Tuesday, October 13 – My First Ryanair Flight
Tuesday was travel day, and I was
heading to Birmingham, England, for two nights before returning home.
This would be my first experience
flying with Ryanair, the European budget airline known for its inexpensive
fares and strict baggage rules. Ryanair has a reputation for charging
passengers extra for oversized or overweight luggage, so I wanted to avoid any
unpleasant surprises.
I had purchased a smaller carry-on
backpack specifically for my computer and other items I wanted to keep with me
during the flight. Before approaching the check-in counter, I also discovered a
public weighing station at the airport. That was a useful find because it
allowed me to check my luggage weight ahead of time instead of worrying about
it while standing in line.
Once I was satisfied with the weights,
I headed over to the Ryanair counter. There seemed to be a small army of young
employees wearing branded Ryanair jackets, helping direct passengers through
the check-in process.
My luggage was weighed, and I was
given the necessary paperwork to attach to it. So far, so good.
Then came the boarding-pass problem.
I had tried unsuccessfully to obtain
my boarding pass online before arriving at the airport. Ryanair strongly
encourages passengers to use its app, and the process had apparently changed
from the days when printing a boarding pass at home was straightforward. I
couldn’t get the pass to generate in the app, either.
I understood that Ryanair could
charge a substantial fee for issuing a boarding pass at the airport, which was
exactly the kind of extra expense I wanted to avoid. Fortunately, I had taken a
screenshot showing a message that the problem could be resolved at the airport
gate.
I explained the situation to the
counter employee, who was able to fix it without charging me anything. One potential
Ryanair headache avoided!
After clearing security, I made my
way to the gate and waited for boarding to begin. That was when the baggage
drama really became apparent.
As passengers slowly moved toward
the aircraft, it seemed that every third person was being pulled aside because
their luggage was too large or required an additional payment.
One woman ahead of me was determined
not to pay the extra charge. She began putting on more and more of her
clothing, starting with shorts and adding two pairs of pants, along with a
sweater and jacket. The idea, apparently, was to reduce the amount of clothing
she was carrying in her bag by wearing it instead.
I was relieved when I made it
through without any baggage issues or additional charges.
The flight itself was nearly full,
and I discovered another Ryanair feature: the seats do not recline. Somehow, I
had been assigned an exit-row seat without being asked. That meant I couldn’t
put my backpack under the seat in front of me, so it had to go into the
overhead compartment. It wasn’t a major inconvenience, but it was one more
reminder that flying with Ryanair comes with its own set of rules.
Would I call it a good experience?
Not particularly. But the fare was inexpensive, and it was the only direct
flight available to Birmingham. Sometimes, convenience and price win out over
comfort.
Arriving
in Birmingham
I arrived in Birmingham and quickly discovered
that navigating the airport and its transportation connections would be an
adventure of its own.
It was my first time at Birmingham
Airport, and things weren’t immediately obvious. Fortunately, the airport has a
tram system that takes passengers away from the terminal to a transportation
hub roughly a third of a mile away. From there, travelers can connect with
rental-car shuttles and other transportation options.
I had some time before I needed to
settle into my hotel, so I decided to take public transportation toward
downtown and continue from there toward my hotel, which was a little south of
the city center.
An employee at an information booth
helped me purchase a ticket. Getting to my destination would require two
trains.
The first leg was easy enough,
taking me to the main downtown station. Then things became confusing.
I couldn’t figure out where the
second train departed from, so I asked two different information booths for
directions. Unfortunately, I received two different answers!
At that point, my patience was
wearing thin. I approached another transportation employee and explained that I
was ready to abandon the whole exercise and take an Uber. I simply wanted to
know where I could exit the transportation hub to get a ride.
The employee sensed my frustration
and encouraged me to give public transportation one more try.
All right, one more try it was!
The second train eventually got me
to a station about a mile and a half from my hotel. Rather than attempt another
transportation connection, I ordered an Uber and completed the journey that
way.
Sometimes, the simplest solution is
to stop trying to make the original plan work!
Two
Nights in an Irish Neighborhood
My hotel, Pairc House Hotel, was located in what
appeared to be an Irish neighborhood of Birmingham. The area had a lively pub
scene.
Nearby, I noticed soccer pitches
that were also used for rugby, along with a workout area specializing in
boxing. There was even a boxing ring set up outside.
It was an interesting neighborhood,
and I was looking forward to exploring it.
That first evening, I had dinner at
the Irish pub in the hotel and called it a night.
The following morning, I got out for
a walk to see more of the surrounding area. I found a place to have brunch, the Trine Beans Cafe, and
the women working in the back all came out to talk with me. They were curious
about why I was visiting their neighborhood.
It was a friendly encounter and a
nice reminder that sometimes the best travel experiences come from simple,
unexpected conversations with local people.
After brunch, I walked back toward
the hotel and stopped to watch a little soccer practice. It was a relaxed way
to spend part of the day before the main event that had brought me to
Birmingham.
The
Hare & Hounds and an Unexpected Meeting
That evening, I walked to the Hare
& Hounds, the music venue where I planned to see MT Jones perform.
 |
| Hare & Hounds pub |
I stopped at the pub for a bite to
eat and then wandered around the area. At one point, I noticed a man standing
near an entranceway who seemed to be waving at me.
Naturally, I walked over to see what
was going on.
As it turned out, he wasn’t waving
at me at all. He was waving to the band’s bus behind me!
But the misunderstanding led to an
unexpected opportunity. The main performer, MT Jones, stepped off the bus and
came over to speak with the man. I was standing right there, so I joined the
conversation briefly.
I introduced myself and told MT
Jones that I was looking forward to his concert that evening.
Then I stepped aside to let them get
on with their preparations.
It wasn’t until afterward that I
regretted not asking for a selfie. How often do you get to meet the performer
before a concert simply because you mistakenly think someone is waving at you?
Oh well. Another missed photo
opportunity to add to the collection!
Front
Row for MT Jones
After wandering around a little
longer, I joined a small group of people beginning to line up outside the
venue.
I learned that the Hare & Hounds
actually has two performance spaces: a smaller room that holds about 200 people
and a larger venue for bigger crowds. MT Jones was playing in the smaller room.
Once inside, I claimed my usual spot
near the front of the stage.
One of the things I enjoy about
going to concerts is talking with the people around me while waiting for the
show to begin. I usually ask whether anyone has seen the performer before. On
this occasion, nobody had.
That made the evening even more
interesting. We were all there to discover what MT Jones and his band would
deliver.
When they took the stage, they put
on a great show. The performance was everything I had hoped for, and the
relatively small venue made it feel intimate and personal.
 |
| MT Jones. Great Concert! |
 |
| Setlist |
It was one of those concerts that
reminds you why traveling for live music can be so rewarding. You discover
performers in places you might never otherwise visit, and sometimes the
experience turns out to be the highlight of an entire trip.
In this case, the concert justified
staying in Europe for an additional two weeks and making the journey to
Birmingham.
After the show, I walked back to the
hotel, happy that I had made the effort to be there.
Wednesday,
October 14 – Heading Home
The following morning, it was time
to head home.
I got up early enough to catch a
FlixBus shuttle from Birmingham to Heathrow Airport. With my flight scheduled
to depart at 2:30 p.m., I wanted to leave plenty of time for the journey and
the usual airport formalities.
After several weeks of traveling
through Europe, changing cities, figuring out unfamiliar transportation
systems, and enjoying everything from historic neighborhoods to live music, my
European adventure was coming to an end.
My flight departed as planned, and I
would be sleeping in my own bed that evening.
