Volcano Refugees

Two years ago at this time, in scorching sunshine, we were crammed into a compound at Bilbao docks waiting to be loaded on to an unprepared P & O ship which had arrived to rescue us from Spain! 

Perched on our suitcases we were besieged by TV crews and reporters, all after an interview with the ‘volcano refugees’.  We all saw the funny side of our desperate situation when the foreign office vans turned up and distributed enormous juicy Spanish oranges, by hurling them across the crowd!

At least the trains were VERY comfortable

The previous day, Mini Darling’s 18^th birthday, we had spent 12 hours travelling across Spain by train and, having finally reached Bilbao, dined in the only place still open - Burger King!   She said it made her day seeing me tuck into the standard burger and bun, but my goodness we were starving and it tasted good!  Poor girl, she had finally reached the age when she could legally have a drink but not a drop of alcohol touched our lips during that day.

The only hotel space we could book was a room for 4 people in a budget hotel.  It was dire and dirty!  The bunk bed was unstable, so us three girls got a few hours sleep by sleeping crossways on two single beds pushed together and we let The Chief have the bottom bunk. We all giggled the night away! 

Once on the boat, it was a relief to be on our way back to Portsmouth and we didn’t care that the four of us had to share the tiniest cabin, surviving the three day journey with a lot of humour and plenty of wine!  We were lucky to have been able to reserve the very last one available, only with the help of our brother-in-law booking through the UK website.

On our arrival at Portsmouth we were greeted with people waving from various points along the beach and quayside, including members of the crew of HMS Ark Royal giving us warm welcoming waves.

We spoilt our holiday with hours of anguish trying all manner of ways to return home, then trying to co-ordinate the plans, followed by the months taken squeezing any sort of compensation out of Iberia Airines. Our extended holiday in Seville and the 'adventure' of a journey home was not the way we had planned to celebrate her 18^th birthday, but at least she will never forget it!

The best we could do for a birthday cake - a chocolate doughnut with a  cigarette lighter!