Up The Farway Tree

Florida Part 4: Stranded

When I was planning for any emergency situations that might arise on holiday, a volcano erupting and disrupting all flights to and from Europe was not on my list!  We were due to fly from Miami to Edinburgh, via Paris, this evening but needless to say we are going nowhere anytime soon.  We checked Air France this morning and flights were still scheduled so we vacated the villa and drove the 4 hours down to Miami – only to arrive at the airport to find that our flight was cancelled.  There was just a piece of paper stuck to the check in barricade telling us the flight was cancelled but nothing else.  We asked at the Air France ticket desk if they had any idea what would happen now – a shrug of the shoulders and a ‘no flights today or tomorrow…maybe in 3 days’ and were given a number to call tomorrow.   Another passenger had been called by his travel agent who has said it would be Tuesday before he should expect to get a flight!   We had no choice but to check in to an airport hotel for the time being until we hear some news.   We are in a Holiday Inn express which is clean, comfortable but pretty basic – not a patch on the luxury villa we have been just left!   At least we have somewhere to stay and aren’t lying sleeping in the airport.   Anne has her laptop so we are getting access to internet news and updates but there is no signs yet of when flights will resume – apparently the volcano is still erupting and the ash is spreading across Europe.  I think one of the biggest issues will be the backlog of passengers and I am not sure how they prioritise getting people onto flights.  

mum and anne still smiling despite the saga..

We are still in good spirits at the moment although understandably rather worried about how and when we will get home.   I am just hoping that if flights can’t go into Paris then they will start trying to work out some contingency plan.  If we were in Europe we could at least get a train but it is a little bit scary being so far away!  My other big issue will be medication.  I always bring a week extra supply of my anti rejection drugs, insulin and digestive enzymes – none of which I can survive without.   However I only have a couple of days of my other drugs, although I could manage without these.  If we were really stranded for a while I will have to get a prescription from somewhere though and not sure if finding a CF centre would be the best plan – surely we can’t be stuck for over a week though?!  I have also emailed my insurance because my cover was for a single trip and I assume if I became unwell out with those we have somewhere to stay, we still have dollars left and it could be worse – it could have happened on the way out and we would have missed the whole holiday!

On a cheerier note we have enjoyed the last few days since my birthday at Magic Kingdom.   Monday was a chill out day and we headed out for a belated birthday dinner at a steak house…yum!  

Birthday dinner

Tuesday was a day at Epcot centre which was great fun.   We got there for the park opening and got fast passes and onto the main rides before the immense queues formed - and they were all really good!  In the afternoon we wandered around the other half of Epcot ‘World Showcase’ where they have all the countries represented where you wander along streets which look like Italy, Japan, China, Mexico etc.  I really enjoyed wandering and not rushing around like a normal theme park and I think we all had a great day.  

In the Fairy Garden at Epcot

Andrew in 'China' with his chinese symbol of the sheep :-)

Yesterday was mums birthday and another chill day (and sadly some packing too).  Oh and a last minute dash to the shops where we all managed to come back with a little something :-)    Despite the recent events we have all had a fantastic holiday from exploring the hip Miami Beach, the alligator infested swamplands, the vast malls, the wonders of space and of course the Disney magic.   Quite an eventful holiday and certainly one filled with many happy memories!

The Gang!