously warm yellow. I watched kids playing soccer in the streets and old men playing bocce and couples strolling the streets and park. I thought it a truly lovely glimpse into a "real" Sicilian town that had not yet been given over to tourism.
> Palermo... too much of a big city feel but not in a good way
Palermo is definitely not everyone's cup of tea. I find some merit in the analogy to Naples -- they are both a bit on the gritty side!
Glad you've enjoyed at least parts of your trip!
That's really unfortunate! I reached in late one afternoon back in 2007, just before the last of the day-trippers left. I was able to roam around and see those gorgeous buildings and LOL balconies as the pre-sunset light turned them a gloriously warm yellow. I watched kids playing soccer in the streets and old men playing bocce and couples strolling the streets and park. I thought it a truly lovely glimpse into a "real" Sicilian town that had not yet been given over to tourism.
> Palermo... too much of a big city feel but not in a good way
Palermo is definitely not everyone's cup of tea. I find some merit in the analogy to Naples -- they are both a bit on the gritty side!
Glad you've enjoyed at least parts of your trip!
Apr 19th, 2013, 03:18 PM
#83
We're in Munich now and going home tomorrow. To recap, we loved Agrigento, Taormina, and Siracusa. Liked a lot Catania and Selinunte. Did not care for Palermo or Noto. We would definitely come back to Sicily but not bother with the west part of the island. Would like to spend more time in Agrigento and Taormina. I'm glad we went to Noto and Palermo, if only to know what to avoid next time.
Apr 21st, 2013, 11:00 AM
#87
kybourbon, not easily! We flew easyJet from Palermo to Rome and spent the night in Rome. We had a wonderful 27 hours there. The next morning, we flew from Rome to Vienna on Niki (airberlin's Austrian partner) and that is where the real trouble began. I should say, to start off, that airberlin and Niki are about the worst airlines I've ever flown. They're even worse than American Airlines, and that is saying a lot. airberlin lost our luggage on the way over. We didn't get our bags until the second night in Catania.
Anyway, we were to fly Niki because airberlin decided to change their schedule and switched us to Niki. We were supposed to fly from Rome to Vienna, to Munich, and arrive in Munich at 4:00 PM. The flight from Vienna got cancelled because of a computer problem with the plane. We were already on the runway and the pilot turned back. At the terminal, the ground agent for Niki was the nastiest bitch. In fact, most of the agents we dealt with in Vienna were unhelpful and miserable. That surprised me since I have been to Vienna twice before and loved the city. I haven't been there in about 20 years though, and after the experience at the airport, I never want to step foot in Vienna again.
We were placed on standby for a flight leaving Vienna at 7:30 and the flight was full. Surprisingly, two men gave up their seats for us in order to NOT fly Niki. They were put on a Lufthansa flight leaving a couple hours later. We didn't get to Munich until about 8:30 and didn't get to the hotel until about 9:45 PM. Oh, and our luggage didn't make it to Munich. The only saving grace was that we were on the club floor of the Sheraton and we got free food and liquor. We made the most of that. We also had a beautiful executive suite. Too bad we weren't there long enough to enjoy it.
The story gets even better. We get to the airport yesterday morning and airberlin has nothing in their computer about us. We were to fly to Berlin and connect to the flight to JFK. Our reservations were completely wiped out. I think the bitch in Vienna did it. She knew we had flights the next day, in fact, we were among the first people she called over and confirmed our flights for the next day. I also saw it on her computer screen. She decided to screw us though because I had the gall to ask if we could just be rerouted to fly home from Vienna since it was no longer worth going to Munich as we would get there too late. She said no. I then asked then, could the airline provide us with a taxi transfer since we would be getting in after dark and didn't want to try and negotiate public transportation in a strange city at night. Again, no. Could I speak with a supervisor? No. It was her answer for everything. There was a man who had a flight to Iraq from Munich at 8:00 PM and he was worried he would not make it, and even if he did, his luggage would not get on the flight to Iraq and asked her what to do. Her answer, and I kid you not, was "we don't care." I was talking to this man and I said to him that I wish we could just leave for NY from Vienna and be put up for the night in a freaking hotel. It wasn't said in any kind of nasty way but this creature heard me and said very nastily, "Vienna doesn't have any frikkin hotels." She then decided that DH and I would be the very last people she would deal with and put us on standby on a full flight, saying, if you don't get on that one, you can try for the next one.
We are pretty sure she is responsible for our reservations for the next day disappearing. She had them up on her screen and they went poof sometime between then and the following morning. The Munich agents, who were wonderful, worked their tails off to get us on the flights. They had to contact American Airlines, since that's who we booked through, and get us re-ticketed. They finally did, 15 minutes before the flight was to leave. We just made it. Luckily there was no line at security and we literally ran to the gate. The Munich agents were also able to track our luggage and have it sent to my home. We got it this morning.
