So....ski week (aka February break for those back at home in Canada) was upon us and a couple of friends and I decided to head to Portugal. Why Portugal? Good question! I found myself asking that very question at times too. I ask right back, "Why not?" We were looking for a warm, decently priced vacation and for the most part got what we were looking for (the latter of the two is what I'm speaking to here).
Needless to say, Friday came and an American, a Canadian and an Australian fled the school grounds for a week long vacation. What awaited them? Well, that's the story we all want to hear.... (And some of us are not sure whether we're ready to relive it lol).
It all started off with the cab being late for picking us up from school. Now normally we'd take a bus to the train station, but today we were on a tight schedule so we needed a quick get away and a cab that was (or was supposed to be).
Let me pause here to let you know that we more often than not fly out of Milan as there are very few flights leaving Genoa for our holiday destination choices and those that do fly out of here are PRICEY! Needless to say the travel time to the flight is quite extended as the train to Milan is 2 hrs and then it's an hour or so from there to the airports.
So after a few minutes waiting for our cab we called again and luckily the man who showed up understood we were in a crisis: needing to be down town in 15 minutes to catch our train. Had we been on the Amazing Race this man would have been our life saver as we were at the train station in record time. Breathing kinda heavily, suitcases on hyper mode and moving as though we were Richard Simmons in mid workout we found our platform only to learn that our train was 15 minutes delayed. Well, all that rush for naught hey? So grabbing some snacks we hunkered down and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
What was to be a 15 min delay turned into 20, then 25 quite quickly. And this seemed to be the pattern for the ENTIRE trip to Milan. Let me say that we were kinda pushing our luck with our Friday night flight to Porto, Portugal. If all went well, we were to arrive at the airport approximately 1-1.5 hrs before our flight which SHOULD have been plenty of time.
But what could go wrong....
Definitely did that Friday, February 20th evening.
Our train was 1 HOUR late in arriving in Milan and we still needed to get to the airport. Flight time: 8:30pm; time at this moment: 7:00pm. Prayers were said and decisions needed to be made hastily. A bus to the airport would take a minimum 1 hour from time of departure (and who knew when that would be), the train at least 50 minutes (but only leaves twice an hour), so....option #3 it was: cab. Let's just say, to our dismay, this man was in no hurry whatsoever. Had he been our driver on the Amazing Race, we would have lost. Badly! :( Do you know how frustrating it is to be sitting in a car, no control at all, and watch all the other cars whiz by you in the left hand lanes? *sigh*
Arriving at the airport just before 8:00pm, hearts very heavy with anticipation for what awaited us inside, we drove our suitcases into the airport and looked for the TAP Portugal check-in desk. Guess what? There wasn't one to be found. :( Thus we approached the Uzbekistan flight desk, which was looking pretty good at this point, to learn that yep, we were too late. Even the check-in desk was dried up and abandoned.
Dejected, ready to cry, disheartened and frustrated we headed to find someone who could help us figure out what to do next. I, and my flight companions, had NEVER missed a flight before in our lives so this was new territory to us: both emotionally and mentally.
After being directed to the "help" desk, we found out that changing our flight was not an option so we'd have to book an entirely new flight. Yikes! Now the trip was taking a financial turn we all did not anticipate. In talking with the "help" lady, we quickly realized that booking through her would mean a definite increase in price. So, phones/ipads in hand we found a comfy, cozy spot in the airport and started looking for new flights.
Flights were found but unfortunately, 3 different credit cards later, nothing could be booked. At this point certain letters (aka W, T and F) were flying through our minds and yes, let's just admit, out our mouths. Still dejected, frustrated, heartbroken, etc. etc. we headed for comfort food (aka McDonalds) to decide our next move.
Over salads and grease, we figured that nothing more could be done tonight so we'd have to return EARLY in the morning to talk to the "help" desk again. Therefore, we needed a plan of action for tonight. Stay at the airport? Get a hotel room? Well, we figured since s*&^ already hit the fan, we might as well get a few hours of sleep in a bed before dealing with our woes the next day. Luckily finding a close, cheap hotel was easier than getting a new flight the next day. So, at 11:30 pm we were headed via shuttle (at least SOMETHING was looking up) to our hotel.
4 hours later......
Yep, that's right. Only 4 short hours were spent in the hotel which accounted for checking in, sleeping, rising, getting ready and checking out, and then we were back on our way to the airport. Fingers crossed and a worried silence enveloped the cab that fateful morning. Before we knew it there we were.....4:45am and back at the scene of the crime.
Apparently luck can change after a good (?? nope, that's not the word to describe it) ... let's just say after a nap.
We encountered a very helpful, pleasant lady at the "help" desk who was able to book us in for flights to Lisbon at 6:30am that day. Price? Let's not mention that part. All we knew was we would finally be on our way to our long awaited vacation.
From there on in it was smooth sailing. Who would've thunk?!?!
Security: check.
Flight: check.
Luggage arriving in Lisbon: check.
Metro to the train station: easy peasy.
Train to Porto: no problem.
Cab to hotel: ready and waiting.
Finally: our holiday was about to begin. Bring on Porto and some expats looking to have some fun. :)
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