Those who have known me long and well are very familiar with my periodic inability to cope with (translation: read) timetables and generally assimilate travel related information.
Bit of a handicap for a girl whose major passion in life is travel! I had worked hard to overcome this disability and over the past few years had made good progress - I was even becoming used to the comfort and stress free feeling of being seated on a train ten minutes BEFORE the departure time, rather then jumping into the carriage as it pulled out of the station 'a la Indiana Jones'.
Sadly, last September I suffered a major relapse and arrived at the airport in Bratislava two hours early......and one day late.
But that is nothing compared to the snafus which have occurred over the last 48 hrs.
On Thursday night I was booking my flight from London to Edinburgh with EasyJet. I duly entered the route I wanted and the date I wished to travel. That done I scrolled through the offered flights paying particular attention to departure times. I picked the flight I wanted, bought it and went to write down the flight reservation number...........leaving at 7.15, great, number written down, fine, departing Mar 01 - wtf??!!
That's Tuesday! I wanted Monday, I clearly requested Monday the 28th!
Crap!
*Sigh* Well, it was 11 at night and I had to be up at 4.30am the next morning to catch my 5.30 train to Dublin, so I decided to wait till I was in Cardiff, then contact EasyJet and find out how much it would cost to rectify my error.
So the next day, Friday morning I get my train and head towards Dublin, feeling so tired I'm nauseous and my head feels like it's in a vice. Careful and slow consumption of Sprite and tea had me feeling relatively human by the time I arrived at Heuston station at 8.
However, by the time I was shuffling up the platform I was also in dire need of a loo! So I detoured towards the toilets only to discover that the entry price had rocketed from 20c to 30c.
I only had 20c on me.
Frick! Now I need to go get change. *sigh* Off I trudge to Supermacs, figuring if I have to spend some money I might as well get some food out of it!
I order the 'SuperBreakfast', though I only manage half of it before I'm forced by my bladder to desert breakfast and return to the toilets.
At least this time I have sufficient change.......but wait, what's this sign I see before me?
An 'Out of Order' notice taped to the turnstile. Beside it is a propped open door allowing customers free entry.
AAAArrrrrrggggggghhhhhh!!!!!!! You mean I didn't need the blasted change!!! I could have gone to the loo and then eaten ALL of my breakfast in peace??!!!
FECK!!!!
Ablutions taken care of, I head for the Airport Bus and arrive at Dublin Airport in good time at 9am. Sadly, here is where I continue to be accident prone. It's my first time at the airport since the opening of Terminal Two, so I'm keeping my eyes peeled to try and figure out where I need to get off the bus. My print out from the Aer Lingus booking leaving me none the wiser.
We pass Terminal Two first and Aer Lingus is clearly marked as being one of the airlines, so I get out here.
Once inside I check out the departure board and find my flight to Cardiff.
10.00 Cardiff Go to Terminal 1.
Are you kidding me!!!!
Off I go in search of a yellow jacket - find a member of staff who gives me directions and off I trudge to Terminal 1. I get there and find the Aer Lingus check in desk, which is unmanned. Try to check in at the Fast Pass machine, but have no joy there either, so then I go to the Aer Lingus Information desk to see what's occurrin'.
"You've missed your flight."
"What?? It's 9.15! The flight is at 10.00!!"
"Yes, but the check in desk closes 45 mins before take off, but as you're here before actual take off, for a mere €75 I can book you a seat on the next available flight!"
"And when is that?" (I ask warily)
"3pm"
"Just for kicks, how much would it cost to change my flight from Cardiff to Edinburgh?"
"€75 as well, and that flight leaves at 2pm."
At this stage I'm sore from kicking myself and wondering if it wouldn't be easier just to go straight to Scotland. I spend ten minutes weighing my options (can't take too long, cos I have to get it sorted before my booked flight leaves the tarmac) and decide that I don't want to miss seeing my mates in Cardiff, Salisbury and London, so I go back and fork over the money to change my flight.
Then settle on a seat in the lounge to while away the hours.
Thank God for my Amazon Kindle!
On the bright side I get some badly needed sleep for an hour.
Well, I say sleep,....... I mean doze, .........well, sit for an hour with my eyes closed.
Whatever, it was badly needed time out.
Come boarding time, I was in for another shock - turns out that while technically an Aer Lingus flight, they had contracted out the Aer Arann (hence the hike to Terminal 1).
They were putting us on a baby plane! It had propellers and only one door!
One of the fellow passengers made a Buddy Holly comment which was totally uncalled for and did nothing to help me nurture a sense of adventure about the affair. Then I was seated in the very first row, which had me thinking:
"Meep! If anything happens I'm toast!"
But actually it turned out to be a good thing, cos I reckon if I had been seated behind the propellors I'd have been deafened for life!
So what with one thing and another I finally got the Cardiff Central Station at 5.30 and got see my former flat mates for the first time in 18 months!
All's well that ends well!
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