You couldn't write the script on this one....
But I'll try
So after some truly awful British winter weather...
and temps down to stupid degrees we hatched a plan mid initial immobility phase. This cunning plan was to visit the surgeon and physio on Thursday 12 March, hopefully get some good news regarding bone growth and bugger off to Spain the next day to get some invaluable sunshine...
What could possibly go wrong!
The hospital date draws near and a few discoveries are made including a new spiced rum I'd not tried before
A donkey burger at our new favourite go to pub in Crich
And these amazing beauties...
These are meat free sausages that IMHO taste better than most of their counterparts from the traditional world of bangers
Now I'm not saying they are about to transform my diet but give em a go...made by of all people Richmond (responsible for possibly the cheapest tasteless sausages out there)
The day arrives and we receive some encouraging and most welcomed news from the surgeon at the fracture clinic...
'Its looking good' he said three times...that'll ding dang...
We drive via Spoons in Stamford to Emilja & Richard's for a night together and next day we park up at Stansted and avail ourselves of the 'Special Assistance' given by the Ryanair staff
A big 'cherry picker' runs us out to the awaiting plane and Nina is trundled in to her seat like Royalty
All I could smell was a rat
So many empty seats around us
The Covid 19 thingy was on its way to our shores with no mention of lockdowns, no hints of return flights in 11 days being cancelled, and certainly no inclination of what was about to go down, we sat smiling knowing we were going to have some well deserved time in the sun
Nina's folks picked us up and all was well in Bolnuevo SE Spain
Sit inside looking out at snow in Blighty or break out the factor 30 here...
The morning after arrival and after just a few hundred metres walking in the glorious sunshine on the promenade we were approached by a biker cop on a BMW (what taste!) and told we had to go back to the apartment and stay there for 14 days.....what!
Murcia had decided overnight as an autonimous region to lockdown immediately and two days before an impending national ruling. Their thinking was that they wanted to prevent the natives of Madrid flocking to the coast to their holiday homes to escape their own local lockdown
The initial shock took some dealing with tbh. Same lockdown as we have here in the UK now but more restrictive in that there's no exercise allowance and only one person allowed out to the shops
For many days airlines still flew, ferries from Spain were still departing and the UK was blissfully unaware of what was coming to home shores
We began to get nervous as the news bulletins about Spain and France were not good viewing and we eyed the Ryanair flights back from Alicante for our due departure daily
Not by surprise and half way through our stay the return flight was cancelled and we had the chance to book another for the following day, the 25th March. Within 24 hrs that got cancelled too and then anxiety levels rose in the foursome of Brits confined to barracks
Nina got her valuable now partial weight bearing exercise in around the enclosed pool area using a walker we'd hired from a local mobility shop so at least the stay was of benefit to her
Each day was Groundhog day....
Sat watching our normal world collapse, news of deaths European wide increasing and watching Spain struggle with the numbers of people infected. Images of overcrowded hospitals with patients left crowded in corridors on beds kinda pushed us in to a corner
News that Nina's parents' return ferry from Santander due to sail in 3 weeks had been cancelled and with no real hope of another anytime soon together with 5 days of trying to contact Ryanair led us to make an exit plan of our own
Having driven solo to the nearest Ryanair desk as their email suggested to find the airport practically deserted and a shut Ryanair kiosk I drove home not knowing if we would be returning at all to the UK in the next few weeks
Back at base camp after much discussion the plan was made to cram everything in to their car and drive to the Tunnel in just over two days
So thats all the Parents' luggage they brought down for their two month stay in Spain, four adults, one small dog, and a wheelchair...
Every time Nina wanted the loo en route home the car's boot had to be unpacked to get to the wheelchair
After a full day's driving we reached Pau for our first stay in French lockdown after being stopped in the dark by some enthusiastic Gendarmes in the Pyrenees
Much schoolboy French and examination of electronic travel permits ensued but we got away with a heavily overloaded car and several tired teddies within it were grateful...
The second night was at Abbeville in a very pleasant first floor apartment which saw Nina do her stairs bum shuffling routine to get upstairs to good effect
I nailed a stupid amount of rum to destress and took a well earned deluge shower then crashed in to bed
The next morning was a short hop to Le Shuttle down the now familiar deserted motorway bringing our total Peage spend to around €100.00, money well spent considering the circumstances
Arriving at Stansted there were no issues springing the car from an almost deserted huge car park two days later than planned. We loaded up our little C3 and trundled home
Back in the UK and safely locked down yet again
The HUGE difference is that our sojourn could have ended so very differently. I dread to think of the real possibility there was of one or both of Nina's folks being hospitalised in Spain in the event we didn't move quickly once the doors began to close
After all the travelling we've done in Europe these past few years it was very odd to feel the gutteral need to want to come 'Home' as normally we feel so at home just about anywhere overseas
Nina is currently walking slowly, partially weight bearing and using her walker outside at the farm
We have a long way to go with her rehab but after the hospital visit a few weeks ago and today's Facetime session with the physiotherapist we feel in a different world now
As ever a big thanks to all our Chums who continue to support us and help Nina along with lots of encouragement, its much appreciated....
On that theme there are thousands of folks out there right now, this minute doing so much good in the world in its hour of need.
The Covid-19 pandemic will be a long haul and 'normal life' will be a very long way off right now for most people but I'm amazed so far at how folks are pulling together to get the job done
