Don’t FlyGlobeSpan
So I got the chance to go to Canada … my sister Aileen has been looking for work there for nearly a year (working in Costa Rica while looking!) and it looks like she’ll be settling there, so my other sister Maribeth and I booked cheap flights to Vancouver to visit her. Thing was we had to make it a bit of a whirlwind trip as Maribeth has two small children and I didnt want to be missing too much of the course here. So we left at 3am on Friday to get to Manchester airport (hence the crazy timing of Kristine’s drive to Scotland), planning to leave again on the Sunday overnight flight. But it wasn’t long before we realised our early rise had been in vain and our airline, FlyGlobespan had let us down. Nearly 22 hours after we were supposed to leave, the plane finally took off from Manchester. We were supposed to arrive in Vancouver about noon on Friday, but ended up arriving at 9am on Saturday. So we’d missed one night of our stay. But Aileen pulled out the stops to smooth our travelling to meet her at the other end and we got to see her for almost 24hrs, staying overnight at a beautiful spot called Point No Point on the South West Coast of Vancouver Island. So our first night was in a Manch
ester airport hotel but we got our second night in a log cabin looking out over the Pacific … lovely … but woke kind of early … Since we were returning to UK time that day anyway we just got up and went for a walk along the beach. After a great Canadian brunch (with maple syrup … obviously …), a visit to the cabin by a nosy raccoon, and a low flying eagle, we headed back to Vancouver city and got the airport to find FlyGlobespan had delayed our homebound flight also. By 9 hours this time. We decided we weren’t playing with them anymore and jumped airline. Thomas Cook were only too happy to poach us and gave us excellent treatment, giving us a row of 3 seats between the 2 of us … 
ester airport hotel but we got our second night in a log cabin looking out over the Pacific … lovely … but woke kind of early … Since we were returning to UK time that day anyway we just got up and went for a walk along the beach. After a great Canadian brunch (with maple syrup … obviously …), a visit to the cabin by a nosy raccoon, and a low flying eagle, we headed back to Vancouver city and got the airport to find FlyGlobespan had delayed our homebound flight also. By 9 hours this time. We decided we weren’t playing with them anymore and jumped airline. Thomas Cook were only too happy to poach us and gave us excellent treatment, giving us a row of 3 seats between the 2 of us … 
But that was to London Gatwick and Maribeth had a car at Manchester, and I was supposed to meet Kristine there also. So we hired a car and drove to Manchester. (I could have rearranged with Kristine and just nipped up to the college from Gatwick, but I reckoned by the time I’d sorted trains and stuff it’d probably be a significant extra expense and it would be good to keep Maribeth company …) Anyway we got back about 4 hours later than expected but still a lot earlier than if we’d waited for FlyGlobespan. It was really good to see Aileen in her new environment. I can really see why she wants to stay there.
But did I mention … don’t FlyGlobespan …
