The trip to the UK for my daughter’s birthday was quite eventful.  Preparing for the trip gave me  some very busy days , and it wasn’t until two evenings before I was due to fly out, that I managed to pack my case.  Trying to decide which clothes would be best for the UK weather was difficult;  we had been having temperatures in the 80′s here in Central Florida, and I knew that it  wouldn’t be that warm in the UK.

Check in at Downtown Disney

However, I packed what I thought would be suitable,  checked in at Downtown Disney early on the morning of the flight and went back to the office for a few hours work before leaving.  Why Downtown Disney for check-in?  Because you can check your luggage in and arrange your seat, so you don’t have to go to Orlando airport three hours ahead of the flight.  All you have to do at the airport is go through the security screening and board your plane.

There were obviously a lot of passengers on this flight; it was standing room only at the boarding lounge.  Boarding took place and we were all seated eventually;  lots of children, lots of hand baggage on this flight, but no major upsets – until we were due to take off.

I settled into my seat, nodded to my neighbours and prepared to open the paperback I had just purchased.  Just as the plane started to taxi out from the gate, an announcement came over the tannoy.  The Flight captain gave us all some bad news, then the good news……………..there had  been a  volcanic eruption in Iceland; they had just heard about it, and we would not be able to fly into Manchester airport!  All the airports North of Birmingham had been closed due to the volcanic ash from the eruption.  The good news was that if we left right now, we might be able to get into Gatwick airport………………

There was a collective gasp of horror from the passengers, including myself.  We had all booked to go to Manchester because we needed to

Volcanic eruption in Iceland

go to the north of the country.  To land in Gatwick with all the headaches of trying to get back up to Manchester was a bit of a concern.  And, none of the staff members knew what would happen when we landed.  Nor could we understand why an eruption in Iceland had closed down UK airspace.

Anyway, once in the air, there was nothing we could do except settle back and enjoy the flight.  Close to our arrival time, the pilot announced that we would be put on coaches for the trip back up to Manchester.

Having landed safely,  and collected our luggage, we were ushered to the bus terminals to wait for the promised coaches.  There was a bit of confusion over the transit to the coaches, but finally we were on our way , and we arrived in Manchester Airport at about 3.30 p.m.  From the airport, it was a fast and comfortable train journey to my daughter’s home town.

The day of the party dawned clear and cold, but at least the sun was shining.  I know now why so many of our guests enjoy coming to Florida to stay in our vacation homes; one forgets just how cool even a sunny English day is, and how small British homes generally are.  We have become used to the spacious rooms and extra amenities of our homes here.  And of course, we are usually fortunate enough to have sunshine all year round.

Some of the family

My daughter Kate and myself

Once the party was over, and normal life resumed, then of course, the worry about the closure of the airports had time to surface.  After checking the Virgin internet site, it became pretty obvious that there was little I could do until the day before I was due to fly back to Florida.  So we decided to make the most of my admittedly very short stay, and took the train into Newcastle for the day.  Not for shopping, I hasten to add, but to have a look around a city that I haven’t visited for many many years.   The weather wasn’t too too bad, although I had to borrow a fleece jacket to be comfortable.  We visited art galleries, museums and walked across the “blinking eye” ; the Millenium Bridge over the Tyne between Newcastle and Gateshead.

Millenium Bridge

Eventually my short break had to come to an end, and the worries over how to get back surfaced again;  the news media were  showing stories of many people stranded all over the world, getting more and more frustrated and unhappy with the lack of assistance and information.  We stayed in touch with Virgin Airline, and on the day before I was scheduled to fly, we were informed that it was very likely that the flight would go.  Virgin staff took a mobile phone number, and at 2.00 a.m. on the Wednesday morning, texted a message to get down to Manchester, the flight was On!  We left the house at 4.15 a.m for the drive down, and arrived just as the check in desk was opening.  I joined the queue and checked my baggage and tried to get a decent seat.  The plane was already pretty booked up even then.  I went to the Boarding lounge, and found a huge number of people waiting; and we waited, and we waited……….. the original flight time of 10.25 a.m. was delayed to 12.15, then to 1.45 then to 2.45 …………. eventually we were given the go-ahead to start boarding at 5.05 in the afternoon!

At last we were off and heading back to Florida……………… I think we were twice lucky;  firstly getting to Gatwick when we did on the trip over, and secondly getting out of the UK on the day we were scheduled to leave.    Sad to leave them all, but there will always be another time or another celebration to enjoy.