I need to find out the EU equivalent of the FAA and lodge a complaint against that agent. I'm hoping she will be investigated, and if there is evidence that she deleted our reservations, I'm sure she would be in a boatload of trouble. I have her ID number. She hid her name on her tag. I hope at the very least we can get her fired.
So, our luggage was lost going over and coming home, a flight was cancelled, and our reservations were wiped out. About the only thing I can say about the flights is, the plane didn't crash.
Anyway, we were to fly Niki because airberlin decided to change their schedule and switched us to Niki. We were supposed to fly from Rome to Vienna, to Munich, and arrive in Munich at 4:00 PM. The flight from Vienna got cancelled because of a computer problem with the plane. We were already on the runway and the pilot turned back. At the terminal, the ground agent for Niki was the nastiest bitch. In fact, most of the agents we dealt with in Vienna were unhelpful and miserable. That surprised me since I have been to Vienna twice before and loved the city. I haven't been there in about 20 years though, and after the experience at the airport, I never want to step foot in Vienna again.
We were placed on standby for a flight leaving Vienna at 7:30 and the flight was full. Surprisingly, two men gave up their seats for us in order to NOT fly Niki. They were put on a Lufthansa flight leaving a couple hours later. We didn't get to Munich until about 8:30 and didn't get to the hotel until about 9:45 PM. Oh, and our luggage didn't make it to Munich. The only saving grace was that we were on the club floor of the Sheraton and we got free food and liquor. We made the most of that. We also had a beautiful executive suite. Too bad we weren't there long enough to enjoy it.
The story gets even better. We get to the airport yesterday morning and airberlin has nothing in their computer about us. We were to fly to Berlin and connect to the flight to JFK. Our reservations were completely wiped out. I think the bitch in Vienna did it. She knew we had flights the next day, in fact, we were among the first people she called over and confirmed our flights for the next day. I also saw it on her computer screen. She decided to screw us though because I had the gall to ask if we could just be rerouted to fly home from Vienna since it was no longer worth going to Munich as we would get there too late. She said no. I then asked then, could the airline provide us with a taxi transfer since we would be getting in after dark and didn't want to try and negotiate public transportation in a strange city at night. Again, no. Could I speak with a supervisor? No. It was her answer for everything. There was a man who had a flight to Iraq from Munich at 8:00 PM and he was worried he would not make it, and even if he did, his luggage would not get on the flight to Iraq and asked her what to do. Her answer, and I kid you not, was "we don't care." I was talking to this man and I said to him that I wish we could just leave for NY from Vienna and be put up for the night in a freaking hotel. It wasn't said in any kind of nasty way but this creature heard me and said very nastily, "Vienna doesn't have any frikkin hotels." She then decided that DH and I would be the very last people she would deal with and put us on standby on a full flight, saying, if you don't get on that one, you can try for the next one.
We are pretty sure she is responsible for our reservations for the next day disappearing. She had them up on her screen and they went poof sometime between then and the following morning. The Munich agents, who were wonderful, worked their tails off to get us on the flights. They had to contact American Airlines, since that's who we booked through, and get us re-ticketed. They finally did, 15 minutes before the flight was to leave. We just made it. Luckily there was no line at security and we literally ran to the gate. The Munich agents were also able to track our luggage and have it sent to my home. We got it this morning.
I need to find out the EU equivalent of the FAA and lodge a complaint against that agent. I'm hoping she will be investigated, and if there is evidence that she deleted our reservations, I'm sure she would be in a boatload of trouble. I have her ID number. She hid her name on her tag. I hope at the very least we can get her fired.
So, our luggage was lost going over and coming home, a flight was cancelled, and our reservations were wiped out. About the only thing I can say about the flights is, the plane didn't crash.
Apr 21st, 2013, 04:22 PM
#90
annhig, no, not even the bitch in Vienna could ruin the memories of the good stuff. I will admit that I really do want to get that woman in trouble and make her miserable, even if I have to stick pins in a voodoo doll to do it.
kybourbon, it wasn't a code share with AA. We flew using AA frequent flyer miles so it had to be booked through them. In the end, I place the blame squarely on them. They had the wrong airberlin schedule on their website. Had AA had the correct information, I never would have chosen to fly through Munich. We were originally supposed to leave Palermo at 8:30 AM and arrive in Munich at 10:30 AM and have a 24 hour layover there. I booked a non-refundable hotel, which was difficult to find at a decent price since there was a trade convention of some kind going on in Munich. AA contacted me several weeks later to say the flight was leaving Palermo at 8:30 PM! I scrambled to get to Munich earlier, booked easyJet to Rome, knocking a night off of Sicily, and had to not only pay for the easyJet flight, but it was an extra $100 each in taxes and fees to fly through Rome. AA re-booked us on a flight getting into Munich at 1:30 PM, which was acceptable. Then airberlin changed us to Niki.
