who has got family stranded by the volcanic ash?

[MrsShu]

me ! easy jet have cancelled return flight

Orm
MNetters are benefiting from my DH being on a business trip to Germany at that moment so not moaning when I MN in the evening.

thanks Jaca

For everyone with a car going back to UK from the continent - try Norfolk Lines from Dunkirk to Dover; prices about £85 but that is car + 5 people, so not bad considering. They don't do foot passengers.

Madascheese - if no joy from Porto, post on here again and I'll give you my email - if I tidy it up we have a double bedroom, and are 20 mins from the centre of Brussels.

scary you're so kind, thank you. I haven't heard back from portofino yet, but am happy to email you as well as I'm looking for reasonably priced B&B doesn't need to be fancy. Wouldn't want to inflict my gorgeous but 5.30am waking DS on a household.

Am also up for ideas for what we should do for the day in Brussels on Wednesday.

Thanks again

(only not posting my email as it's actually my full name!)

Sophia are you still in Milan? If you need anything give me a shout!

DCs are safley back on uk soil YAY!!!! The only point is i will have to wait till 2morow 2 see them!! Having been traveling since 8am thismorning they and 'granny gg and granpa John' are undistandably KNACKERD and dont think they could cope with the extra 4hrs to get home!!! Luckily dhs sister lives in Dover and is putting them up for the night. So hopfully should be here by lunch time. Although there could be another spanner in the works yet as ive been feeling pretty for the last few hours and although not due untill 28 may i have sneekning suspision that dc 3 wants out 'in' on all the excitment!!. D xh and his [bleep][bleep] attittude im sure its all the stress thats started me off!! Im going to keep my legs crossed till ive held my 2 little big adventures and given Mr and Mrs Herbert the bigest kiss ever!!
Good luck to all those still trying to make it home were thinking of u all xx

Alibabaandthe40nappies! WOW - I think your DH is on the same flight as mine, given hat my dh is as we speak on a flight to Tokoyo out of Malaysia and en route to Washington!! He also has onward tickets booked to Madrid?! I'm starting to wonder if they were at the same sales conference in KL recently?!

Anyway,, if not, then maybe they'll meet and compare travel notes on the plane!!

DH has been aware since last Saturday night 10th)...was due home Friday morning but clearly there was no chance and now - well - we've no idea. He feels better that he's making some progress and seems to think it'll be easier to get back home via the US rather than trying to cross the middle easy and Europe. Only time will tell.

DDs are missing him loads - as am I!!

That's great news myboots - and good luck with dc3 whenever they decide to turn up!

Myboots - that is great news, but do try to hold on til they get right back to you!

I'm stunned by how kind and supportive people are, it really restores your faith.

(Thanks esp Porto)

Madascheese, it's [email protected] , then I'll give you my real email address as opposed to the one for MN purposes.

Dh up at 0600 anyway and I'm up at 0700 to do packed lunch and roust ds. Am invigilating Wednesday am and have bookgroup Thursday am, so have to be up and at 'em anyhow. If you need a bed and feeding for a couple of nights yell.

Yay, Myboots. Glad that they are back in the UK. Hope that your baby stays put for another couple of weeks.

Anyone got any practical advice or words of sympathy to offer - DH stuck on Mallorca, no flights off so is going to try and get a ferry to Valencia, then trains across Spain and France, and then a ferry home from Caen.

He's never going to make it is he? I can't get hold of any European train booking helplines to find out if there's any availability on any of the trains he wants to catch, or Brittany Ferries to find out if he can get back across the Channel. Everyone seems to have shut on Sunday early as per bloody normal, which I find a bit astonishing. One website says Spanish trains to Paris full until Tues/Weds.

Feeling very blue. He's not on work time but is working, IYSWIM, so he's never going to recoup the money and if it ends up coming out of his annual leave, that's our holiday gone too.

Am wondering about whether to try and get him go straight to Bilbao/Santander and miss out France entirely. Anyone got any info or know a good place to go??

DH finally on coach en route to ferry from Brussels, so will be back early tomorrow am

Myboots I have been following your story today and just want to say how delighted I am for you and your children.

Hope the baby stays put for a while.

Handbag I think they might have been! IT sales, Indian owned company?
Looking at when you said he flew and when he was due back I am pretty sure they are travelling together - how spooky!

Myboots that is a lovely, lovely story. Hope you manage to get some sleep tonight!

MdmeLindt you have been wonderfully calm and reassuring on this thread, thank you

Hooray MyBoots!

DH didn't seem to have a problem booking multiple tickets (berths I think, not just seats) on the ferry out of Le Havre to Portsmouth on tuesday afternoon. I don't know which site he booked with (I think he rang up) but he'd booked lots for his friends. Worth a try?

Merkin why would it come out of his annual leave? Surely that won't happen?
Are his work not able to help him with travel arrangements?

dh is at portsmouth
its chaos

DS2 still stranded with schooltrip in Jo'burg - I know that the teachers are doing everything they can but irrationaly I feel that he has been in SA for two weeks now and I just want him home. DH is stuck in Antigua but that's not worrying, he's a grown-up

Spot on Alibaba!! How funny is that!! In all of this, I'm just really pleased that there are a few of them travelling together. At least they have a beer and laugh about the ridiculousness of it all!

Thank you for the kind replys and suport everyone.
Im actualy sat here in tears at the moment the last few days have been sooooo difficult and i think that hearing dd and ds on the phone telling me they were back and although desperate to see me they have had a fantastic adventure and think 'granny GG and grandpa John' are simply the 'best old people on the world'!! (Dont u just love their honesty and inocence). As madas put it it realy restors your faith to know that despite what is going on in the world there are still people out there who are willing to go abouve abd behond to help out and offer a lifeline when the going gets tough.
I will be forever greatfull for what my neighbours parents have done and i only hope that they enjoy being 'honorary' grandparents to my 2 wonderfull (if sometimes a little cheeky) ds and 2 dc 3 when he/she arrives ''please stay in there little 'pip' untill your ds and db get here''.
thinking of you madas and your dcs hope all works out for you.

He's effectively gone there on holiday time Ali. I mean he's not actually on holiday, so he can't just put his feet up and wait for the tour operator to sort it out! But he's taken annual leave to go, so presumably it's still annual leave as long as he's stuck there?

Dunno, what do most companies do in this kind of situation?

Haha - that is hilarious! He is going to ring me when he lands, I will have to say to him that someone else's wife is a MNer too
Obv. shall make no effort to find out who so as to preserve anonimity!

oh, how funny that alibaba and handbag's DHs are on the same flight. I wonder if they have discovered that their wives are both MNetters.

Perhaps they are sitting there moaning about how often you are on MN.

that last sentence should be 'DCs AND dc3'
damed queezy baby brain and tears making me a bit!!