Scramble Mode

In reality, all of this volcanic ash nonsense was my fault. It all boils down to an innocuous statement I made at the beginning of our trip: "It's too bad we can't spend some time in London". Such is the power of my will.

Initially, I was really looking forward to a few jolly days in London, after which the airspace would surely re-open. This happy delusion was quickly shattered when, after 45 minutes on hold with Virgin Airlines, I was told that another flight to Joburg was not available until May 2. Gulp.

A fevered, panic-stricken brainstorming session ensued. The one airspace still open in Europe was Spain, so we, like several hundred thousand other stranded travelers, were attempting to get to the shining Mecca of Madrid-Barajas Aeropuerto. An EgyptAir flight from Madrid to Cairo to Jozi was booked, with the unfortunate task of actually getting to Madrid still remaining. Eurostar trains from London to Paris were the first to book up, followed by ferries from southern England to France and Spain. Since the most important thing was to, as Matt said, "get off the island", we booked a bus to Paris for Tuesday.

Matt's roommate was returning home that evening to study for exams, so we booked into a hotel in Bloomsbury, central London. The following day, Matt graciously accompanied us to the office where we hoped to book a train from Paris to Madrid. We were met by a line that wrapped half way around the block. It seems a few people had the same idea.

Marnie and I alternated standing in line, the other accompanying Matt and his laptop in the nearby Starbucks to research alternatives. Four hours later, the murmurs from the front of the line suggested that no trains to Madrid were available until Sunday.

With "Mike from Boston" we left the line, planning to book a rental car from Paris ($700/day!), his 90 year old grandparents to accompany us. They were unable to book passage to Paris for the next day, so we attempted to rent a car by ourselves, which the website would not allow. We stumbled to a pub, having wasted the previous six hours, no closer to getting to Madrid than when we started the day.