Travel Woes

Sometimes...well, actually most of the time, the getting to and from a place can be far and away the most unpleasant part of any trip.  Sure, enjoy the voyage and don't stress about the destination, but they're talking about life, not actually travelling.  I do enough of both to be quite sure.  First and foremost North West Africa was getting some of the worst weather they had ever seen the morning of my departure.  While driving winds and low visibility are fairly common on Canada's East Coast, Morocco's drainage is just not set up to cope.  Schools were closed, and some earlier flights were cancelled, but I headed to the airport anyway, well before first light.  The terminal was shaking and the power was out, but they started boarding only forty minutes late, and we were soon off to Casablanca, bouncing and rattling but I'm certainly no stranger to turbulence.   Then Casablanca....

No, that's not Casablanca in the photo, that's Heathrow's fancy new digs.  Very impressive, very organized, very efficient, and very far removed from Casablanca's debacle. I have to say, that was thee worst security check I have ever done.  There were four long lines for four open security checkpoints, and I was at the very back, but then there was this big rush and the line thickened at the front to ten abreast per line, then again the line thickened at the front to twenty abreast, then forty, and soon there was a disorganized mass of culture and language barriers pushing and shoving and elbowing forever forward towards a chance to get through one of the four gates.  It took me over an hour.  It was not pleasant.  I'll apologize in advance if I offend anyone but the flight was filled to overflowing with pasty white overweight Brits happy to be headed home, and there was someone nearby with a stench of BO so overpowering I was nauseous. I did sit with an interesting English historian with a penchant for early British influence in East Africa, so with the vent directed towards my nose, the conversation was enlightening, and the flight was not a complete nightmare.

With the travel I do, averaging over 85,000 miles a year, I'm a pretty efficient traveller, but sometimes I break my own rules.  Fifteen years ago on a tour in Baku, Azerbaijan, I desperately wanted to purchase one of the famous carpets they are world renowned for, but carrying two mortgages and dancing with bankruptcy, I couldn't justify the cost.  But now in Morocco, significantly more flush, I put some effort into finding a Berber rug and found some very nice ones, so I purchased some cheap luggage at the market to get them home, but now I've got one extra bag to lug around.  I didn't think it would be a problem, but with an overnight on the way home through London, all the cabs refused a local fare paying with plastic, and with very little local currency in hand, I decided to lug all my bags to the Central Bus Station, and stumble my way onto a city bus, who dropped me off with two city blocks of cobblestones to wrestle and trip and fight my unweidly bags to the airport hotel my company had booked.  Did I mention it was raining?  It didn't matter much as my bags spent enough time sitting out on the ramp in the driving rain in Agadir, Morocco to soak most everything inside of them.  That first beer in the hotel bar went down very , very well.

Next morning I head down for the standard complimentary breakfast buffet, only to find out afterwards it was not included, something I had NEVER heard of, so twenty British pounds poorer, I start making my way back to the airport, the devil's luggage in tow.  The efficiency of Heathrow's completely redesigned terminal was appreciated, even though I was a tad lost.  I had been through here a dozen times a year over the past decade but it's been completely revamped, and I must admit for the better.  There was quite a commotion at Air Canada's check in desk but I sauntered up to my privileged Priority check in and flashed my 75K card, only to discover St.John's airport is closed due to an ice storm and my flight has been cancelled.  75K (for having flown over 75,000 miles with Star Alliance the year prior) has it's privileges, and although I lost my business class upgrades, they did manage to get me another flight through Montreal, and still home today (hopefully- this adventure is still unravelling), only I'll now miss supper.  I'm still in the Heathrow lounge now, killing a few extra hours, and my travel home is far from over.  I still have to collect all those bags in Montreal and clear customs, recheck them in for the final leg to Halifax, and I know I turn around again in less than a week and head to Aberdeen....the price to pay having the best job in the world....