"Brilliant!" you say. One small problem, our flight was departing from Orly Airport on the complete other side of the Paris Metro area. With our hotel already paid for and nonrefundable, we decided to stay out at CDG and awake E-A-R-L-Y for the ride(s) to Orly.
We woke up at 3:30AM after about 4 hours of sleep, took the shuttle bus to the CDG airport, where we caught the RER train to Denfert Rochereau station in Paris, where we caught the OrlyBus to Orly airport-- all on time! (I had been concerned that we might not make it in time to check in for our 7:45AM flight.)
My relief in making it to the airport on-time quickly changed to grief.
The folks at the easyJet counter informed us that our flight to Venice was cancelled---they then sent us upstairs to try to re-schedule our flight. After a long wait, we were informed that easyJet could get us on the flight "on five" as the Frenchman told us.
"OK, that isn't too bad-- we'll miss our day in Venice, but at least we'll make our 8:00PM flight to Sofia", I muttered.
The Frenchman behind the counter looked at us and said, "No, zee flight leaves on August 5."
How would we get to Sofia? Would we have to buy 4 new tickets on short notice? I'm sure that wouldn't be expensive. We talked with the worker at the counter and he told us that easyJet would put us up in a hotel in Paris until the 5th or we could pay for our own tickets on another airline and hopefully be reimbursed by easyJet within 30 days. Good choices.
We were contemplating our options, when we heard another passenger saying to a friend that easyJet could get him on a flight elsewhere in Italy latter in the day. We approached him for details.
"Meelanew", he said.
I was puzzled. Where the heck was Meelanew? I asked him a few more questions before I discovered that he was referring to Milan.
OK, this might work. I racked the mental map of Europe in my mind. Hmmmm.......Milan is in Northern Italy, not all that far from Venice. Maybe a two hour train ride from Venice? The flight leaves at 1:30PM and lands before 3:30PM-- we could do it.
We went back the counter and spoke to the same gentlemen who had given us the bad news a half-hour before. He poked at his computer keyboard for several minutes before telling us that A) the flight to Milan left from Charles de Gaulle airport, not Orly. B) The flight was full.
After a some pleading, he agreed to overbook the flight to Milan and told us to be among the first to check-in so that we were assured of making the flight. We turned and ran for the AirFrance bus to CDG airport and forked out another 60Euro to go right back to where we came from. Nice.
After arriving at CDG (and leaving my laptop on the AirFrance bus-- an entirely different story) we waited to check-in for a couple of hours before receiving our boarding passes-- which guaranteed we would make it to Milan. While waiting at the gate, I decided to use my newly recovered laptop to check train schedules in Italy (yep, we got it back!).
It wasn't long until our thoughts about making it to the Venice airport changed yet again.
First, "Ladies and gentlemen the flight to Milan will be delayed". Uh-oh. Second, a little research indicated that there was a one hour ride to Milan's central train station from the airport, and then, based on our new arrival time to Milan, a 3 hour plus train ride to Venice, where we would need to catch another shuttle bus to the airport. Because our new arrival time would have us in Milan shortly before 4:00PM, we were kind of sc*e*w*d. Trying to keep it G rated people. Talk about frustrating. Yes, we'll make it! No, we're not gonna make it. Well....maybe we will. No, definitely not.
What could we do? We thought of several different options. Was there another easyJet flight to Venice directly? Nope. Could we take another airline to Venice that afternoon? $900.00 each. Yeah, no thanks. Was there a easyJet flighty to Sofia? Negatory.
Our options were running out. We decided to rent a car in Meelanew and drive to the Venice-Treviso airport. Chances are we wouldn't make it in time-- but maybe, just maybe we could do it if we drove quickly enough or if there was some sort of delay on Wizzair (a storm in Venice would be nice).
After finally getting into the air we began to accept our fate-- we would likely not make it to Sofia that night. In fact, it may be a couple of days before we could get there. Oh well, who wouldn't want to spend a couple of nights in Venice?? Not such a bad option after all.
We landed in Meelanew and thought that we might have a chance-- until we took the 20 minute hike through the airport to the baggage claim. Attitude change once again. We're not gonna make it now. We picked up our single checked bag (in addition to our 4 carry-ons) and scurried to the Avis counter to inquire about a rental car. Remarkably, considering Italian bureaucracy they quickly gave us a car and we set off-- knowing that the odds were against us....as you can see by our expressions below. Notice, we never lost our sense of humour. That's just how we roll ;)
We sped across Northern Italy, averaging between 130 and 150 km/h (80 to 93 MPH) in a tiny Fiat. The lanes were labeled by Jaime as follows: Fast, Super Fast, and Crazy Fast. We hung out in Super Fast (we didn't want to go too crazy).
As we got closer to Treviso we realized we might actually have a chance to make the flight. We pulled off the highway and pulled up to the airport, where the kids and Jaime jumped/fell out of the car (while tripping over our 5 bags) and tried to check all of us in while I attempted to find the rental car return area (another good story). After some pleading (and refusing to be denied) Jaime talked the closed Wizzair counter worker into allowing us onto the flight, well, us, minus me....but thankfully, we worked that out with the security guards after they attempted my arrest. Just kidding, they let me through...no problem!
We made it. We were winging our way to Sofia, Bulgaria. After the day we had, none of us believed that we were actually on our way. Kids- sodas on us! (yeah, yeah...they drank soda - daddy said they could).
A little more than an hour later we landed and were greeted by Elena, one of the teachers at our new school. She graciously accompanied us to our new home in the southern suburb of Boyana, set on the slopes of Mount Vitosha. We knew that our new home was large, but it wasn't until we arrived that we realized how large it was. Palatial would be the best word to describe it. Despite the fact that we were exhausted, we all spent over an hour exploring the nooks and crannies of the place that we will call home for the next two years. It was amazing! Cameron even weaseled her way into having the room on the top floor with the bathroom and little Rapunzel balcony (the one in the photo below)! It wasn't long until the kids were asking if it might be possible to stay "just a bit longer" than our contract.
By the way, this posting was tag team written by both Thomas and I, so you may notice a change in voice throughout. Sorry to confuse you. Thomas wrote most of it, and I 'edited' here and there. Heheheh. Wonder if you guys can tell the difference?
pindur, sounds like you're having some wonderful adventures in europe. i'm enjoying getting reacquainted with asia, but i definitely have my eyes fixed on getting out your way in the near future. drop me an email, let me know how you're doing...
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