THE YIN AND YANG OF TRAVELLING!

I am writing this from my friend Simon’s home in London, where I am staying for a while. This trip has been an absolute roller coaster ride!

It took 12 hours to reach Montreal from Toronto (one hour usually) because I took a wrong turn and ended up in security where some guard said that I was carrying drugs in my prescription bottles! The police came and I took this guard on — which wasn’t smart. But all turned out in the end.

Poor Eric! I think he came to the airport twice with flowers to meet me. I had a wonderful visit in Montreal with Eric and the BK family.

My next flight was to St John’s, Newfoundland, where I stayed with friend Shannon in a very fancy caravan. It had a few issues which Shannon and her dad Bruce sorted, thank goodness. The island is as beautiful as ever! I was hosted by old Newfoundland friends, Linda and Frank who now live in Cold Lake, Alberta and on the way I saw my old friend of over 50 years, Judy, who lives in Edmonton.

All in all, I saw so many family and friends, which was so wonderful. THANK YOU to everyone who put me up, treated me to dinners, etc. A very special shout out to Rochelle, David, Megan and Ben. I used their home as a base in Toronto, and traveled from there. THANK YOU GUYS!! For me it was perfect and much appreciated. Appreciated all the dinners, rides to the subway, etc.

Back to the ongoing saga: my flight to London was cancelled, so I took another flight the next day…then the real fun began! I arrived in the UK. Paul from Cambridge was there to pick me up, but no luggage arrived, so we left the airport after I put in a report. The UK airports are in absolute chaos!! Luggage all over the place, as they don’t have enough ground staff to handle it. I was staying in Cambridge to dispose of the luggage (all 10 suitcases) that were there, which I did. Thanks Paul for all the storage over the years!

So I called KLM customer service every day. The first bag arrived after 7 days; the second after 10. All my clothes were in a suitcase that took 10 days to arrive, so I went to the department store Primemark in Cambridge, where they have cheaper clothes. I bought three outfits, underwear and the greatest pink leather sneakers for a total of 63 pounds! From what I hear KLM was good at how they handled this. I hear Air Canada isn’t as good! I managed with these three outfits and a great laundry service for 10 days!

I just spent five days in London where I saw three plays and stayed in the smallest hotel room possible, but well equipped. I think the marble bathroom was larger than the bedroom, but it was in the heart of London. From what I have seen, Canada and the UK are not in great shape. They can’t find staff to work and prices are through the roof at every level. My guess is the CEO’s are more interested in their bottom line and shareholders than good customer service…but did I say that!

I am in the UK until August 5th, then off to Majorca for a month. Let’s hope luggage travels on the same plane! I am suggesting if you are going away for a week or two, just take carry-on luggage and do lots of laundry, not five months like me.

I think I am hanging up my travel boots after I arrive back in  Mexico in September. It is becoming very difficult; all the fun has gone. A final note:  the UK is having temperatures of 100F to 104F, that is 40 degrees Celcius. Quite a dangerous heat wave. I think we may be too late to fix the climate!!!!

Everyone take care…COVID on the rise again.
Wear your masks.
Love, Betty