Travails of traveling
A couple of days before we're off the invitation for my uncle Arne's 90th birthday bash arrives, water-damaged from its long passage through the postal system. In the picture he looks remarkably like Prince George
The night before we leave for Oslo via Amsterdam we receive an alarming message from KLM, warning of "unfavorable winds" in Amsterdam, causing flight delays and cancellations throughout Europe. At the same time my cousin Sissel informs us of a SAS pilots' strike due to start Thursday, Sep. 14, when we have a flight to Tromsø.
As we descend into Schiphol, strong winds tug at our, luckily, big sturdy plane, and once on the ground, but not immediately, of course, we discover our connecting flight has been delayed almost 2 hours. The "not immediately" causes us to traverse the enormous airport through throngs of travelers, leaving the lively restaurant and commerce part behind to eventually settle down to wait hours in a much less attractive gate area.
We arrive in Oslo to retrieve our wet luggage, much like the invitation, drenched by the seeping rain outside, and then are told by an indifferent SAS help desk crew, that, yes, our flight out the next morning has been canceled. Rattled and tired we spend the next hours recreating our trip, dribbling the many sold-out planes north, as hundreds of other passengers do the same. Long after midnight we go to sleep with a fresh booking to Narvik, and a new car rental.
But we aren't done with inconvenient surprises. We are enjoying the impressive breakfast at the Radisson Blu Gardemoen, too stressed out to feel the 5 hour jet lag, when a loud fire alarm sounds in the restaurant. All guests have to evacuate immediately, leaving hot coffee and careful food selections behind, to file outside in the cool morning air. Firetrucks and police arrive in due course, as we watch bleary eyed guests clamber down the fire escapes. Then it is all over and we can go in. Turns out to be a false alarm - an incautious smoker left a door open and caused smoke to get into a meeting room. Really? That was all? People lost their morning departures for that? Sure - travails of traveling!
But we are ok, re-pack our bags and cross over to the beautiful lofty airport, where domestic check-in is completely automated. We stop by SAS to voice our frustration, but pity the frazzled attendants, when we see the crowd waiting to be accomodated
The night before we leave for Oslo via Amsterdam we receive an alarming message from KLM, warning of "unfavorable winds" in Amsterdam, causing flight delays and cancellations throughout Europe. At the same time my cousin Sissel informs us of a SAS pilots' strike due to start Thursday, Sep. 14, when we have a flight to Tromsø.
As we descend into Schiphol, strong winds tug at our, luckily, big sturdy plane, and once on the ground, but not immediately, of course, we discover our connecting flight has been delayed almost 2 hours. The "not immediately" causes us to traverse the enormous airport through throngs of travelers, leaving the lively restaurant and commerce part behind to eventually settle down to wait hours in a much less attractive gate area.
We arrive in Oslo to retrieve our wet luggage, much like the invitation, drenched by the seeping rain outside, and then are told by an indifferent SAS help desk crew, that, yes, our flight out the next morning has been canceled. Rattled and tired we spend the next hours recreating our trip, dribbling the many sold-out planes north, as hundreds of other passengers do the same. Long after midnight we go to sleep with a fresh booking to Narvik, and a new car rental.
But we aren't done with inconvenient surprises. We are enjoying the impressive breakfast at the Radisson Blu Gardemoen, too stressed out to feel the 5 hour jet lag, when a loud fire alarm sounds in the restaurant. All guests have to evacuate immediately, leaving hot coffee and careful food selections behind, to file outside in the cool morning air. Firetrucks and police arrive in due course, as we watch bleary eyed guests clamber down the fire escapes. Then it is all over and we can go in. Turns out to be a false alarm - an incautious smoker left a door open and caused smoke to get into a meeting room. Really? That was all? People lost their morning departures for that? Sure - travails of traveling!
But we are ok, re-pack our bags and cross over to the beautiful lofty airport, where domestic check-in is completely automated. We stop by SAS to voice our frustration, but pity the frazzled attendants, when we see the crowd waiting to be accomodated
Give my regards to Jo Nesbo, if you see him. ;-)
ReplyDelete