As I’ve mentioned before, we have a termly citizenship theme in our school. This term, in anticipation of the World Cup, we are focusing on teamwork. As I set off with my husband for a Nile Cruise to celebrate our silver wedding during the Easter break, I didn’t expect to experience the teamwork needed to get me back to my family and school, but it was the teamwork that made the experience an adventure rather than a nightmare and provided material for my first, albeit late, assembly of the term!
The cruise was great, the ancient monuments magnificent, the scenery spectacular and the people we met very friendly. We experienced many examples of teamwork including the Egyptian surgeon who operated on me before Christmas who promised to get me well enough for this long anticipated celebration, family who looked after our daughter, strangers who lent us Egyptian money when we couldn’t change any, people who sent us their photos when we accidentally deleted half of ours, and the hard working staff on the boat who never seemed to rest. Sadder were the examples of extreme poverty we saw, the many children who did not go to school, the infant-aged children working in so called Carpet Schools and more.
It was fascinating hearing people’s stories of where they had come from, why they were on the train and where they were trying to get toFull of memories and looking forward to a thanksgiving Mass and family party on our return, we boarded the flight from Cairo to London on Thursday 15 April, excited to find seatback consoles to play with on our journey home. Reaching to switch off my phone, I found a message from home saying two airports were closed due to ash from the Icelandic volcano, so when we were asked to leave the plane, we had an inkling of what the problem might be but no idea of what lay ahead. The airline were fantastic, providing refreshments and information courtesy of CNN and later accommodation in a 6 star resort – wow! What luxury, yet a sad contrast to the conditions many Egyptians live in! It wasn’t until the next morning when a note was pushed under the door to say flights were cancelled and we would have to pay our own accommodation that reality began to hit. Sitting in the hotel reception, people shared information about the likelihood of getting flights, news from home about the spread of the cloud and the many teachers for the school holidays realised they were unlikely to get back for the start of term so started phoning Heads and cover coordinators to be told they were the umpteenth person to have phoned! Again, relative strangers made arrangements to share hotel room floors to keep down costs, swapped phone numbers and contact details to share information and provided practical and emotional support. Having got to the airport and found it would be at least a week before we would get home, travel agents and local reps helped communicate with airline staff, organise taxis and hotels even for those who were not their clients.
We ended up back in the centre of Cairo thanks to our travel agent finding us a reasonably priced hotel room, no easy feat with the demand for rooms. Meanwhile family and friends rang round for us at home to make arrangements for our daughter and to cancel our party, even a friend offering freezer space to store our cake.
Two days and another hotel later, after hours of internet research, texts to and from home, watching TV reports, we decided our best chance of getting home was to get to Europe. Having tried to work out the path of the ash cloud, which airports were open and potential routes home, we managed to get flights to Istanbul just before that airport closed briefly. Again, we were helped out by strangers – the future in-laws of a family member who spoke no English, yet met us at the airport, took us to the train station and put us up in their flat and provided us with more food than we could eat – we quickly had to learn the Turkish for ‘full up’!
Istanbul train station was packed with people from all over Europe desperate to get home, no one even asking the price, keen to be reunited with family members. Having queued for a couple of hours and moved very little yet hearing that the trains for the next day had already sold out, we were alarmed to be pulled from the queue by our contacts and taken we knew not where and being unable to ask because for the lack of a common language. It later became clear they had found out there was only a short queue on the Asian side of Istanbul and we managed to secure tickets for two days later. While waiting to set out, we received great Turkish hospitality including the chance to wash clothes so that we had something clean and warm to change into, though a rescue operation was needed when a blouse fell from one balcony to the one below.
