European Debt Crisis

Train from Paris to London

In Mid-April 2010 my wife and I were on our European vacation when a volcano in Iceland erupted sending volcanic ash into the air disrupting air travel.  Since we so happened to have been there is affected our flight on Air France from Paris to London.

We were to spend 3 nights France and 3 nights in England. On the second to the last day in Paris we went to Paris Nord to see if we can find train tickets so we can continue on to the second leg of our vacation. We stayed in line for awhile and finally were able to speak with the lady working for Eurostar. No direct tickets were available so we ended up having to buy ticket to Lille Europe and then to London so we did.

The train ride to London ended up costing us an extra $750. You wouldn’t think money would be an issue but it is for many whom didn’t plan on spending more than they wanted. We were fortunate to have the money of course but my point is not about us because there were so many people at that train station that were not as fortunate as us. Story after story was being told on the news about families that were stranded abroad and could not get back to their own country.

The sad part  about the train ride was that my wife and I had to get on separate trains. Imagine being on vacation with the love of your life and you have split up and actually leave that person in a different country. I ended up speaking to people from Sweden who said they were taking a train to Lille Europe so they can rent a car to drive back home because all the cars in France were already reserved.

London to Ourselves Thanks to Ash

My wife and I eventually met up together two and half hours later in London and continued our vacation. On the last day of our vacation, Wednesday, April 21, 2010 the airport in London opened and we were able to catch our Delta flight as planned. Many people had been at the airport for days waiting since their flights were delayed but it worked out for us. We were ready to stay another week if needed. Financially, we were just fine but I can see how this was a European crisis for many people, especially businesses that were counting on the new tourists that were not able to come into the country.

We were able to do more tours since we were some of the only tourists there on vacation, that part was great in fact we did a lot of things twice and got great prices on last minute tickets to see the Jersey Boys at the theater.

Picture here is of my wife and I on top of the double decker bus, the Original Sightseeing Tour of London, we were by ourselves for awhile, it was great!