Volcanic ash...in England? Yes, for that week in April (15th to the 20th) I found myself stranded in England along with an estimated 40,000 other American flyers by the volcanic ash from the eruption of Mt. Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland. Completely by chance, of course. I was on a 4 hour layover between Madrid and Raleigh waiting in the Heathrow American Airlines lounge when the news came on the telvision with images of the volcano. As the annoucer spoke of messages from the UK's Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) and the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) warning of impending flight cancellations, I watched with a sense of resignation as the flight board went red.
It was odd being cocooned in the lounge, or later to be walking around outside, and see no evidence of the ash at all. In fact, it was odd to be walking around London and have sunny, blue skies; which we had the week or so I was there. Stranded with a co-worker, who had arranged a 8 hour layover to speak at the BBC on his way between Dubai and Washington, DC, we spent most our time trying to figure out how to get off the island, interspersed with working in our hotel rooms and some sightseeing.
During those first days we made a trip out to Greenwich to visit the Royal Observatory; one of the few sights in London neither of us had seen. The water taxi ride up the Thames was pleasant and I recommend it. The Observatory was fascinating and nestled in the very pleasant Greenwich Park. It is the site of the invention in 1765 of the measurement of longitude (via clocks), the home of Greenwich Mean Time developed for that purpose, and the location of the Prime Meridian. Greenwich itself is a UNESCO World Heritage site and we ended the visit with ice cream in the Greenwich Market while waiting for our double-decker London bus back to the city. You can just see the volcanic particulate haze that was appearing on the London skyline in the picture of the Park below.
The attempt to escape was frantic. 40,000 stranded Americans was just the tip of the iceberg. It was the start of the British version of spring break, so add to that all the Europeans trying to get home or leave. And the cloud shut down most of Northern Europe as well, so add to that all the British not on the island trying to get back and all the other Europeans and Americans trying to get off the continent and get home. An estimated 17,000 European flights were cancelled on April 17th alone. The crush was overwhelming. Flights from the UK and other countries, were all rebooked and recancelled on a rolling daily basis.
Other transportation was not better. Very quickly everyone figured out the only way to get home was to leave the UK however possible. Ferries were booked solid weeks in advance. The only openings were for those who rode bicycles, and people bought them in droves at the coast so they could board only to abandon them in France, Spain, Portugal and the Benelux. The Eurostar was sold out for weeks, even after the government doubled the number of trains. Even the Queen Elizabeth 2 sold out. We considered trying to pay a fisherman cash to carry us across to France, but the prospect of joining droves of other pedestrians with luggage on the French coast with no forward transportation or place to stay was daunting.
Hotels were also a problem, as those trying to leave booked everything near transit and those who decided to wait it out booked everything in London. We had to change hotels regularly to find empty rooms. We finally moved out to Slough to save money and find rooms we could hold for a week. Ironically, the railroad's slogan was about being better connected?
We put in about 4 hours a day in Slough looking for ways to escape, interspersed with trips to Slough's laundromat, the Tesco and looking for something to eat other than the hotel's pint with fish and chips. We often ran into other stranded Americans doing exactly the same; a fraternity of sorts. We ended up eating a lot of Middle Eastern food. Ironic, as we had both just come from the Middle East.
The home office told us to just get home; cost was not an issue. In the end, we managed to secure seats on one of the extra Eurostar trains and went to Paris; though we had no onwards plan. We figured it had plenty of hotels and and more travel options to elsewhere.
We then sat at a cafe in the Gard du Nord with thousands of other 
people trying to figure out a plan. The experience was very French. The staff inside the station spoke little to no English, the menus were only in French and the attendant at the pay toilets could not produce correct change. The last is what struck me, as the line of needy people stretched out the door and down the hall, but the attendant would not let you in without exact change of 70 Euro cents as she'd run out of change. What traveler from outside the Euro zone (which excludes the UK and everyone on Eurostar) carries that? The entire experience was not service friendly for the majority of customers, who come from the UK and Eurostar.
people trying to figure out a plan. The experience was very French. The staff inside the station spoke little to no English, the menus were only in French and the attendant at the pay toilets could not produce correct change. The last is what struck me, as the line of needy people stretched out the door and down the hall, but the attendant would not let you in without exact change of 70 Euro cents as she'd run out of change. What traveler from outside the Euro zone (which excludes the UK and everyone on Eurostar) carries that? The entire experience was not service friendly for the majority of customers, who come from the UK and Eurostar.
