A change of plans

Have you been hanging out to hear the next installment of our adventure? Well the news is that we are now in Zurich :)

In Dublin yesterday morning we learned that our flight had been cancelled so we left our bags at the hotel near the airport, took our car back and went to see what we could do. We were in good company - lots of other travellers were doing the same thing. We were in a queue but had to wait less than an hour to talk to a friendly person on the desk who told us that we wouldn't get to Zurich before Sunday. I suggested Milan as a change of destination - no, we couldn't get there until Friday. I suggested Venice - no, booked out. I suggested Brussels - yes, we could get on a flight that afternoon. Thankyou.

So we took the hotel's shuttle bus back to our room, jumped onto the internet to book a hotel room in Brussels, packed and headed back to the airport to check in. We were in Brussels by 8.30 pm. I think we were lucky that we were only mildly inconvenienced - we've spoken to a lot of people in the last few days who have some horror travel stories to tell.

So then we had to get from Brussels to Zurich. Trains were an option, fast (expensive) and slow (cheap but a great way to see the countryside), and we probably could have shopped around for a flight (one quote we were given was about $800, each!), but we were able to get a hire car at a good price because it needed to be taken back to Zurich. Phil has never driven on the 'wrong' side of the road but we had our ever-reliable Tom Tom with European maps already installed and seven hours later we were in Zurich. So now I can say I've been to Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany and Switzerland.

Apart from seeing Glenn and Sarah sooner rather than later, the reason we wanted to get to Zurich before Friday is that G & S are taking a day of work and we're going to Austria for the weekend. For a while there it looked like it wasn't going to happen but tonight we booked our hotel and we head off in the morning.

Yawn! I'm off to bed. Too much excitement for this old chook.

Volcano fallout

We've driven back to Dublin and will return our car tomorrow (Wednesday). Then we decide whether to stay until the planes are in the air again or go to Zurich by train and ferry. Tonight we heard that UK is in business again so hopefully Dublin will be soon as well. (Dublin's not a bad place to be stuck in mind you. It could have been worse.)

Hiccups

Phew! We've been on the move, staying in places with no wifi access and my mobile modem wouldn't work in Eire. Now we're  in Northern Ireland, staying in a B&B with free wifi and I have a bit of catching up to do.

Plus we have to check whether we can actually get out of Ireland on Wednesday as scheduled. The airports are still closed and we have to work out whether to go to Zurich by ferries and trains or stay extra time in Ireland waiting for a hypothetical plane trip. We've been hearing some horror travel stories - of people using all sorts of transport to get back to Ireland. Some of the UK airports were open this afternoon and the airlines are kicking up a fuss about the ultra-cautious response to the ash cloud because down time is costing them millions every day so maybe there's a glimmer of hope.

Hopefully the planes will be in the air again in a fortnight's time so we can fly back to Australia! Pam, you might be organising the Deakin exams for me if we're stuck in Switzerland :)

Ash clouds

The ash cloud has had a huge effect on travellers in Europe, but we travelled to Dublin by ferry a day before the eruption. Apparently the ferries are all fully booked this week! We leave Ireland by air to Zurich on Wednesday next so hopefully either the mountain stops erupting or the winds blow in a different direction before then.