I've had it with AA. They have been going downhill for years and have reached rock bottom. When my AA credit card is due for renewal, I'm cancelling it. I've had that card for over 20 years but I want nothing to do with them anymore. We'll use up our miles, but that's it. They suck and they have crappy partners. United may suck too, but at least they have some decent partner airlines.
kybourbon, it wasn't a code share with AA. We flew using AA frequent flyer miles so it had to be booked through them. In the end, I place the blame squarely on them. They had the wrong airberlin schedule on their website. Had AA had the correct information, I never would have chosen to fly through Munich. We were originally supposed to leave Palermo at 8:30 AM and arrive in Munich at 10:30 AM and have a 24 hour layover there. I booked a non-refundable hotel, which was difficult to find at a decent price since there was a trade convention of some kind going on in Munich. AA contacted me several weeks later to say the flight was leaving Palermo at 8:30 PM! I scrambled to get to Munich earlier, booked easyJet to Rome, knocking a night off of Sicily, and had to not only pay for the easyJet flight, but it was an extra $100 each in taxes and fees to fly through Rome. AA re-booked us on a flight getting into Munich at 1:30 PM, which was acceptable. Then airberlin changed us to Niki.
I've had it with AA. They have been going downhill for years and have reached rock bottom. When my AA credit card is due for renewal, I'm cancelling it. I've had that card for over 20 years but I want nothing to do with them anymore. We'll use up our miles, but that's it. They suck and they have crappy partners. United may suck too, but at least they have some decent partner airlines.
May 11th, 2013, 08:25 PM
#91
You have all helped me so much with my planning so, even though I'm not doing a trip report for Fodor's, I though you at least deserved something so I'm posting some pictures from the trip. I may still do a trip report on another site and will provide the link if I do. But it took hours to just put together these pictures (I chose about 60 from over 600) so it will be a while before I start to write anything!
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=fc6ee5e25f
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=fc6ee5e25f
May 12th, 2013, 08:47 AM
#95
We did have perfect weather, it was glorious in fact. I may do a trip report on another site, I haven't made up my mind yet. Don't hold your breath though, I've been pretty lazy lately!
Nov 2nd, 2015, 04:34 PM
#97
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Laurieco, I posted a question about Air Berlin in the Airlines forum and kybourbon was nice enough to tell me you had some experience with AB. Yikes!! I was going to ask about legroom and what class of service you were in but your story is much worse than I imagined. We will still have to take a domestic flight (within Germany) on AB but maybe that won't be so bad.
Nov 2nd, 2015, 11:52 PM
#98
I will admit that I really do want to get that woman in trouble and make her miserable, even if I have to stick pins in a voodoo doll to do it.>>
Laurico - I once reported a very rude security guard at Gatwick who swore at me; they told me that they had taken disciplinary action, but never told me what it was as it was "confidential".
So I wouldn't hold my breath about it, even if you did manage to get them to take notice of you.
love the photos - Sicily is definitely on my radar for a next autumn big birthday trip. Fortunately we can just fly there from the UK; not sure if Easyjet will still be doing their flights to Cantania but I'm pretty certain that Air Berlin will not be involved.
Laurico - I once reported a very rude security guard at Gatwick who swore at me; they told me that they had taken disciplinary action, but never told me what it was as it was "confidential".
So I wouldn't hold my breath about it, even if you did manage to get them to take notice of you.
love the photos - Sicily is definitely on my radar for a next autumn big birthday trip. Fortunately we can just fly there from the UK; not sure if Easyjet will still be doing their flights to Cantania but I'm pretty certain that Air Berlin will not be involved.
Nov 3rd, 2015, 07:59 AM
#99
Very surprised to see this thread topped!
annhig, glad you liked the photos. Sicily was our 25th anniversary trip and it is most definitely appropriate for a big birthday!
P_M, even though our experience was less than perfect with Air Berlin, I would actually fly them again and give them another chance. The flights themselves were fine, fairly comfortable for coach, and they will give you as much free liquor as you want, always high on my list! Just bring a couple of changes of clothes in your carry-on and any other essentials. Since I have keratin treated hair, I need special shampoo and wasted time looking for some and trying to read the ingredients written in Italian. You would have thought I would have learned after the first time they lost my luggage, but no. Had to go through the same thing when we got to Munich. I have since learned my lesson!
annhig, glad you liked the photos. Sicily was our 25th anniversary trip and it is most definitely appropriate for a big birthday!
P_M, even though our experience was less than perfect with Air Berlin, I would actually fly them again and give them another chance. The flights themselves were fine, fairly comfortable for coach, and they will give you as much free liquor as you want, always high on my list! Just bring a couple of changes of clothes in your carry-on and any other essentials. Since I have keratin treated hair, I need special shampoo and wasted time looking for some and trying to read the ingredients written in Italian. You would have thought I would have learned after the first time they lost my luggage, but no. Had to go through the same thing when we got to Munich. I have since learned my lesson!
