Anyone else missing family abroad?

BugglyB

Yes euronorris my sister offered to pay for me to go out there (which is wonderful of her), but then we have to pay for oh to go (not cheap), and I am taking him away from his family at christmas. Also like you say travelling at christmas is a nightmare, and I dont have any annual leave left due to extended trip to see parents earlier this year!

BugglyB

Now I know there might be some reading this thinking boo hoo poor you with your holidays etc. Before when I have mentioned to people about it some have been a bit scathing 'oo well I wish my parents lived somewhere tropical instead of Luton' but I suppose the grass is always greener!

euronorris

Lotus-eater wrote: »

We usually spend St Nicholas in the Netherlands and last year we almost got completely stuck with the snow!
We're over again this year, I hope it isn't so bad.

Not really, I love it snow can be as deep as it likes

Last year wasn't as bad, I seemed to time my flights fairly well. There was snow around, causing delays, but the worst was over for a good week or so.

The previous year was a nightmare. I kept checking the flight details online before heading to airport, then had to get a taxi there as the buses had stopped running, only to see 'cancelled' on the board as soon as I got there! I called OH and got him to rearrange for 2 days later online, whilst I found another taxi home (kissed goodbye to an extra 100 EUR for those journeys!). The day for new flight came, and it started to snow again, but buses were still running (yay!), got to airport, checked in, flight time came and went, but still no gate number. Two hours later 'cancelled'. Cue tears and a good hour spent trying to locate my luggage before having to get another taxi home as the snow had worsened and again the buses had stopped running.

Eugh!

I do love the snow, but not when it plays havoc with my travel plans like that!

So, you've seen the black piets over here then? I remember the first year I saw them, I was quite shocked as they would be banned in the UK for sure!

euronorris

BugglyB wrote: »

Now I know there might be some reading this thinking boo hoo poor you with your holidays etc. Before when I have mentioned to people about it some have been a bit scathing 'oo well I wish my parents lived somewhere tropical instead of Luton' but I suppose the grass is always greener!

It's only because they haven't lived it themselves, so they don't consider the full impact of their family being that far away.

And of course, some people don't get on with their family, so it's different for them.

lostinrates

In reverse, I see a lot more of my father than I'm used to, more than I did as a child, now. I'm not sure how I feel about that. My dh is working in Europe atm, and even though we don't normally see each other mon-fri it feels A LOT further away. He was home at the weekend and I'm just about to pop over to see him, in reality its not far, on eurostar, but it IS expensive and a burden on budgets.

skype and better phone systems has made things easier for people now, and cheaper travel. When I was little there was a long period of time when my parents only spoke on the phone once a week on a sunday and I got a snatch minute and their phone call was short too. It took ages to get phones attached and my dad had to go to some building to make the call. Now, dh and I can budget to just call/email ....its not free, its not the same as being together but its better than nothing! I am a bit worried about eurostar/travelling issues for the holidays, but hopefully everything will be ok.

crazyguy

Look on the brightside here at least you have few family indifferences to deal with.

Lotus-eater

euronorris wrote: »

Last year wasn't as bad, I seemed to time my flights fairly well. There was snow around, causing delays, but the worst was over for a good week or so.

The previous year was a nightmare. I kept checking the flight details online before heading to airport, then had to get a taxi there as the buses had stopped running, only to see 'cancelled' on the board as soon as I got there! I called OH and got him to rearrange for 2 days later online, whilst I found another taxi home (kissed goodbye to an extra 100 EUR for those journeys!). The day for new flight came, and it started to snow again, but buses were still running (yay!), got to airport, checked in, flight time came and went, but still no gate number. Two hours later 'cancelled'. Cue tears and a good hour spent trying to locate my luggage before having to get another taxi home as the snow had worsened and again the buses had stopped running.

Eugh!

I do love the snow, but not when it plays havoc with my travel plans like that!

So, you've seen the black piets over here then? I remember the first year I saw them, I was quite shocked as they would be banned in the UK for sure!

I remember the previous year, my SIL got stuck in another EU country (we're from all over the place), then last year she didn't want to come here in case it snowed. I laughed and said it almost never snows at that time of year, freak accident.....
So we went there and it chucked it down with snow

Oh yeah the piets, still uncomfortable with them after 20 years.....
They are discussed over here now and again, but they always manage to get all the details wrong.

skylight

Euronorris - Dad isn't coming over this December for the same reason! The last 2 years he has been stuck in the UK trying to get back to Spain and couldn't; just bad timing on when he booked his flights.

Last year was diabolical when he left here to go to Gatwick with a light splattering of snow, but spent 4hrs on the Monarch plane with the snow now falling heavily around them before the flight was cancelled. He was lucky to get one of the last trains out of Clapham Junction to us so I could go and collect him (worse nights driving ever in that snow; but another story!)

As he lives in the mountains in Spain, there are occassionally similar problems when he has been forced to spend the night in sunny Alicante as the mountain roads are closed.

euronorris

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Oh yeah the piets, still uncomfortable with them after 20 years.....

I don't think I'll ever get used to them! But everyone just seems to accept them here. At least, I haven't heard anyone complain about them.

Lotus-eater

euronorris wrote: »

I don't think I'll ever get used to them! But everyone just seems to accept them here. At least, I haven't heard anyone complain about them.

It's always a bit odd I think. The Netherlands is a hotbed of political correctness, yet this goes straight over their heads.
I've had many discussions about this with the Dutch and we're not even in the same book, let alone the same page.