Our plan at the time was to try to get to Madrid, which was not under the cloud. From there I could fly to Puerto Rico and back to Raleigh. My colleague could fly direct to Washington. Spain was a long way, and crowded with everyone else trying to escape. (The UK was picking British citizens up off the beach with naval vessels and shipping them home.) We also toyed with Vienna and Rome, which were at the edge of the ash.
While we were struggling through how to pee and get out from under the cloud that covered
most of Europe, the US office called and said they had found us tickets to Dubai from Rome. Could we get to Rome? Since we both had to be back in Dubai in a few weeks anyway, we figured that was a better place to be stranded than Europe, so we decided to figure it out.
most of Europe, the US office called and said they had found us tickets to Dubai from Rome. Could we get to Rome? Since we both had to be back in Dubai in a few weeks anyway, we figured that was a better place to be stranded than Europe, so we decided to figure it out.
Most trains from France were booked solid with escapees. Madrid and Vienna trains were booked solid. We could make it to Munich only. Flights everywhere were booked solid. However, we could get an overnight train at midnight to Rome. When the office called, we chose Rome and headed off to the airport to spend time seeing if we could get standby on a flight to Rome, until we needed to leave for the Gard du Est for the Rome train.
The subway was another typically French experience. My colleague asked some French teens in English on one train if we had the right one and they told him "non". Of course we did, and I could tell from the kid's face he was intentionally misleading the "dumb American". I just added it to my life-long pile of negative experiences in France.
At Charles de Gaulle Airport, we drifted around several terminals looking for flights that were still on. The European flights terminal was empty and silent, except for JAL and Turkish Air. We tried getting on each; JAL to Tokyo was booked solid and the line of Japanese businessmen at security wrapped around the ticket hall. Turkish Air to Istanbul was also full, but here we were just stuck in line behind a pair of bickering Turks; which was oddly familiar and comfortable for both of us given our exposure to the region.
So we drifted over to the hall housing the US airlines. At this point, a week into the experience, there were a couple of flights out to Canada and the US. All others showed as cancelled, and more were cancelling as we watched the two-story board from a balcony. I am pleased to report however that the airport carpeting no longer stinks like cigarettes. CDG used to me my least favorite airport because the terminals stank like cigarettes.
Just then the US office called and said they had Air France tickets from Paris to Rome; could we make it? We flew down the terminal to the gate and were soon on board. The French scalped us USD 1000 a seat and stuck us on an Alitalia flight, but we made it to Rome. We arrived about 1 AM after a USD 70 taxi ride; too late for the hotel kitchen to serve us dinner. There was no Internet either of course at this Marriott, though it had a great view in the morning. Welcome to Italy.
Early next morning we arrived at the Rome airport to make a bid for standby seats home rather than flying to Dubai. We figured we'd just hang around ticket counters until our Dubai flight and see if we could get on. We were pleased to get standby status on our respective airlines, and my colleague went off to the United gates. I waited with a horde of anxious standby passengers at my gate waiting to see if I'd get on; I was last on the list. There were crying college students who were broke and had been sleeping in the airport; old Italians who did not understand what was going on; pushy international businessmen who knew the score; and a crew of 6 Italian American Airlines staff trying to sort out 20+ standby tickets and the crowd.
In the end, it all worked out and I made it on the flight home via Chicago. At that point I was happy to fly West to Chicago to fly East to Raleigh. It was better than some routing via Puerto Rico or Dubai. Ironically, the second erruption of Eyjafjallajokull cancelled my second return home the next month as well and I had to reroute via Frankfut. But that is a different story.
