My Venice sketches

I was supposed to be in Venice today. Well, I was supposed to be travelling to Venice yesterday. And meet my mother there, for her special birthday treat.

I did everything I could. I actually travelled to the airport a day early, and stayed in the (mediocre) Radisson Blu hotel, so that I would get to the airport on time for my 2pm flight, even if I had to walk to it. I didn't want to be stuck on the roads, in a taxi or on a bus.

When I got up yesterday morning, all looked good. There wasn't that much snow out there, I could see buses and cars going by on their way to the terminals. I checked the Dublin Airport Departures website and no delays were announced - although some flights that were supposed to be leaving around 6am were still on the ground at 8am, with no explanation. I checked the airport Twitter feed, which proudly talked about the airport crews working hard to clear the runway and the taxiways, and highlighted that the airport was operational. I thought, ok, even with snow showers, I may not be more than a couple of hours late. I had even given my mother instructions on how to get the boat from the airport to Zattere and how to walk from there to our hotel in Dorsoduro, near the Accademia bridge.

I went down for breakfast. I was enjoying my toasted bread, beans, black and white pudding, and two fried eggs. And then I got a phone call from my husband, telling me that the status of my flight had just changed to 'cancelled'. I double-checked. I couldn't believe my eyes. I rang my mother, who had not yet left for the airport, thankfully. I was thinking I might get a flight to Belgium later and then a train to Venice. Or maybe via Paris? But my mother was much more realistic than me. She was calm and serene. And we agreed it was best to cancel everything.

I couldn't finish my breakfast. I went back to my room and packed my things. I checked out (telling the receptionist about the temperamental toilet flush, the cigarette burns in the seat, the socket that nearly comes out of the wall when you pull a plug. I forgot to mention the lack of pressure in the shower. They gave me a small discount). I got the courtesy bus to the terminal, where the queues for flight information were huge. I heard some people from Bordeaux being told that their flight had been cancelled and that their only option was a flight to Paris (which I believe was cancelled later). I hesitated for a few minutes, but then I thought 'no point in waiting here; my flight is showing cancelled, it's not going to re-appear out of nowhere'. So I went to the Aircoach stand, where they could not say when the next bus would arrive, and also they were not sure how far it would go anyway. I went to the taxi stand, where I got the second (and last) taxi in the queue. Lovely driver, safe journey home. Where my husband welcomed me with a cup of tea. And lots of sympathy.

Don't be telling me about Dublin airport remaining operational. Over 400 flights were cancelled yesterday. Yes, cancellations are the airlines' decision. But Ryanair and Aer Lingus would not cancel a flight if they felt there was a chance it would take off. The airport was clearing the runways, but they don't provide any de-icing services. A video did the rounds on social media of a ground staff clearing the wings of a KLM airplane, with a brush. It's not clear whether another staff was doing the same on the other wing! And I don't want to hear about Aer Lingus getting their transatlantic flights in and out of the country. Passengers flying to the US are clearly a lot more valuable to them than those flying to Europe. Well, I am a pissed-off passenger. And I will be voting with my feet any time I can (not that we have that many choices here, don't they know it!)

So here are my Venice sketches: the view from my room at the hotel in Dublin Airport, my soup and burger, and my breakfast. (watercolour on Stillman & Birn Alpha paper - quite a smooth paper - it will take a while to get used to it!)