British Airways have long had a reputation of holding their Heathrow operations together with double sided sticky-tape and blu-tac, and when things go the slightest bit wrong with the weather, the whole thing just collapses. I feared the worst when the weather forecast for Sunday & Monday was a wee bit windy in Scotland (literally, just a wee bit windy - hardly anything to write home about it) but thought I was just being silly.
My fights on Monday were supposed to be 1815 from Glasgow to Heathrow, arr there at 1930 with plenty of time to kill before the 2130 flight to Moscow. Good plan in theory, but nope, my flight from Glasgow was 20 mins late, then 40 mins, then an hour late, then we were held on the tarmac at Glasgow with a 20 min take-off slot, then had to circle Heathrow in the holding pattern for 20 mins, then couldn't find a stand at Heathrow. The result being that I made my flight to Moscow by seconds (literally, after a sprint which probably didn't reflect very well on me, and might have scared a few innocent passers-by), but my poor old rucksack didn't.
Waited at Moscow DME baggage reclaim for ages in vain, before the staff confirmed that it was still in LHR. The next flight they could bring it out on doesn't land until 1530 on Tuesday, and my train to Beijing is at 2030. There's no way they could deliver the bag to my hotel in time for the train (in their words "you have a big problem mister!"), so I've to head back out to the airport myself at 1530 to pick it up personally. Assuming of course that its there, which I will believe when I see. Heading back out to DME is a round trip of 100km, which kills off a lot of the plans I had for today in Moscow.
Anyway, headed into town despondent, getting to my hotel at 0700 (very tired and very grumpy by that stage - more than a little bit miserable!) and was delighted with what I found. Its amazing how much a soft bed and being able to get your clothes off can lift the spirits. The Sleepbox (Moscow's first capsule hotel) is exactly as it says on the tin :
Might not look like much, but I could have kissed the receptionist when I was checking in ! Then I remembered I was in Eastern Europe so I probably had better not.
Anyway, plans for Tuesday are that I've got a couple of hours to try to pick up some messages, sort out a SIM card, then head all the way back to the airport in the hope that an unexpected burst of efficiency has hit British Airways. If it doesn't turn up I'm probably screwed as there's no way I've got time to buy a new rucksack, seven days worth of clothes, food, toiletries, books etc. I'll keep my fingers crossed, but I won't be holding my breath...
Location:Sleepbox Hotel, Moscow
I have sent you my phone number just in case you are completely stuck.
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