TRAVELLING WOES

Travelling normally conjures up images of excitment, fun and enjoyment, not at the moment due to the lovely volcano on Iceland Eyjafjallajoekull. It has been spewing up ash since Wednesday when it erupted and continues to do so now five days later. The wind has blown the ash over Northern and Central Europe and UK which means big disruptions for airlines, airports and travellers. The ash can cause damage to the aircraft therefore no flying.

I am sure we all know of someone affected by the disruption. A work colleagues`daughter cannot return to the UK, our neighbour should have been in London this weekend and my parents should have been in Rome. I myself was going to go to Geneva for the weekend and had to change that (can`t blame the ash for that one though)

Even for the funeral of the late Polish President Lech Kaczynski quite a few of the invited guests will not be able to come, including Prince Charles and President Obama. Also the actor John Cleese paid £3000 to travel by taxi from Oslo to Brussels. A group of people in Belfast paid a taxi driver£700 to drive to London, desperate times call for desperature measures.

In fact it is a little worrying as to how long it will continue to erupt and how long the flight disruptions will last. We are supposed to go to Scotland early May, let`s pray that by then everything will be ok.

Now travellers need to find other options and this means the trains and ferries will get overbooked. Or else just have a holiday in your own country instead.

The advantage of living in Europe is that you can still visit another countries quite easily not only by train but car too.

So fellow travellers I wish you all good luck if you do venture somewhere and hope you get there too!

HAPPY TRAVELLING