It's been quite the saga --
Our flight left Dulles over an hour late -- the plane coming over from Ireland was late and then there were thunderstorms in New York and they had to change our route. The strong tailwind helped make up some of the time, but we landed about 5:50am for a 6:40am departure. Once we taxied to the gate, we stopped short and sat because they were waiting for the ground crew to arrive to direct the plane to the gate. It's now 6:00am.
Once we got off the plane we had to walk and walk and walk the most circuitous route as the airport terminal was undergoing renovations. We had to go through passport control before we could go to our connecting gate. It's now 6:15am.
We got to the security officer and she started asking standard questions -- why are you traveling here, how long are you staying, which places are you visiting, etc. It's now 6:20am. Boarding started at 6:15am.
We're now running down the corridors looking for Gate 335. It's down a set of stairs and as I started descending, I heard the final boarding announcement and that the gate would be closing. I then went into full-on sprint--hurdling luggage, chairs, and the odd baby stroller to reach the gate where the agent somewhat sternly tells me that it's clearly printed on my boarding pass that boarding was at 6:15am. I politely informed her that my plane just landed and we're all running to not miss the flight and she needs to let the three ladies running behind me on the plane.
Out of breath and jolted by the cold air as we boarded the bus to take us to our plane, we're thankful not to have missed our connection. Unfortunately, our luggage didn't move as fast as we did and we arrived in Edinburgh and stared at the empty carousel where we had hoped to see our suitcases.
Now the fun really started. While we all had a sweater and jacket to put on, pretty much all of our clothes, toiletries, etc., were in our checked luggage. We went to the luggage counter and filed our claim and the very friendly lady behind the counter said we'll bring the luggage to you. There were four more flights from Dublin to Edinburgh so we figured we'd have it by the end of day. We're given our claim number with directions on how to check the status online and a phone number to call.
Mary, Ken and their girls arrived not long after we did and the eight of us caught the bus into Edinburgh and met up with David. We settled into the apartment and patiently began the waiting game, assuming the phone would ring soon with news of our arriving luggage. No such luck.
Sunday arrives and we see on line that one bag has made it although we don't know which one. I called all of the numbers I have with no luck getting a real person. We went to church. We visited the castle. We're still wearing the same clothes. Sometime after 6:00pm, a suitcase showed up and it's Mona who won the lottery of clothes and toiletries. The rest of us continued to wait. Fortunately, the apartment does have a washer and dryer and we're able to wash the clothes we've been wearing. It was now over 36 hours and 9 additional flights into Edinburgh and our luggage still hadn't shown up.
Monday arrives and we awoke to see on the computer that all the bags made it to Edinburgh and were given to the courier to deliver, we just didn't know when. The ladies were able to borrow a few things to wear from each other, but with my height and size, I was out of luck. I was still wearing the same purple shirt I had been wearing for three days. It was 48 hours later and still no bags. I finally reached the courier company on the phone and they informed me they can't give me a specific time, but they will call me so we can make sure someone was at the apartment. We went on our way exploring Edinburgh -- Calton Hill, the Holyrood Palace, Parliament, the Royal Mile, National Museum of Scotland. Lunchtime rolled around -- still no call. About 2:30pm, David texted and said all three bags were at the apartment. We never did get a call. Fortunately, David and Teri decided to take a break from sightseeing and happened to be at the apartment when the courier showed up some 2 1/2 days after our plane landed.
So now we're rejoicing in the excitement of additional clothes, toiletries, and different shoes. We managed ok, but Aer Lingus didn't do us any favors. Fortunately, the bags arrived before we left Edinburgh and we're not being chased all over Scotland. On the positive side, I don't need to pack to leave tomorrow -- I never got the chance to unpack.
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