snow joke! - Madeira jaunt pt 1

we set off for Glasgow on Sunday 5th and planned on staying overnight at the Holiday Inn before catching our flight at 8.45 am on Mon 6th. David's secretary Jean had given us this tip (thank you Jean!) as driving to Glasgow at any time can be a bit of a slog, and even more so when you have get up at stupid o'clock to get there. The roads were reasonably good at this stage, as Glasgow had had less snow than Edinburgh and the Lothians.

We got the car into the long stay car park, had a beer in the hotel bar and settled down for the night. I managed to get a bit more of the seams done on Karin while watching Any Human Heart on tv. Jim Broadbent is excellent in this.

On Monday a.m. we had breakfast in the airport , and boarded our plane just as the rain started to to look like snow. Heavy snow. At 8.45 a.m the tug pushed our plane back ready to taxi to the runway and then we stopped. The sudden blizzard had closed the runway and the pilot had to return us to the docking bay.
Oh well, a minor delay we thought. The cabin staff gave everyone coffee.

At 10.00 am, still at the docking bay the cabin staff gave us breakfast and the Captain said they were expecting a gap in the blizzard to allow the runway to be cleared and reopened.

At 11.40 am we were all sent back into the terminal as the flight was delayed till 2pm and the Capt thought it would be good if we stretched our legs. Long airport corridors are good for yomping along and getting the blood circulating!

At 2pm we re-boarded the plane and watched with interest as the ground crew de-iced the plane. At 3.30 the Capt prepared to be pushed out by the tug again and we watched the plane next to us begin to taxi to the runway where it stopped. The light levels were falling and only the central landing lights were visible (the side lights were still covered with snow) so any flight covered by BAA rules was not able to take off. At 6pm we got off the plane again. (but we had to leave our luggage in the hold, so I couldn't make any further progress on Karin)

Thompson, our holiday company, were going to put us up for the night in a hotel in Glasgow, but the blizzard conditions in the area had caused parts of the M8 and A80 to be closed and buses and drivers were in short supply. At 9.50pm a bus finally came for us, and we went to the hotel. Another beer and D and I crashed out in a warm and thankfully comfortable bed. We found out later that some companies did not take their passengers to hotels and the passengers had to camp out in the terminal. They had to rely on the Red Cross to issue them with blankets! (that is shocking on two counts, 1. Thomas Cook passengers weren't looked after very well  and 2. The Red Cross has to help? Glasgow Airport doesn't?? BAA doesn't??)

Tuesday morning we enjoyed a tasty cooked breakfast at the Swallow Hotel then waited for the buses to take us back to the airport. Originally we had been told the buses would be there at 7.30, but of course traffic problems and staffing problems meant that the buses didn't reach us till 9 a.m.

Back at the airport, we were at our departure gate at 10 am, looking at our snow covered plane and guessing that we wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. We were right! So, time to yomp around the airport again for a couple of hours. Who needs a gym?
It was a shame that my knitting and crochet projects were in our luggage as I could have put the time to good use! I did manage to spot some more Innocent hats though and got myself one shaped like a pineapple. I think I'll have to be a little more inventive with the Innocent hats next year.

At 12.39 we were back on the plane, watching the ground crew de-ice the wings again and only waiting for the luggage of the people who had decided not to continue with the flight be removed from the hold. Finally at 2.11 we took off. Huzzah!!

Off to the sun and away from the snow!