Saturday, April 17, 2010

Trouble in Paradise...

Hi,

As it happens, I went today to visit a friend at the local radio station. That's when I found out that the Icelandic volcano has shut down movement of airplanes for the last few days in Western Europe. So far, 18,000 flights have been cancelled.

I spoke to one couple from UK who said their children have been stuck 3 days in Athens trying to get home to England. No one seems to know what will happen next... wind may shift but it's doubtful, planes may be re-routed but how?

It seems that the particles in the cloud are such that it would tear up the plane's engine... not a good way to travel.

My itinerary has me leaving in a little over a week from Athens to Paris. As of now, no problem leaving Athens, but if you are on a flight to Paris, London, Poland. It's a matter of finding a flight that doesn't go north and over Greenland. It'd probably involve a southerly route into the U.S. If you hear anything or know of anything that would present an alternative, I'd sure be interested.

Otherwise, who knows? Could be I'm in for a very long stay....

6 comments:

  1. Yep, it's worrisome. I've been thinking about you. Let's hope it clears up in the next week.

    SZ

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  2. Hi SZ,

    No end in sight... cloud has now reached northern Spain and volcano continues to spew... sigh! Thanks for your good wishes. R

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  3. if you're going to have trouble, I guess you can be happy that you're in paradise when you have it. Halie Loren is featured in the Weekly. p. 23 Maybe you can look it up. Little taste of home. Your horoscope in the weekly makes reference to the volcanic eruption, I think. Pretty funny.

    jh

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  4. Hey JH,

    Does it make reference to the eruption in a good way? As in "over by the end of the week?"

    Thanks for the bit about home grown entertainment. Ciao, R

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  5. As of Sunday noon on Wash. Post - The EU is saying as many as half of airports may resume on Monday. Air France was mentioned as one that has done some test flights and reported no problems. We can only hope. Beautiful sunny day. Wish you were hear for a nice walk.

    SZ

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  6. My first post--you know how I resist electronic complications. It sounds like a wonderful trip. Thanks for all the great pictures. I love the peeks inside people's homes and businesses. What fun! Love you, Justine

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