If you travel enough, it will happen. Your flight will get cancelled, you will miss a connection, weather will ground you - something unexpected will come along to throw the proverbial monkey wrench into your otherwise well planned journey. This is inevitable. It happens, and it will eventually happen to you too. If you are lucky, at least you will get stranded someplace cool.
On my recent trip to Europe, I was stranded overnight in just this way. I was scheduled to come home on a Friday for what would be my first full weekend at home in six weeks, and the only one I would have for another four weeks. I was really looking forward to this. I had an early morning flight from Prague to Brussels, a late morning hop from Brussels to Amsterdam and then an afternoon departure for home. Plenty of time between flights was left just in case. I try to plan for the unexpected, but sometimes even well laid plans don't work out. While sitting in the Brussels airport waiting for my flight, I half heard an announcement over the PA. I didn't get the whole message, but I did pick up the only two words that mattered - "Amsterdam" and "cancelled". "Crap! I walked to the nearest departure monitor and sure enough, it was my flight - and it was the only flight to Amsterdam listed. I was stuck - no way to make my connection.
My first call was to my travel agent who turned out to be fairly useless. "Do I want to get there using three connections and arrive 30 hours later? Um, no!!" My second call was to Delta who confirmed there were no seats available out of Brussels until the following day. I truly was stuck now. Fortunately, I was stuck in Brussels - This city is famous for among other things, beer, chocolate and waffles - and seriously how can you go wrong with beer, chocolate and waffles
I grabbed one of the few available seats on a flight to JFK the following day, negotiated a hotel room in the center of town with the airline (they will pay for this if the delay is their fault), miraculously found my checked suitcase sitting on a baggage belt while I was looking for someone to help me find it, and grabbed a taxi.
I had only passed through Brussels before, and never saw much beyond the airport. My hotel being near the center of town, the surrounding neighborhood was very old and the buildings very ornate. The few cornerstones I spotted dated the buildings to the 1600's.
Oh yeah, and the beer was pretty good too! I don't get to be a tourist all that often. I travel for work afterall, and the trips are generally packed pretty tight. Most of my "sightseeing" takes place in a taxi going from hotel to meeting to airport. And as much as I wanted to spend this weekend at home, you have to count your blessings once in a while and enjoy your circumstance. Hey, its a free day in Brussels! And did I mention the whole beer and waffles aspect...
A few more shots taken at night
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| Departures board at Brussels International |
On my recent trip to Europe, I was stranded overnight in just this way. I was scheduled to come home on a Friday for what would be my first full weekend at home in six weeks, and the only one I would have for another four weeks. I was really looking forward to this. I had an early morning flight from Prague to Brussels, a late morning hop from Brussels to Amsterdam and then an afternoon departure for home. Plenty of time between flights was left just in case. I try to plan for the unexpected, but sometimes even well laid plans don't work out. While sitting in the Brussels airport waiting for my flight, I half heard an announcement over the PA. I didn't get the whole message, but I did pick up the only two words that mattered - "Amsterdam" and "cancelled". "Crap! I walked to the nearest departure monitor and sure enough, it was my flight - and it was the only flight to Amsterdam listed. I was stuck - no way to make my connection.
My first call was to my travel agent who turned out to be fairly useless. "Do I want to get there using three connections and arrive 30 hours later? Um, no!!" My second call was to Delta who confirmed there were no seats available out of Brussels until the following day. I truly was stuck now. Fortunately, I was stuck in Brussels - This city is famous for among other things, beer, chocolate and waffles - and seriously how can you go wrong with beer, chocolate and waffles
I grabbed one of the few available seats on a flight to JFK the following day, negotiated a hotel room in the center of town with the airline (they will pay for this if the delay is their fault), miraculously found my checked suitcase sitting on a baggage belt while I was looking for someone to help me find it, and grabbed a taxi.
I had only passed through Brussels before, and never saw much beyond the airport. My hotel being near the center of town, the surrounding neighborhood was very old and the buildings very ornate. The few cornerstones I spotted dated the buildings to the 1600's.
Oh yeah, and the beer was pretty good too! I don't get to be a tourist all that often. I travel for work afterall, and the trips are generally packed pretty tight. Most of my "sightseeing" takes place in a taxi going from hotel to meeting to airport. And as much as I wanted to spend this weekend at home, you have to count your blessings once in a while and enjoy your circumstance. Hey, its a free day in Brussels! And did I mention the whole beer and waffles aspect...
A few more shots taken at night
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