Still stuck in Ireland (but now with an exit plan)
So much can happen in such little time, and then so little can happen, as well. I have a bit of both right now. My flight’s canceled again–the one for Monday morning–so I rescheduled to Thursday morning, since flights were sold out through Tuesday, and Wednesday flights probably will be cancelled, too. Who am I kidding? Thursday flights aren’t taking off, either. All planes are grounded indefinitely. The airlines are stringing everyone along with the idea of flights starting up, but that big ole volcano is still spewing ash into the air, so unless a monsoon washes it all away, the airs above Europe will remain empty for some time to come.
Finally coming to this realization, I decided to book a ferry. I tried Saturday morning to book one for Sunday. After countless attempts of trying to use both my American Express and Visa card, I was told the ferry on Sunday was sold out. The site ran my credit card and charged my credit card, but it didn’t give me a confirmation page, so I had no proof that I bought the ticket. Instead, they gave me an error page. Multiple times. In hindsight, I realize now I was on a ferry broker website instead of the official site for the company, so I might have had better luck on the official site. But directferries.ie sounded pretty legit to me under the pressure of time and frantic mental state. Their shoddy website should have been the warning sign.
Anywho, after that failed attempt, I tried booking the next available ferry, which leaves on THURSDAY. Yes, I said Thursday, folks. I was supposed to be in Amsterdam last Friday morning, and now I’m taking an 18 hour ferry from Rosslare, Ireland to Cherbourg, France the Thursday after. So I get in Friday in France at 4:30pm, then get on a train to Paris at 7pm. That puts me in Paris at about 10pm. Now, originally, before St. Helen’s Icelandic sibling decided to get all uppity, I was supposed to fly back from Brussels to Chicago Saturday morning. Ha! That thinking is so April 14th. To American Airline’s credit, I was able to reschedule my flight without a rescheduling charge to Thursday the 29th. That will give me Saturday through Wednesday to see the sights I had wanted to see in the first place. And who knows? The way that volcano keeps spewing, I might be here longer than that. I heard the last time this volcano erupted, it continued erupting for a full year. I think I might apply for EU citizenship.