Charlie and I have done very few actual vacations, or since we are in Europe I'm calling it a holiday, in our 17 years of marriage. The one we just had is by far the longest and most ambitious one we've attempted and we kicked it off in true Grizwold fashion. I'm devoting this first post to nothing but the travel aspect.
We opted to travel with RyanAir as it is one of those cheap airlines and you do not have assigned seating. You just show up and it is a free for all as you try to get seats on the plane. Sure, you can purchase priority seating and they even allow a few seats to be reserved...but where is the adventure in that?
So, we flew from Tallinn to Dublin and were pleased that we managed to get four seats all together. The unfortunate part was the plane took off a bit late. RyanAir makes very few promises, and as it turns out you must make sure that you have at least a three hour layover before they are concerned about their timeliness (although they boast a 90% on time record...the best in Europe). I scanned the terms and conditions but not that closely. Since our plane was late (what are the odds?) we missed our flight to Edinburgh. RyanAir was not concerned. They also had no other flights that evening, so we took our business to Aer Lingus. This flight was delayed. And then delayed again. But, we finally arrived in Edinburgh and a taxi took us to the lovely bed and breakfast we stayed at. Below you can see Clara waiting, somewhat patiently, for our second flight to take us to Edinburgh. 
After three fabulous days in Edinburgh, we headed to London. Our flight took us to Stansted Airport but our other flight was leaving from Gatwick Airport. Yes, they are on opposite sides of town and I had us staying near Gatwick. All went well with the flight and our taxi driver to the airport was a delight. Once we landed at Stansted we had to make our way to our hotel. We took the train that required a transfer midway. Well, this is where our trip took another Grizwold turn. Apparently we hopped on the wrong train. We had been sitting for a while when the train attendant came through. He was very friendly but informed us we were way out of our way. Luckily, we had a sense of humor about it. He told us where to get off the train and which one to get on. Finally, we made it to our destination, a little later than expected, but with plenty of time to enjoy a local dinner before bedtime.
We really enjoyed our time in England, but then it was time to be off to Dublin. We caught our plane with no trouble and hailed a taxi from the airport. I was sitting in the back with Clara and Zach thinking, "Wow! We made it with no issues!" when Clara told me her stomach was hurting. So, I'm in the process of telling her to take a few deep breaths through her nose when she clamps her hands over her mouth and proceeds to spew...all over the taxi! I'm sure there was some on the windshield even. The cab driver quickly pulled over and we cleaned everybody and the car as good as possible. Luckily the bed and breakfast was very nice. We were a couple of hours early but she allowed Clara to shower and change and we waited in the lounge until check in time. A nearby laundrette further assisted us.
I must admit the flight home was pretty smooth. While it was a little delayed taking off, the pilot managed to arrive a few minutes early. We had a wonderful time and I'll post more with pictures of our visit to each city but thought our travel deserved a post of its own.
0 comments:
Post a Comment