who has got family stranded by the volcanic ash?

[MrsShu]

me ! easy jet have cancelled return flight

Merkin x-posts, obviously your DH's situation is far from hilarious!
I'm not really clear what you mean - he is working but took annual leave to do it? I would think that his company would either give him the days as compassionate/discretionary leave, or at the least let him take unpaid leave so that your holiday plans are not jepordised.

With it being Sunday, Spain is very Catholic so they take Sunday far more seriously than we do here. Plus, their airspace is relatively unaffected so not so many Spanish affected as British etc.

I would get him to get a ferry to the mainland as soon as he can, and then see what the situation is from there. Apparently the northern Spanish ferries are all booked out for the next several days so him heading through France to the Channel ports is probably his best bet.

Yeah but I know what will happen, your DH will mention something like - "ha ha DW has bumped into someome on MN who must be one of your DWs" to the others on the flight and my DH will go "oh yeah, that'll be Mrs ??"

Does your dh know your posting name?? Mine could probably have a guess, but I can't think he'd know it off the top of his head....

MmeLindt - they could well be!

He might, I don't really know. But he knows that I value the 'in disguise' element of MN so I would be very surprised if he revealed me (and a bit disappointed in him if I'm honest)

Ali - don't worry, I know what you meant. Actually I suspect finding it all hilarious is going to be the only way forward for the next few days!

He's away consulting for somebody else (he has his own small company as well as a f-t job, which his main employers know about and encourage), so from their perspective he's on holiday. It's a tricky one.

Thanks for your advice re the Spanish ferries though! Also I reckon if they do lay on emergency Dunkirk-style evacuations, N.France is going to be the place to be!

We'll keep our fingers crossed that he chooses not to - in the heat of the moment, I'm not sure my DH would stop to think before he said something!!

I know what you mean about valuing the anonimity though - whilst it makes me very curious to have have found a MN'ter who I clearly have something in common with, I have no intention of doing any kind of "outing"!!

Haven't been on all afternoon, but hope I can be of help to Madascheese! I work right next to Gare du Nord in Brussels though we live about 20 mins from city centre. Have massive spare room.

Anyone think the government should be "doing more"? Sending the navy to bring people home?

Justine - I'm not sure the govt should be doing more, but there are people making a LOT of money from this - Brittany Ferries etc - who are not being responsible about this.

Shutting phone lines on Sunday afternoon, for example. Allowing people on in cars/on pedal bikes but not as foot passengers - well they're still just another bum on a seat, that needs to sit somewhere!

And this made me really sad, when someone is trying to help and they're then stopped. Also I can also see no legal justification for refusing to let them into the port - it's completely fine to take leisure craft in, and to take passengers, as long as you don't charge them money (unless you're properly commercially coded). news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8627922.stm

Justine - I do think that we shoukd have had more leadership before today. Just to give a sense of someone actually steering the country. Was astounded on thursday that the election debate seemed more important to Brown than the total closure of uk airspace.

JM - no! People NEED to think a bit more about the journeys they make - the price they pay for air travel is nowhere near the real cost of it. Flying far too cheap and readily undertaken. If poeple are stupid enough to fly out 20 friends to Antigua for a wedding then maybe this will be wake up call as to ... why????
If they have to make a bit of effort to figure out a plan b to get back , maybe they won't bother next time, we can have fewer planes poluting the skies, and those of us in West london can have a few more lovely peaceful days like we've had since Thursday -bliss!

Indeed, Justine - Where is the spirit of Dunkirk?!

Are cars with bookings on ferries allowed to pick up extra passengers?

My parents are stranded in Singapore. Last I heard their hotel was throwing them out so I hope they found somewhere new to stay! Mum does my childcare one day a week and has been away for 5 weeks already so things getting a bit desperate now!

I think that it would have been good to have seen a Government presence before now, more as reassurance than concrete plans to get people home.

I do not think that the Navy should be used to get folk home unless there are absolutely no viable commercial alternatives, or in real emergency situations.

Apart from anything else, it is only going to be a symbolic gesture, is it not? When hundreds of thousands are stranded.

And if the Navy are going to be used to ferry anyone back to UK, then it should be the troops who are on leave from war zones.

30andmerkin - I think Mallorca's airport is open again now, as are all others in Spain. So he could fly to Madrid and then get overnight to Paris plus Eurostar, or Madrid to Santander and then 24 hr ferry to Portsmouth/Plymouth.

Spanish train website is www.renfe.com.

It is completely abhorrent to me that so many see this as a money making opportuntity. 900 euros for one days car hire, hotels doubling their rates. Some people should be ashamed...

The Navy have enough to do thanks Justine.

DH has landed in Tokyo, first leg of the trip completed! He sounds so tired on the phone

DH got home safely early yesterday afternoon. Abnormally whacked, given that he'd had a relatively easy time of it but he said the atmosphere in the Gard du Nord was very stressful - felt like the whole world was converging there. People extra frustrated by the french trains (not eurostar) striking... I can't believe they would carry on strikes with this going on. And people who'd been chucked out onto the street in the middle of the night when, having assumed they could stay in the station overnight, it got closed for cleaning

The idea of sending in Navy ships sounds good... but most are presumably not at all suitable for mass transport (people needing food, loos, simply somewhere to sit).

Everyone....there are lots of rideshares advertised on gumtree!

Also, if anyone is stranded in los angeles, I'm happy to help.

Do agree that the British and all the other governments should be helping their citizens out. A few chartered coaches and some subsidized ferry rides would go a long way.

I'm furious that our travel insurance is refusing to cover this. I have already made a complaint!!!

Anyone driving from London to Leeds or Manchester on Monday morning? Dh will be arriving from the ferry and needs a ride!

NoWeAreFour - What hotel are your parents in? Maybe we are in the same one. We are being kicked out today too. If they are at the Carlton and are being moved to Malaysia I can go and say hi for you. I will not be online for a few hours but tell them to look for the Australian girl with the big frizzy hair (damn humidity) in the blue shirt and denim skirt.

I don't see why the government should step in. No one is in any danger. It is an inconveneinc e that is all. If it was a civil war and dangerous then yes but right now the navy have enough to do. What they should do is stop eurostar etc bumping up the prices because people are desperate!!

Hey Lou - have posted over in the 'fit' thread to let them know your dilemma. Hope you're ok. We're sending you good vibes!!

I have to agree with Lou - why are there all these calls for the government to step in all the time. In this case, I think they've done the right thing, kept us informed from the British side, doing what they can to inform people about consular help etc.

I don't see why we automatically want the government to step in and "solve" something like this

And in a very broad sense, the papers that are often quickest to call for the government to do more in a situation are usually the ones that otherwise are complaining about too much government meddling.

But this isn't a politics thread. We're waiting to hear from DP that he's made it to Italy (20 hrs on a ferry with no seat or berth, just out on the deck overnight)