Things started well enough and we disembarked the ship on time for the short drive to Marco Polo airport. We even managed to get everyone aboard the aircraft before the scheduled departure time, then pushed back and taxied out to the take off point. That's when things began to go wrong. The engines spooled up, but we only taxied back down the runway and off to a holding point. Was the aircraft broken?, had the pilot eaten the fish instead of the meat for lunch?. No, it was nothing quite so complicated. Evidently a sheet of paper which required the Captain's signature had got lost in cyberspace. No amount of pleading or negotiation with the Italian Authorities worked and having taxied around and waited on the apron for an hour we had to return to the stand.
Eventually, an office junior arrived with the required load sheet and a pen; the vast quantities of red tape were duly lifted and we could now depart.
Upon arrival at London Heathrow, we then had to catch the bus across the city to London Gatwick where our pre-booked hotel room awaited. As it happened, Christina and Frances also needed to get to Gatwick, so we shared the coach with them and although by this point we were all too tired to converse to any great extent, we were able to say our goodbyes and thanks for being such good company throughout the entire trip.
But our travel nightmares were still not over. The next morning we checked in for our the last leg of our journey home.
As we were settling into our seats, the captain advised that there was fog in Jersey, but that we would fly down and "give it a go" - not really words that inspired much confidence. Thus after thirty minutes flight we descended into the clouds and lined up with the runway, gave it a go, but climbed away without ever seeing the ground. After orbiting for an hour hoping that a hole would appear in the fog, we were given the disappointing news that the conditions were worsening and the only option was to return to Gatwick.
After retrieving our luggage and much queuing and negotiating with the airline groundstaff we managed to get ourselves rebooked on another flight home - but not for another 30 hours!
The airline made a reservation for us at a good local hotel and arranged dinner and breakfast, and we just decided just to make the most of a bad situation and spend an unscheduled day up in London instead.
Thus Master Card was close to being maxed out but not before providing a nice lunch and the second attempt at the return journey was completed without a hitch.
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