For about three weeks the delay’s and cancellations have plagued the airline world here in the states. We were in England when they opened the new Heathrow terminal and the chaos that followed.

My experience with American Airlines has generally been fine, I fly them all the time. However, I had another bad flying experience when headed across the pond. Virgin Atlantic lost our bag and it took nearly a week to get it back. We never had any idea IF and WHEN we would get the bag.

They wouldn’t deliver it to the hotel, so it cost not one, but two cab trips to the airport because the only phone number for Virgin Atlantic is a baggage hotline that gets routed to a call center in India. There are no customer relations phone numbers and we were told to send any concerns to an e-mail address. As of yet, our concerns and bills, which mount (including international phone calls and tips to the concierge) to more than $350, have yet to be returned. I also sent a fax with no response as of this writing.

Oh….my bag arrived with multiple rips in it.

Not a fun arrival in London, but at least we landed safely. Unfortunately, international or domestic, these types of stories seem to only be getting more numerous.

What are some of your travel nightmares and what can be done to remedy this situation?

I have been promising this for a bit, so here it is. We actually got the idea from your partially absent Baghdad blogger. Yep, Shaffer suggested that when we swung through Belfast, we make sure to see the Europa. It was a fantastic time for me, since I heard and studied the unrest in Northern Ireland as a kid. I can still remember my school teachers mentioning the story from time to time. Of course in fourth grade, it’s tough to get a handle on the story. Belfast is booming and while the tension hasn’t left, prosperity is winning. Nice to see.

done

Only a few days left and continuing with the whole small world theme, my brother and family suggested we head north to Wales near Liverpool. They have friends in the area and everyone raved about what we would see in the north parts of Wales, many times overlooked for the more populated (and also beautiful) south. So since they were in the area we headed north and a bit west. The train ride was only a couple of hours and as the countryside flew past, the brick town homes of London quickly turned to beautiful lime green fields, fresh with new grass. Puffy white sheep dot the hillsides and pastures, while the steeples of brownish brick churches look out over the landscape in all directions. We arrived in Chester, a great town on the border with Wales and then drove about 45 minutes to the west and arrived in Conwy. The town was built by Edward I between 1283- 1289, the caste and walls around the city still stand. The site is truly breathtaking. Here are some of my pictures.

I have to say, Americans get a bad wrap. We have seen our share that have come across the pond and we have yet to see the rude, annoying people portrayed by Hollywood. In fact, most Americans have been very friendly, whether we’re speaking to them or just observing. I cannot say the same for those from other countries and I will not be mentioning them in this forum. I will however report what I have always felt. The great majority of the time Americans are welcoming. Of course, I am biased. Our British friends have been nothing short of fantastic. When we dared venture to one of the biggest football (soccer) games in recent memory, Chelsea versus Arsenal, we were embraced and my four year-old nephew was a hit. We apparently are now “a part of the Chelsea nation and family, even if you do live across the pond.” Here are my first pics from London, notice the police officers dressed in bright yellow and lining the rows to separate the fans from the two sides at the game. By the way Chelsea won 2-1. Great game.

We’ve got some great stories already here in London and I have met up with some of our SKY News pals we’ve worked with reporting overseas. I’ll pass those stories along, but first….we met Max. Great kid and very smart as Tamera notes. He is a great history buff and here’s the video.