We thought this was an appropriate beginning to this blog. Jon (Steph´s fiance) sent this to her parents after we had landed safely in Rio ...
Frank and Sandie,
I'm not sure how much Steph told you about Friday, but I'm guessing she didn't give you the entire picture, so I'm going to tell tales...
It wasn't entirely her fault, but it was mostly!
Due to what we thought would be issues over her Brazilian visa, she booked a ticket from London Luton to Paris Charles de Gaulle, so that she could skip the London City-Paris Orly flight and the transfer across Paris, which left earlier. However, she then failed to tell Air France that she needed to cancel the first half of the flight - something that she claims(!) she's done before. The day before, she was finally gong to do it, but my phone died while we were in London and there office was shut by the time we got home, so she started to organise her packing and generally spread further chaos/mess around the flat - I'm sure that isn't a difficult picture to imagine.
So, this brings us to Friday. The alarm went off at 8am, so that she could ring Air France as soon as their office opened. Which she did, at which point I got wind that this wasn;t as simple as it was going to be, so I looked online and texted Anna to tell her that there were problems and it looked like she was going to have to get from Edinburgh to London City to get the original flight, but I said Steph would ring her back as soon as she got off the phone. I told Anna that she could either get a train, if she left immediately, or to fly in an hour and a half. At which point, she told me that she was in Braemar, 2 hours from Edinburgh.
Steph got off the phone, highly frustrated with Air France, unsurprisingly, as all they could offer to do was cancel the tickets and refund the tax, or change the tickets at a cost of £1300 each. She then rang Anna, who had pressganged her Dad into driving her to Edinbrugh airport and they were on their way. Steph then began packing, at which point I told her we needed to leave at 10am to get to Peterborough station to get a train that would get us in time. This was now 9am.
At 9.20am, I scream came from the kitchen, as Steph had looked out of the window and seen that Uppingham seemed to have been hit by a (UK-style) blizzard and all the cars were driving at about 10mph - this was going to take longer than I thought! So I said we'd leave as soon as she finished packing. She finished at 9.55am!
We jumped in the car and drove to Peterborough. Thankfully, Uppingham seemed to be in a strange pocket of snow, and on the way to Peterborough, the snow turned to rain and we made much better progress, getting there in time for our train, at whcih point we started to relax a little.
What we were unaware of (and I don't think I got the exact details of this), is that Anna had needed to print out her ticket (or similar), but the ink had run out in her printer. So, as her Dad was speeding towards the airport, her brother changed the ink cartridges, printed what she needed out and then sped after her, so that she was able to get to Departures and check-in just in time. I dread to think what her Dad's driving was like!!
Arriving in london, we then crossed over on the Underground and arrived through the airport doors about 5 mintes before Anna came through arrivals.
I have absolutely no idea how they managed to do it, but they made it! It certainly wasn't stress-free and if life is going to continue like that, then my life expectancy will certainly go down!!!! Mind you, so will Steph's!! Rumour has it, her New YEar's Resolution is to be more roganised, including being tidier, so that she can find things more easily when she's packing, especially at the last minute! I'll believe that when I see it!!
I am dumbfounded as to how they both got there on the day that they had planned, considering all the things that look set to go wrong, with tickets, UK visas, Brazilian visas, etc. And to top it all off, we even managed to sort her out with her dream jacket, which they'd sold out of in Peterborough.
What have I got myself in?! Love really is cruel! I'm in trouble! (but don't worry, there's no going back, I'm in for the longhaul!)
I hope all's well with the both of you.
Term is all set to start now, and after the last whirlwind week, I feel like a holiday!
All the best,
J.x
We would like to add that when Anna and her dad drove to the Edinburgh airport her mum and Guy (boyfriend) were frantically attempting to buy her ticket.
After a few days in Rio we are now off on our first overnight bus journey to Floriaopolis.
Speak to you again soon!
Anna and Steph
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