London layover

So. Mike and I are at mike's moms in Riverhead. He is off to hunt for gas. We are safe and warm..our home is still standing but it is not habitable. We were there  yesterday, tossing everything from the fridge and the basement. Turned off the gas and power and water. FEMA has brought in porta potties for residents. There is no plumbing. No water. No toilets, showers or  drinking water. No fresh water. Water water very where and not a drop to drink. 

There are humvies patrolling the streets to keep order and a curfew in effect. There are no trains in or out and state police check your id to get over the bridges. 

and the drone of generators heard while people pump the soup of sewage seawater and rain from their houses. We have about a ton of crap covered crap to throw out. All of our neighbors cars were ruined. They are piled up on the median, the electronics are shot. There is a huge fortune to be made in waterproofing electronics. Ours was at the airport while we were away and is ok. 

We had some adventures while trying to get home. I knew my kids were safe so I did not worry. Still it was hard  to see all of the pictures and stay calm. 

Originally our travel plans had us in Copenhagen till tuesday. The plan was to fly standby from London to New York. We decided we needed to get back before the storm [insert why remarks here ] so we purchased full fare tickets from british airways. Not cheap. So much in fact that my credit card would only cover one.  We had to borrow money from our hosts to buy a second ticket. My affection for my bank has diminished markedly. Nuther story. Mike and Thomas had to go to the airport to buy  his ticket, only to find they did not want to accept a Danish credit card. It had to be an international credit card. In Denmark,  mind you. Fortunately, Thomas had such a card and further crisis was avoided..

So we arrived at the gate in Copenhagen to find that the flight was delayed, which meant that we would miss our connecting flight. All the while the media were hyping this 'Perfect Storm', this 'Frankenstorm'.  After arriving in London, we were told  that all flights to the east coast were indeed cancelled and British Airways would love to put us up over night and rebook our flight for four to five  days hence. Or fly us into bloody Baltimore where we could rent a car( ha) ( see previous  reference  to maxed out credit card) and drive into the hurricane to arrive home ( maybe) Just time to be evacuated, trapped or worse. 

The other option we were told was that since we had actually bought full price tickets ( first time ever not flying stand by to Europe) they would put us up in various hotels for the duration of our stay. Not a bad deal, except we had to go to the departure gate each morning to get our daily vouchers and, based on availability, we would change hotels. Kind of like the Tickets box in Times Square. Not so bad except it took three hours to get there and back and then you had to move all your crap, er bags, to the next place on a bus, or pay nine pounds for a cab, or walk. By the time you had accomplished this heroic feat the day was awastin' and there was that lunch buffet.....and it should and shall be mentioned here that other airlines did not give their passengers vouchers for more than two nights. British Airways was a class act all the way. And not back to my previous rant;

By day three, and one really crappy hotel, we decided we would pay our own way and stay where we wanted to stay..but British airways gave us the vouchers for the hotel we were any way and there we stayed for days three four and five..did I tell you about the laundry?  

So as it turns out London is not a terrible place to be trapped if you like  London. And we do. So we traipsed along with all of the other refugees to the city and got us some culture..we went to the Globe Theatre, we went to the Victoria and Albert museum. We went to St. Paul's. we went to the museum of natural history..,we perused galleries on the Thames. One was a british watercolor exhibit and the other a photographic shown on women in the army in combat in Afganistan. We ate pies at the Pie Ministers in a court yard filled with pigeons. Yum.  I bought some knitted gauntlets for my girls from a woman who operated her knitting machine in the courtyard. Very cool. 

On the odd day I stayed at the hotel and watched the news.  We were exhausted and needed to know what was happening. And on one day I sat and knitted the whole day. Which some may view as a waste of timeout to me it is merciful peace. Mike braved the tube and went to Harrods wherein he was crushed by the madding crowds and came back in tatters. 

Finally,  on November second before daylight, we bundled up all our stuff and took the Hoppa to then airport for the last time. We tried and failed to wangle our way to an upgrade to business class. Never hurts to ask. And away we flew.  Smooth sailing to JFK the gateway to Christendom. Or what ever.