Sick of sandwiches

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“The Terminal”-
If you haven’t seen the movie, don’t bother just listen to our story and it’s pretty much the same thing! Except he was there almost a year and Catherine zeta Jones is a stewardess.

-Left Apartment 10:30 Sunday morning

- Took bus

-Arrived at train station in Florence at about 11:00

-Desperately looked for trains going to Pisa, lost cause, super cold and too many people to actually ask
any questions. After giving up we just jumped on a random train hoping it would bring us to Pisa (home of the Yellow Bean Sandwich*this might not be a fact*)

-On train by 12:00

-Arrived in Pisa at about 1:30

-Ate a yellow Bean Sandwich

-Made our way back to Train Station to catch a train to the Airport, met a lovely family with two kids we will call them the “Jones”

-arrived at the airport at 2:00 found out our flight was delayed to 0:15 (Bethany kept saying it was one in
the morning but it’s twelve found the whole army time very confusing at times)

-Decided to buy Internet at about 4 (bought the 24hrs not thinking we would use it all but thought it was the better deal for the money)

-Watched movies on laptop and talked to family, excited to get to London so we didn’t sleep.

-Get on plane, after walking through passport control with a beer in hand  (Bethany)

-Sit on plane for an hour, something about “de-Icer” asked to leave the plane. They handed us a piece of paper to call a number that was closed and told us our flight would take off again tomorrow morning at eight which it never did.

-Trying to find warm place to sleep, nothing is warm in Pisa airport there must have been couple hundred people stranded including the Jones with a baby girl who also did not sleep and a toddler boy.

-Used the internet, watched movies, mostly awake. We rested in a chapel most of the night because no one was in there, they had a plug in and we found a thermostat that we cranked. At 5:00 when Kevin wakes Bethany up from zoning out to tell her our plane was boarding. What he meant was we have the plane for 6:40am and they are taking the bags, we got the very last two tickets.

-Plane didn’t board until 3:15pm they fed us dinner the day before (10 Euros together) which buys you a sandwich and a coffee, and breakfast the next morning (10 Euros together) which buys you a sandwich and a coffee, then an hour before we are suppose to board our flight as they tell us we are to pass through passport control. We get the vouchers then stand in line of about 100-150 people all tired and pushy as we attempt to get through security.

-We are also caring around 1kg wedge of parmigian cheese

- We bought a sandwich with our vouchers and a coffee, go figure for the 10 Euros given. Then headed to passport control while we ate our food and walked through the empty maze

-our flight did take off from Pisa at about 3:45

-It did not land in the airport that it was suppose to, it didn’t even land in London it landed about 3 hrs from where we were meant to be. Because all flights to London were being directed to Burmingham they were not expecting so many people, planes and didn’t have enough staff or a game plan of how to take care of said passengers. We waited, restless on this small plane with yellow accents for about 3 hours. Everyone was getting annoyed angry unable to handle the news and the way we were being treated. The flights do not feed you and for the three hours we didn’t have drinks.

-finally busses picked us up from the airplane and the many airplanes in line behind us, we were the first. We went through passport control, non eu/uk passport line was the shortest for once. Then we had to wait for our bags we waited 2 hours, in-between passport control security and customs. There was no food, Children were crying and acting like little mad people. Moms particularly “Momma Jones” they were getting furious people were starting to treat the airport staff poorly and crowed around a young security girl in a mob fashion talking down to here and demanding to leave so they can eat and feed their children. Nobody was getting anywhere, people were even smoking and asking others to smoke in protest (Germans- flight from Berlin) even a man on his way to Dublin England, his bag was lost and found but by the time they found it he had lost his flight and there was nothing to do. This man was a solid man, board and looked like a boxer or something he never spoke ill, and didn’t lose his temper he just went on his way out into the night.

-Our bags arrived, part of the first 20 to get on the baggage claim, we left swiftly. Somewhat afraid, the mob was talking about how they were closing down the food on the other side of security soon it was 11:00 by the time we got into the arrivals part of the airport we went straight to our airline information and they had a coach booked for everyone on our flight to take us to the airport in London where we had been redirected. Kevin and i quickly grabbed a sandwich and jumped on the bus hoping it would be leaving soon, so there might be a ray of hope in seeing our friends and having a bed.

-No such luck, the bus didn’t move for an hour or more, not only that it was frigid freezing cold. The cold air was on and the air from the window gave a dreadful draft. Already many people had caught colds from the coldness and change of temperature so rapidly. The bus was 3 hours to London, when we got there we missed out train to Woking (where or friends live)

-the next bus wasn’t going to leave until 5am. We got tickets and waited in the airport. We decieded at this point it was more important to get to the airport we were leaving from than to get to our friends. We can’t afford to lose our tickets home and with the weather trains and buses are closing down or having super long delays.

-We are now in Gatwick the airport that we leave for Canada from. We arrived here with some folks from Iceland who were on our flight in Pisa—her luggage was mistakenly taken on the bus, we are so blessed that all of our stuff has been taken care of and it our hands safely.

-between the 48 hours or so i think the time we have slept has been about 6, 2 hours here, and so on. It messed with your reality a lot but we are having fun. We have met interesting people all having similar problems trying to make their flights to get home for Christmas. The airports were covered in sleeping bodies at night, in all the airports we have been too. It’s like a tent town, we even found a website where you can find the best airports to sleep in. People buy a bottle of wine and just drink till sleeping in awkward positions feels comfortable. We are finding many funny moments and fantastic people, laughing about 80% of the time.

- We have our tickets now in hand for Home, They have told us it would be in our best interest not to leave the airport. Trains are bad and there is no promise security to how we will make it back and when. We just know Wednesday will be a sunny day, we are leaving early in the morning and then i think we will be able to sleep. Who ever said anything about jet leg really needs to live like us because there is no time.

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Comments

[John E. Laine]

Thank God, He is watching over you two ! :-)
All i can say, is Holy smokes. Read psalms 35, and it may help... or at least give you something to chuckle about :-) I am frankly in Awe of your tenacity and patience. Just a wonderful testimony to your values :-) Love you both, Really glad you will be resting soon, and home safe again John

[Karen Blanchet]

Palms together....
Love it! So glad you are laughing 80% of the time. That means that you are bringing a special gift to those around you especially in those circumstances. Joy. Peace. Goodwill. Maybe more than one gift! Christmas has already begun. May your Christmas be a blessed one. Karen