On the Tuesday night at 10 p.m., we finally set off on the train heading across Turkey, through Bulgaria on the way to Bucharest in Romania. We were lucky to have a carriage to ourselves which had bunks for the night and converted into chairs by day. Our internet research had prepared us to bring food and drink as there was none on the train, but others had not had access to the internet and came with nothing, so there was real sharing of food and drink to make sure that everyone had something. It was fascinating hearing people’s stories of where they had come from, why they were on the train and where they were trying to get to. There was someone desperate to get back for a job interview, again lots of teachers, people trying to get back for meetings and those who were travelling and had onward travel booked. We had a rude awakening at 3 a.m. when we had to get out on the Turkish border to show our passports and get an exit visa stamp. Having crept back into our warm bunks, we were surprised and annoyed to be woken what felt like minutes later and asked for passports. Bulgarian police this time. That person just wanted to know we had passports. There were three more knocks for passports – one to check the nationality, one the photo, one the stamp. We were not the only ones who could be heard saying, ‘That’s five times now!’ The next day, we travelled through the Bulgarian countryside: beautiful, fertile fields, towering mountains, dense forests and yet, sadly, many ramshackle houses and lots of rust.
More passport checks followed on either side of the Romanian border and a rickety journey on a rusty bridge over the Danube with a rusty road bridge above us. We finally reached Bucharest at 9.30 p.m. after doing an average of 12 mph from Istanbul when stoppage time was included as well as travelling time.
Istanbul train station was packed with people from all over Europe desperate to get home, no one even asking the price, keen to be reunited with family membersBucharest was another bleak place, though there was a MacDonald’s at the station, and we were glad an extra train was put on so we were able to travel overnight rather than negotiate the people touting for business on the station and finding a hotel. Thankfully, this train had a buffet car so we were able to have a hot drink and even a beer. The train also had wireless access, and people began sharing stories they were able to access and news of flights home becoming available. As we travelled through Romania the next day, we saw the welcome sight of planes in the sky and people risked booking flights from Budapest, though the passport stops meant the train ran ever later. Luckily a time zone change helped make catching it more optimistic. We enjoyed meeting people in the buffet car who had been in the footsteps of St. Paul and brought the Acts of the Apostles to life by telling us about their experiences. Hearing the places they had described mentioned in today’s readings at Mass (Sunday 25 April) was a reminder of sharing our faith with others on our journey.
As we grew closer to Budapest, some Austrian students told us there was a chance we could catch a train to Munich that afternoon, which would save us an overnight journey. They used their Blackberries to find out platform information and we headed to the front of the train, ready to jump off and make a dash for it. Sadly, as we pulled into the station, we saw the other train pull out.
The Austrian students instead helped us book sleeper reservations for the night train to Munich before catching a later train to Vienna, and we were then able to help another couple from the train get information about trains to Hamburg where a person they had met on their holiday had managed to get them flights. At this stage, we dared ring home and our son managed to book us flights for the next day from Munich, so getting home at last seemed a probability. Relieved, we enjoyed a few hours looking around Budapest where we had a job spending £20 and a corkscrew cost more than a bottle of wine. We boarded our final train and found ourselves sharing a cabin with two merchant navy cadets we had spotted stocking up earlier with beer for the journey on their way home for a much shortened home leave. Again, it was a chance to swap stories, find common ground and to hear about different parts of the world. The only pity was that, travelling though the night, we did not get to see any of the beautiful Austrian or German countryside.
Finally, we arrived in Munich where we have friends. Again, we were welcomed, despite the early hour, fed, offered beds and a much welcome shower. At last I was able to talk to my Deputy who had a done a fantastic job holding the fort at school. It was great to get to the airport, check in for flights, have our excess luggage ignored out of sympathy and experience the hospitality of British Airways. It was one of the gladdest moments of our lives to touch down at Heathrow, and equally welcoming when a family member met us from the coach at Digbeth.
That night was our ninth bed in ten nights and never has a bed felt more comfortable, though we have woken up the two mornings since being home wondering where we are.
We were wished the holiday of a lifetime before we set out and were hoping for it. A holiday of a lifetime it certainly was, though not in the way we anticipated, and our memories are filled not only with sights, sounds and smells, but above all with memories of the kindness of others and the teamwork which supported us throughout our journey and time away, at home and on our travels.
