... was quite an experience this year.
Plans had been made since February, flights booked since March (yes, I know, that's early for a xmas trip, but hey, that's when it was cheapest!), car rented for the trip from Lisbon to Algarve, the place booked. Everything was going according to plan... except for the French taste for strikes!
The day before our departure, security personnel at several French airports, including Lyon Saint Exupéry, had gone on strike. 100% participation. Thus 100% flight cancellations! I had hoped this to be just a one day thing and that they wouldn't spoil the Christmas holidays of thousands of people. How wrong I was. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not saying that they weren't right to go on strike... they are underpaid, have crazy hours and get bitched at by passengerns not happy to show the content of their suitcase... but just before Christmas isn't really cool for anybody.
Next morning, the website of Lyon's Saint-Exupéry airport confirmed that the strike was continued... you would think that ok, they are on strike, we'll find a solution. We called the airline (TAP Portugal) who told us that no, they didn't know anything about a strike and that the flight was maintained. We had just spoken to the airport who had told us the contrary. Hm... So we called Expedia, through who we booked our flight. They called us back told us that TAP maintained the flight but it was delayed 2 hours. Even though we maintained the fact that 100% of flights were being cancelled, Expedia told us that we didn't have a choice but to show up at the airport if we wanted to (maybe) be reimbursed by TAP.
So this is what this first step looked like (thank god for nintendo!):
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| while I was waiting in line only to be told that of course our flight had been cancelled! |
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| a very expensive and bad lunch! |
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| thank god for Nintendo |
Step 2 then: after hours of waiting, a free tour on the highway around the airport, a call to expedia (again!) to check for flights from Geneva (last minute price next day noon: €2400; at 6pm €1700), at 4pm, we decided to hit the road.
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| somewhere on the French highway en route for Lerida, Spain |
That day, we went to Lerida in Spain, where we spent the night.
Next day, we had an early start because there was still a lot of Spain
and Portugal to cover! Good thing our kids like car rides!
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| somewhere on the Spanish highway |
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| lunch |
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| a cardboard bull... saw quite a few of those |
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| somewhere towards the Spanish-Portuguese border |
And this was our view the next morning from the terrace in Portugal!
It was well worth the drive!
Cheers!
