Holiday fun and not much sun
Well before the madness that is the Coronavirus pandemic started, I booked a holiday to Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands. Last November in fact. As the time grew nearer to leave I became more and more certain that flights would be cancelled, there would be no holiday, I’d claim everything back on the insurance, put it out of my mind, and move on.
Due to a family illness I had to move the flights back by two days, which served only to add to my certainty that the holiday would be off. The flights weren’t cancelled, and there were no advisories about travelling to the Canary Islands. I did, however, have to pony up another £200 to EasyJet for the privilege of moving the flights.
Finally arrived at our lovely apartment on Saturday, did a shop to get the essentials for the apartment and everything seemed normal. Weather wasn’t great, but warm enough for t-shirts, and besides the holiday was all about getting some overdue rest.
Things started to change on Sunday. I went out for fresh bread and it was very quiet. That’s nothing unusual in Spanish resorts, Sunday is generally a pretty quiet day. Upon returning to the apartment, the pool is now out of bounds. Despite being fairly isolated the Canaries is going into lockdown. Only places open are supermarkets and petrol stations.
Monday the sun beds are now chained up. People are starting to leave, but no news about isolation and no advisories. Late that night I checked the EasyJet app only to find the flight we had booked for Saturday has now been cancelled. No notifications from EasyJet, so good job I checked. Managed to get on the only flight available on Friday night. Ten day holiday is now a seven day holiday. Check my work email for the first and only time. The office is closing on Tuesday and we’re all going to be working from home now, something I’ve never liked. I’m now checking the EasyJet app on my phone several times a day because I’m sure something is going to go pear-shaped between now and Friday night. Called the place where I’d parked the car to get the time I need to pick up the car changed.
Wednesday tried to plan ahead and book a taxi for the transfer to Arrecife airport, only to be told that no bookings would be taken until 24 hours before the taxi is needed. Starting to get a little stir-crazy now. Nothing is open, and wasn’t comfortable about wandering around when we should be practicing social distancing.
Thursday, by way of contingency, booked a transfer with a local mini-bus firm I’ve used in the past. All good, but late that evening I get a call to say that the government has decreed that all mini-bus transfers are now cancelled and my payment has already been refunded. Checked the EasyJet app, it’s offline for maintenance until Friday morning. Great timing, getting twitchy now.
Friday morning managed to get taxis booked. That’s two taxis, because they’re now only allowed to take one passenger per taxi. No news on the flight is good news. The rest of the day passes quickly and uneventfully, but I can’t help but worry that both taxis aren’t going to turn up later that day, but they do. There are police checks on the way to the airport, my driver is scolded because he’s not wearing a mask, then we’re waved on.
Arrived early at the airport and it’s like a ghost town. I’ve never seen it so quiet. It’s 5:30pm and there are just nine flights due to go out, then that’s it. One flight is quickly cancelled and the flight back home to Gatwick is the second to last flight out. Something unheard of then happens, the gate number is called half an hour early. It’s finally happening. Completely uneventful flight, though why people felt the need to applaud when the flight landed I’ll never know. Eventually home indoors about 2:30am.
Writing this now makes it all seem exhausting and lot more frustrating than it really was. A good rest was had in spite of the first world problems along the way, but coming home and catching up with the news feels completely surreal. It’s impossible to ignore the news, which comes with more and more announcements about which business is closing indefinitely and how many more people have been infected and died.
End of days? Probably not, but people are often stupid, so a pandemic is the vehicle for the demise of many not necessarily because of how voraciously infectious it is, but because people often don’t think about other people.