Sunday, July 13, 2008

From Manchester!

The once mighty US Dollar doesn't go very far in England...or most other places...but there were plenty of flight problems on this journey. I lost my itinerary and had to purchase Internet minutes to retrieve them....hence, bloggin!

My trip was delayed from the very beginning. Poor weather conditions meant the first flight wouldn't take off in time to make the connection. I was rebooked through London's Heathrow airport. Even my baggage was rebooked. Yet, by the time I arrived in Philadephia, the original flight directly to Manchester hadn't taken off. Every trans-Atlantic flight was going to be hours behind schedule...which meant I now was in danger of missing the connection from Heathrow to Manchester. Of course, I was rebooked on the 'original' flight...but not my luggage. I was told by just about everyone that my luggage to bound to the 'black hole' of Terminal 5 and might never be seen again.

Despite this mess, I was in better shape than was Steve. His flight from Baltimore was so late that he missed that evening's last flight out from JFK. He ended up in NYC watching ABT's Giselle and spending an expensive night in a hotel...and coming into Manchester more than 26 hours late! I arrived with enough time to get to the Lowry to see the final part of the Stravinsky triple bill...the part of the program in which Mathias had a solo part in Card Games. It was wonderful. Mathias and I spent the time between this matinee and the evening show drinking coffee at a nearby Costa and catching up. He managed a 'staff ticket' for the evening show...so I got to see him in the other sections and also in another role for Card Games. It was a delight.

Giselle was FABULOUS! ABSOLUTELY GREAT! We saw an evening show before seeing the matinee in which Mathias danced brilliantly in the first act's peasant pas. I was nervous but didn't cry....well, not too many tears anyway! I'll write more about all this later...with photos...but for now I'm spending many precious pounds on just a few minutes of Internet time in the Manchester Airport Marriott.

5 comments:

Doreen G said...

I am so pleased that everything worked out in the end Susan

Unknown said...

Whew! So glad you managed to spend time with your son and to see him dance!

Julie said...

Glad you managed to see Mathias :) I hope you have a better trip home.

hippopip said...

It must have been nail biting, so glad you made it on time to see Mathias dance

Wanda said...

Another wild travel story that you will be telling your grandkids! But it can't top that time "at Johnson's"!! Remember the flightbag full of wet bathing suits and I'm sure the look on the hotel person's face is still clear in your mind!! ha ha So happy you got to see Mathias dance and visit with him. I'm glad Steve got there too..I'm sure he wasn't too happy and calm about the whole thing. And yes, the exchange rate is amazing. You probably had to choose between eating and spending your money on the internet! Here in Germany, my choice is always eating or paying for gas! ha ha Looking forward to more!