I was delighted to be asked to help out backstage at The Helix panto Hansel and Gretel.
Now I know people think of show business as being all glitz and glamour but let me tell you.
There has to be a helluva lot of washing and ironing of costumes....
...before you can get this!
I would just like to know which came first.
Dame Lola's curtsy.....
....or Meghan's?
Both were pantomime curtsies.
I went to my grandnephew's christening over the weekend. Afterwards we had a family get together. This is his two year old sister Beth keeping us entertained with a game about Feelings.
Basically I called out a feeling from a stack of cards and she mimed it, while we followed suit.
This one is CONFUSED.
I think she is more in tune with her feelings than many 20 year olds are!
Ah, the mechanicals. I am so proud of my little babies!
https://notdeadjustretired.blogspot.com/2022/12/
I hadn't slept as I had a very early morning flight to catch to Abu Dhabi. My phone pinged with the dreaded message
Your flight to Frankfurt has been delayed by two hours.
My heart sank. I knew that was cutting it very fine if I was to catch my connecting flight to the UAE. Now I normally catch a direct flight but that was working out at 800 euro dearer. As I was also going to Berlin which was costing 800 euro I figured that this way would get me two holidays for the price of one.
BIG MISTAKE!
So I set off for the airport in the pitch dark, wondering what lay ahead of me. I kept reassuring myself that I could still make it if I legged it in Frankfurt airport.
But things got worse.
Yes we were delayed for two hours but than we waited another hour and a halk on the runway before we took off. I had about five minutes to make it!
Everyone was freaking out. The stewardess told us that every flight was being delayed so we would probably make our outward flights.
Got to Frankfurt terminal and searched frantically for my flight but details weren't on the board. I asked a Lufthansa rep for help. She looked at her chart and said"D5...you need to take a shuttle bus." She wrote it down on a piece of paper.
I raced out to where the shuttle buses were and saw people being shoved on. I asked the man who seemed to be in charge
"D terminal?" and I showed him the piece of paper. He said
"Yes" and pushed me on.
We arrived at E terminal! My heart sank again and I asked the man at the dorr
"D terminal?" he waved in the direction of a corridor and I set off. The signs read
A, B, C terminals but no D
I turned back and met yerman again. I said
"D terminal not there".
He looked disparagingly at me, waved his arm again but this time at a chair and said
"I meant to sit there. Bus will come."
So I did what any self respecting woman would do and started to cry. I had visions of missing my flight by mere minutes and all because of being in Terminal E not D.
Some young fella felt sorry for me and said he was going to D. Bus arrived and we set off. We got to terminal and ran to D5. I saw that the queue was still there so I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn't late. Then I looked at the flight details. It said
"Hanoi"
FFS! I didn't want to go to Vietnam, I wanted Abu Dhabi! I asked a rep again and she looked at me as if I had two heads and said
"This is for Hanoi, not Abu Dhabi."
"I KNOW! But I was sent here", and I showed her my little piece of paper.
Back to terminal A and found Lufthansa's desk. There was a queue a mile long. When I eventually got to the top I was met again with distain.
"Did you not get our email with your rescheduled flight. Tomorrow, to Abu Dhabi via Istanbul."
"NO I DID NOT GET AN EMAIL! And what about my luggage? Where is it?"
"Your luggage will be automatically transferred."
So next day I set off on my travels again. As we were descending into Abu Dhabi airport I overheard a man in front of me asking the steward about his luggage as he had come from Dublin the day before. I decided to latch onto him as he was in the same boat/plane as me.
We waited at the luggage carousel as it went around and around. Neither of our suitcases arrived.He was coming to visit his daughter and had a pound of sausages in his! At least mine wouldn't be mingin' if it ever arrived.
I filled in the necessary forms and headed off with Jennifer.
The next days were spent trying to get some answers. I was met with a stone wall. Etihad said it was Lufthansa's responsibility and Lufthansa said they had no record of my booking! I sent them on a copy of my digital receipt to say they had checked in my luggage but no joy.
I decided that my suitcase was lost in action and I would never see it again and went shopping.
12 days later I got a phone call to say my case was in Abu Dhabi airport and to go and collect it. After three hours in the airport I was finally rejoined with it. When I got it back to the apartment I read the tag on it. It had been delivered to Abu Dhabi on the 23rd.
IT HAD BEEN IN THE AIRPORT FOR A WEEK BEFORE I WAS TOLD!!!
I didn't even open it as I was heading back home a day later.
Got to the airport to be told that this flight was going to be an hour and a half delayed.
Here we go again!
Mad dash for my connecting flight which I just made by the skin of my teeth. I figured there was no way my suitcase would have been transferred in that short a time so I nearly wasn't even going to bother going to the baggage reclaim. Luckily I did because...
Guess which was the first case out!!!
So now I am unpacking and just hanging back up all the lovely outfits that never got worn. At least I have no washing or ironing to do.
My little case is very battered and bruised after her travels and I don't see her ever travelling again.
I have learned some important lessons from this.
1. You don't need 1/8 of the clothes that you pack for a holiday.
2. You can have the holiday of a lifetime without your luggage
and most importantly
3. ALWAYS FLY DIRECT. IT'S WORTH EVERY EXTRA FECKIN' EURO!!!
After my only meltdown of the entire holiday, I finally arrived home. Every night during my trip, tucked up in bed, I checked the stat...
