I am notorious for my bad travel luck and with only one mugging, a spiking and a few injuries on the trip so far I thought I had almost cheated my curse, however within the first two days of Jim’s arrival the curse had all but engulfed us.
Swindled by an apartment company, homeless, mugged at knifepoint and threatened extradition… all within one week. I think I am going to like BA.
On Monday morning the day started off on the wrong note when the cheap cab I booked to and from the airport turned out to be a fraudulent company pushing my latest host to beg me to shell out double the amount for a reliable company. I did and waving goodbye to my salivatingly well-planned steak dinner that night I caught the expensive, safe option which blew the budget. Fortunately despite the delay, the wrong landing information and no notice on the arrivals board, I found Jim. Or rather he found me as I stood desperately turning my head in exaggerated circles looking for him while he was stood right in front of me.
We got in the taxi and headed to the fancy apartment I had spent a bit extra on hoping for a smooth move in and looking forward to a rooftop swimming pool. When we opened the door I immediately saw it was the wrong one…
The online booking form had reserved the wrong apartment for twice the price it was originally advertised for. After hours of negotiation we left under the impression we were moving into another more suitable one later that week for the same price. Now to find somewhere to stay… We ended up sleeping on the floor in a hostel in San Telmo. Not too bad really though and the thunderstorm made it at least seem romantic for the first two hours of backache.
The next day deciding to take in the touristy sites we headed to colourful La Boca to enjoy the tango and floods of tourists. On our way back we took a wrong turn and quickly found ourselves being mugged at knifepoint by a swarm of young men demanding our money and rummaged through Jim’s pockets making away with his digital camera. As I screamed for help, and to unsuccessfully scare them away, the neighbours just looked on and there was even a faint laugh as they left. Nice.
After a couple hours at the unsympathetic police station we gave up and headed back to the hostel for a bottle of cava on the rooftop.
The following day we battled with the agent again who refused to give us another apartment as agreed and we resolved to move into the booked apartment for a week to at least get our deposit’s worth. That also fell through when they demanded even more money and we walked away. Only to find an email threatening my extradition if I didn’t pay up…
Swindled by an apartment company, homeless, mugged at knifepoint and threatened extradition… all within one week. I think I am going to like BA.
On Monday morning the day started off on the wrong note when the cheap cab I booked to and from the airport turned out to be a fraudulent company pushing my latest host to beg me to shell out double the amount for a reliable company. I did and waving goodbye to my salivatingly well-planned steak dinner that night I caught the expensive, safe option which blew the budget. Fortunately despite the delay, the wrong landing information and no notice on the arrivals board, I found Jim. Or rather he found me as I stood desperately turning my head in exaggerated circles looking for him while he was stood right in front of me.
We got in the taxi and headed to the fancy apartment I had spent a bit extra on hoping for a smooth move in and looking forward to a rooftop swimming pool. When we opened the door I immediately saw it was the wrong one…
The online booking form had reserved the wrong apartment for twice the price it was originally advertised for. After hours of negotiation we left under the impression we were moving into another more suitable one later that week for the same price. Now to find somewhere to stay… We ended up sleeping on the floor in a hostel in San Telmo. Not too bad really though and the thunderstorm made it at least seem romantic for the first two hours of backache.
The next day deciding to take in the touristy sites we headed to colourful La Boca to enjoy the tango and floods of tourists. On our way back we took a wrong turn and quickly found ourselves being mugged at knifepoint by a swarm of young men demanding our money and rummaged through Jim’s pockets making away with his digital camera. As I screamed for help, and to unsuccessfully scare them away, the neighbours just looked on and there was even a faint laugh as they left. Nice.
After a couple hours at the unsympathetic police station we gave up and headed back to the hostel for a bottle of cava on the rooftop.
The following day we battled with the agent again who refused to give us another apartment as agreed and we resolved to move into the booked apartment for a week to at least get our deposit’s worth. That also fell through when they demanded even more money and we walked away. Only to find an email threatening my extradition if I didn’t pay up…
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