We are due to come home tomorrow (Sunday) but guess what? I'm sure you already know - VOLCANO!
We cannot get home. We have no idea when we will be able to get a flight.
Fortunately we are protected because we booked a package holiday so the tour company have to look after us and sort everything out. We have been preliminarily informed that we will be able to stay at the hotel until we can fly home (will this be days? weeks? who knows?). There is a meeting at 6pm tonight to let us know exactly what will happen to us!
Other people in the hotel are not so lucky - they booked their holiday as independent travellers rather than a package tour and so they have no protection and no one to sort it out for them. There was a sense of panic this morning as people were trying to book flights and accommodation over the internet. The earliest Easy Jet flight that is bookable is apparently for Thursday! But even then they can't guarantee it will take off. Unfortunately the hotel won't negotiate a discount on the room rates for these people (it's a 4 star+ hotel) so it is going to be very expensive for them.
One woman I spoke to this morning said that she booked her holiday via a tour company (as a package tour, she thought) only to discover that the company had booked their flight via a different tour company. Now neither company will take responsibilty for them and she is frantically making phone calls to sort out a flight and accommodation - I think that really sucks!
This situation is unprecedented - who would ever anticipate that their holiday would be interrupted by a volcano errupting thousands of miles away! I will keep you posted on our situation.
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9 comments:
What a crazy thing this "Volcano"! I have been following the news by TV. Several flights canceled...
What a great reminder of the fragility of man made structures upon which we rely so much...
What about the arrogance of the Copenhagen crowd that will legislate against bad weather, when volcano (yes, volcano!) atmospheric release of CO2 is 50 times larger than the sum of total human activity?
What happens to you if tomorrow banks are closed for an undetermined length of time?
Self protection starts with self reliance... Our society has erased most of our awareness of it.
Hope you and those around you are safe Sue.
Osu!
To say the 2009 Copenhagen summit was about ‘legislating bad weather’ is either a willful misrepresentation of the facts or it showcases complete ignorance on the subject. While I’m not a diehard environmentalist (economic growth is still important), I do think decisive action should be taken on the issue of global warming which is a very real and threatening global problem, a conclusion proven and supported by the international scientific community and officially recognized as such by the UN including the US. Yet they did nothing: ‘meaningful agreement’ my ass, that’s just diplomatic speak for ‘let’s sit on our collective asses and do nothing’… To think the US, the biggest polluter on earth (good for 24% of the world’s carbon-dioxide emissions with a mere 4,6% of the world’s population) in tandem with China refused to commit to anything while they could actually do the most to solve this problem since they are among the major contributors and have the know-how and a modern, flexible economy is mind-boggling. You claim ‘the Copenhagen crowd’ was arrogant, what about your government? The fact that natural events cause pollution too doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t do everything in our power to stop global warming and thus preserve the future of life on earth. The polar icecaps are melting at an alarming rate, what more do you need? Typical American arrogance and egotism, yet they still claim to be the moral compass of the world… go figure. Volcano-eruptions are relatively rare and the one in Iceland is unheard of in sheer magnitude, to use that as an excuse is plain stupid and unbefitting of a sane, rational person. If your opinion mirrors that of the average American president Obama will have one hell of a time passing proper emission-laws and nothing will be done until it’s too late, the climate goes haywire and the global sea-level rises until large parts of the world are flooded. But then again you probably don’t give a rat’s ass about that, nor about even more poor Africans dying of failed or inadequate harvests due to a steady increase in draught (in effect creating more deserts) and a decrease in good farmland. It’s not the US and other industrialized nations that will pay the price (at least not initially) but the underdeveloped and developing countries (on top of all the misery they’re already dealing with). Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable…
Zara
Btw: self-reliance is a myth in the modern world; we’ll always depend on industrialization, technology and the financial system and this dependence will only increase. I also don’t see what this has to do with self-protection per se.
Hey Sue, Sorry to hear about your "extended" vacation. I guess if this goes on too long you will be taking a ship and train?
Good luck!
Osu Sue,
I wanted to inquire about your well being and how things are unfolding in Cyprus, but I realize that my earlier comment has been used as an excuse to disrupt the calm and harmony of your house.
I must apologize for that, it was not the intention.
Be safe & keep us informed,
Kindest regards
Fred
Osu anonymous,
Thank you for your entertaining vituperation. Sue's blog is not really the place to vent what I take is large amounts of accumulated frustrations.
With Sue's permission, I will draw your attention to http://www.thetrimtab.com where you will find a lot of interesting information, and especially an ongoing series on ...growth!
It is the place where I often expose the obsolescence of Governments.
Osu
Fred
I’m glad global warming is such a joke to you but I agree: Sue’s blog is not the place to discuss this. I am actually mildly curious to hear about your goofy theories (governments are a necessary evil but they’re anything but obsolete), hopefully they’re as entertaining to me as my genuine concern was to you.
One thing though: apparantly you’re French so it’s obviously not your government, other than that I stand by my words. Clearly arrogance and ignorance aren’t purely American traits.
Zara
PS: your false modesty doesn’t impress anyone, if you insist on spouting blatantly false statements or innuendo into the public realm you can expect a rebuke. That’s the beauty of the internet and the flow of ideas it promotes. If Sue was in any way offended or didn’t think my comment wasn’t appropriate she could have erased it easily or at the very least she would have said something by now. It’s not very polite to think for other people.
Hey! cool it guys, I'm the one in this situation and anyway we can't blame global warming for a volcanic eruption.
Good to hear that you are being looked after. I hope you get home safely and in the next week, and that you are getting some training in...
My now husband and I drove 'past' that volcano whilst on holiday in Iceland. How odd that parts of it are now cruising overhead.
Take care,
Cat
Thanks Cat. yes I am getting some training in - well in dribs and drabs anyway!
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