Well I am finally starting to feel human again – jet lag has been taking its’ toll these
last 2 trips.
But this trip had an added
little bonus that made it even worse. We were all organized ahead of time and Friday
was a nice relaxing day. Then just as we
were preparing for bed a call came at 10:10 PM from our airline. The first flight leg of our trip was
cancelled due to heavy fog. So was the backup flight I had as a
contingency plan. What to do now. No
sleep tonight! Our only option was to head to Naniamo, catch the
earliest ferry out, and keep our fingers crossed that nothing else comes up.
Fortunately, because we were ready to go, about 3/4 of an hour later we
were off.
We
arrived in Naniamo, and because there was only about 3 ½ hours before the ferry
left, we decided to just nap in the truck
Good thing we made that decision because when we got to the ferry
terminal we found that the 5:15 sailing was no longer running on Saturday
morning (recent fiscal cutbacks). We
were fortunate enough to find an employee we was leaving the terminal and he
suggested our best option was to go to the other terminal and take the 6:30
sailing to Vancouver. This still meant
that we were not going to make our Vancouver departure flight. Next was a stop at a local Timmy’s that
offered free Wi-Fi and several attempts to contact the airline only resulted in
long waits, but no actual human contact. So, I took the bull by the horns, crossed my
fingers, and booked an 11:30 flight out of Vancouver to Calgary to connect with
our KLM flight from there. Now for a
little shut eye in the cab of the truck....oh, joy....... Fingers
crossed this is the last of the detractions.
We
arrived in Vancouver with no further delays.
I was able to contact the airlines and there are reimbursing our full
fare. That will help because the
Vancouver to Calgary leg is a bit more expensive than originally booked AND we
now had the added cost of a ferry trip to and from the island PLUS a hefty long
term parking fee to pay when we get back!
Hopefully our trip interruption insurance will be able to cover at least
some of the added costs. It will be what
it will be!
We
met up with Rheaume and Cheryl going thru security at Calgary airport. The beginning of their trip had also had a
couple of hick-ups, delayed departure as they were waiting for replacement crew
to arrive. There apparently had been an
incident of a bird strike on that crew plane that needed to be dealt with
before they could resume.
Most
important thing now was that we were both together and whatever happens next
neither party has to be concerned about the other being left behind.
We
had little time to spare as we were no sooner processed thru security and found
our gate, when they announced boarding for our flight.
We
now settled in for our 8 ½ flight to Amsterdam.
Everyone was bearing up well until near the end of this leg of the
journey. Cheryl and I both started
feeling the ravages of the length of the journey. Rheaume and Bill seemed to be bearing up
better. Next stop Schiphol airport in
Amsterdam. We now had a 4 hour wait for
our next flight to Rome, but being able to get up and walk around, and you do a
lot of it in these big European hub airports, as well as getting a bit of fresh
air, helped to rejuvenate us somewhat.
Finally on our last leg, we were both lucky to be 2 people sitting in a
3 seat row so we could spread out a bit as it were. We arrived in Rome, off loaded onto the
tarmac, into busses to the terminal, picked up our bags and out to meet the
shuttle we had hired. From then on it
was a pretty quick trip to the apartment, with the driver giving a little brief
history as he drove along.
The
landlord arrived, we got our business done with him, the boys went out and got
some morning provisions, and Cheryl and I settled in for a bit of a nap. When the guys came back we went for a quick
light bite to eat, a walk around the block and back the apartment, in bed by
8PM. Bonne Notte
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