London < NYC
Apr. 22nd, 2010 05:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brigdhI have escaped from under the volcano's ash and have returned home! I was unconvinced that we would actually be leaving until a few hours before the flight, so it all seems rather surprising to me. We had the random luck of being one of the first flights out of Heathrow (seriously, the flight number was 2), but alas, that did not mean we got to be interviewed by the BBC, as was my secret hope. However, neither did the whole "really, the ash is safe now! We promise!" thing turn out to be fake, since the plane did not crash, for which I am grateful.
London is, on the whole, a nice city, and it certainly has a much better architectural variety than New York. However, having woken to a brilliantly sunny, warm day, with streets full of vividly green trees and garden-plots of overblown crimson and yellow tulips, after a night with rain-slicked streets and the smell of the ocean in the air, and a twilight full of just-turned-on electric lights which, from the air, looked exactly like the sparks of a bonfire, I have to conclude that NYC is still the best city in the world, no contest.
Anyway, I did not have much internet access while in London, so I am way behind on LJ news. Tell me what's been happening with you!
London is, on the whole, a nice city, and it certainly has a much better architectural variety than New York. However, having woken to a brilliantly sunny, warm day, with streets full of vividly green trees and garden-plots of overblown crimson and yellow tulips, after a night with rain-slicked streets and the smell of the ocean in the air, and a twilight full of just-turned-on electric lights which, from the air, looked exactly like the sparks of a bonfire, I have to conclude that NYC is still the best city in the world, no contest.
Anyway, I did not have much internet access while in London, so I am way behind on LJ news. Tell me what's been happening with you!
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Date: 2010-04-22 10:27 pm (UTC)I'm so glad you both got back safely. As nice as unexpected extended stays probably are, it's usually better when they're not on a volcano's terms.
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Date: 2010-04-23 10:09 pm (UTC)But! My parents had an adventure! They were unlucky enough to be traveling back from Cap Verde on the day the ash cloud descended over Europe. They were re-routed first to Majorca, and after some waiting around flown to Barcelona. From there they hopped on a bus and drove slowly north, first to Copenhagen, then onwards to Stockholm, and finally from there they got by ship back home to Finland. If memory serves, it took them about three days to get from Barcelona to Finland, and I heard it was a rough trip.
And in a way they were lucky, compared to many, because their travel agency arranged for the ride home. The ash cloud has been particularly fond of the Finnish skies, and thousands of Finns have been stuck abroad, trying to secure a place in already full buses which have decided to take advantage of the situation and charge ridiculously high prices.
Glad to hear your plain didn't crash! And I'm so envious of your New York spring - here it's cold and grey and rains something not quite snow but not quite water. Brrr.
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Date: 2010-04-24 01:42 am (UTC)