Antoni Gaudi created many unusually-shaped architectural sites in his native Catalonian city in the early 20th Century. They include churches, gardens, sculpture and decorative arts.

It happened again! A recent flight from Fort Lauderdale with a change in Las Vegas arrived too late for us to get our scheduled hop to Los Angeles. It was five hours before we could catch the next one. After useless griping at the airline front desk, what could we tired senior travelers do?

Of course, one choice is to check into an airport motel. We’ve done that several times because of long delays, but is it worth it to pay $100 or more to use a bed for just a few hours? When we’re sure the wait will be no more than four hours, we opt to brave it out in the waiting area.  

Whatever the season, unexpected airport delays happen. Here are some ideas on how to ease the waiting situation without spending money nor being uncomfortably squeezed:

Q: Airline ticket prices just keep rising and rising. We’re no experts, but always try to schedule flights to get the best possible fares. According to online travel info gurus, the basic rule is that the cheapest flights are on Wednesday nights.

However, on our past two trips, we got lowest fares on a Sunday night and Tuesday morning. What’s the latest on getting the cheapest tickets? PRJ, Richmond VA

A: Frankly, PRJ, booking cheap flights is mostly luck these days. Because of continuing digital advances in online info gathering, airline beancounters are now as crafty as Vegas blackjack dealers. They’re continuously in instant touch as people buy tickets and reserve seats, and they manipulate prices to the airlines’ advantage. Their ultimate task is to fill each flight’s seat with the highest-paying customer.

In other words, while your research about mid-week and red-eye flights may sometimes result in lower fares, it ain’t necessarily so. Your best bet is to take time to shop online prices and special offers, then book when you believe you have the best to meet your schedule.

For more details about how airline pricing pros deal out fares, go to www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-03-28/how-to-find-the-cheapest-airline-flights#r=rss

Monaco should be on every senior traveler’s bucket list. On our most recent visit, we made sure it would be a memorable one, and we hope you’ll do the same.

When we arrived at the beautiful Riviera resort city on our senior bus three-hour tour, we then swaggered up the outer steps of the Monte Carlo Casino. We did our best to look like famed 007 sleuth, determined to beat the house while sipping a vodka martini, shaken not stirred.

Realistically, we played only on the casino’s first level, on inexpensive slot machines as you’d find in Vegas, Atlantic City or your local Native American casino. However, if you’re willing to gamble real money as 007 would, resume your swagger, go up to the second floor where all the much more expensive table games are located. Who knows...you may meet Pussy Galore, Ursula Andress or Goldfinger there at the roulette wheel.