Life/Family:
So my daughter and I headed off on our winter vacation on Friday afternoon. Took the Airbus to Los Angeles Airport only to discover our Virgin Atlantic flight was delayed by 2 hours. We only had carryon luggage so got through security quickly meaning we had even longer to wait. Truth was, we were delayed just over 3 hours and didn't take off until 12:30am (that's officially Saturday).
The real fun began when we were about an hour away from London and the pilot announced that the London airport (and all other British airports as well) was closed so we were going to land in Shannon, Ireland. Ireland? We were on our way to Oman! I've always wanted to go to Ireland, I just didn't think it was going to happen now. We sat on the runway for over 4 hours then were put on coaches and dispersed to neighboring towns' hotels. We are staying at the Green Hills Hotel in lovely Limerick, Ireland. The people here are the friendliest we have ever met! It turns out that plane loads of people have been diverted all over the place from Iceland to Instanbul! I guess we lucked out going to Ireland.
What happens next? Great question. At least we have our plane here in Ireland and when London opens up we'll go. They keep pushing that time back though. We're now spending another night here in Limerick and the airport is supposed to open at 5am Monday. We shall see. They have a ton of flights to get to London in addition to all the regularly scheduled flights. Unfortunately, I have a feeling we won't make an Oman flight on Monday. We only had 5 days there to start with and it won't be worth a 7 hour flight each way to be there for only one or two days. Actually, we have no idea what's going to happen. We'll run like crazy to the Oman Air desk once we reach London.
We spent part of today ice skating and shopping in Limerick. Since we thought we were headed to sunny Oman we each have only one long sleeved shirt. Thank goodness for inexpensive clothing stores so now we can at least change our shirts.
Work:
Work was really quick this week since I only worked Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday! I ran a fun contest in the library: Winter Holidays in Just Six Words. We had tons of entries and the winner's statement was: "Mom's handwriting is Santa's? That's strange."
Books and Reading:
I've been reading Mitali Perkins' Secret Keeper and am really enjoying it.
9 comments
At least you're having fun Ireland! Hope things work out okay, though, and you get some time in Oman.
I love how you view your impromptu stay in Ireland in a positive light. You kinda had an extra little vacation! And, love the 6-word holiday sentence. Have a great vacation! Make sure to tell us all about Oman, if you end up going there.
Yikes! That must be terribly stressful for you. I hope things get straightened up for you to make your Monday flight. Can the airlines route you through another airport instead of London?
Oh, I'm sorry! I hope you get to Oman and have something of a good visit, in spite of the snow delay.
Well, at least you're getting to enjoy Ireland. I've always wanted to go there too! Enjoy it while it lasts - I hope you get to Oman soon enough!
Helen, it sounds like you and your daughter are making the best of this situation. I would be annoyed, but there really isn't much one can do about things like this. Hope u have lots of fun in Ireland.
Softdrink, Mrs. DeRaps, Diane--Ireland has been interesting. The people are so friendly!
Suzanne, Bonnie, Aths--Didn't make the Monday flight. Now we're booking ourselves home early via the US east coast
Lot of flights to London have also been diverted here to Brussels. We have a big expats community so panic is starting to rise as more and more flights are being cancelled. There’s also the possibility that Brussels airport will be closed until Wednesday morning due to lack of anti-freeze liquide (!!!).
I’m flying on Wednesday afternoon to Lisbon , who knows where I’ll end up ;) Wish me luck!
Enjoy Ireland, there could be worst place to be stuck in!
Alexandra--I think Brussels finally shut down, didn't it? I hope you got out this morning; Lisbon should be much warmer than Belgium right now. We finally got a flight home and bailed on the rest of our trip (not by choice)
Post a Comment