We dabbled only once internationally in our twenties. A weekend tryst in Cancun.
It was really only in our early thirties when the relationship started to heat up. The travel companion of a friend we affectionately call our “Seattle-mom” (Heidi) backed out last minute and she had no one to accompany her to Europe. Would we be interested?
Would we be interested? An indescribable rush of excitement shot from my belly. This time in a few months we could be relaxing in our very first outdoor European cafe, cigarette in one hand, some fancy exotic coffee drink in the other, watching passersby argue in German. Of course we would!
To this day, I have a strong dislike (bordering on repulsion) of British Airways. I am Filipino therefore superstition runs in my veins. When things seem to tell you otherwise, you probably should not follow through in your endeavor. Forgot your wallet in the house on your way to the supermarket? Go back. Stay home. Someone sneezed as you were locking the front door? Forget going out. It just isn’t meant to be.
So the BA plane lands and the excitement builds. 9 hours and we will be in a freakin completely different country! An hour passes. Expected. It was a long flight from Europe. Another hour passes. Then another and another. What the hell is going on? After the fourth hour, the gate agent says there were some repairs that needed to be done to the plane. What’s two more hours when you are about to have a dream come true? Fast forward two hours. Sorry but the repairs are bit more extensive than anticipated. A few more hours please. Thank you for your patience. Fast forward another two hours. Actually we need to order a part for those repairs. So here is what we are going to do; dinner vouchers and we will set passengers up at a nearby hotel. The flight will be rescheduled for tomorrow morning. Goodnight for now or however they say it in Merry Old England.
This is long before I knew of the other airplane manufacturer–Airbus. Do you know where we are? We are in motherf’n Seattle. How the hell do you not have that part just lying around? It would be like having your laptop crash at Microsoft headquarters and not being able to find a replacement.
