A staycation beats the stressful dance of Iran war flight changes - Vladimir McTavish
Tomorrow afternoon, I should have been playing my final show of the Adelaide Fringe in an outdoor venue in a park with temperatures in the mid 30’s. After which I had a night off and was planning a short tram trip down to the city’s seaside suburb Glenelg for one last sundowner at their idyllic beach bar.
Alas I had to cancel my adventure Down Under for a variety of reasons. Boy am I glad I did.
All my comedian friends will obviously be spending this weekend wondering how and when they will get home. Flying through both Doha and Dubai is a total lottery right now. Flights are either cancelled or endlessly delayed.
People are taking to the sky not knowing where or when they will land, possibly even back home again after 11 hours on a pointless return trip to the Middle East, resulting in a U-turn over the south Mediterranean. It’s a nostalgic replay of March 2020.
Some performers had already opted to travel home via various resorts in Asia, having previously planned a short holiday after two months working on back-to-back festivals.
However, most of them will still need to fly back through the Gulf. So, they’re effectively just kicking the can down the road.
A friend of mine, who works as a climbing instructor and stays in South Queensferry, was asked by his brother-in-law to look after his small holding up north while he was away in New Zealand.
He is now stranded there while my mate is having to care for a flock of sheep. Three have died already and lambing season is just around the corner.
My sister, whose partner is staunchly pro-Palestine and French-Jewish, is currently stranded in Tel Aviv. His similarly anti-war, anti-Netanyahu sister has lived in Israel for 20 years.
Her son got married last month and my sister flew out from Paris for the family wedding on 19 February, literally days before the whole shooting match kicked off. Bad timing or what?
She was initially meant to be home by the start on March. After serial cancellations, she finally got a departure date of 6 AprII. Fortunately, her nephew is a travel agent and he booked them on an El l Al flight to Cyprus next Sunday, where she’ll get a plane back to Paris and be home on Monday 30, after a four-and-a-half week long weekend!
She’s fortunate in having a bomb-proof room to shelter in. And when her partner ran out of important meds, an Israeli pharmacist was willing to accept his French prescription. None of this would be available if she were in Gaza or Beirut.
Anyway, I’m glad to be home, taking some surprise time off. My wife and I are enjoying having a weekend break in Portobello. Glamor-ous, huh? At least I’m safe. Nice beach but a wee bit chilly. However, no cocktails at sunset in Glenelg can compare to an early evening pint in the Espy.
And we’re also enjoying the balmy weather. We’re on 13 degrees today and double figures since midweek. Before the clocks change next weekend.
In Scotland in March “double figures” most usually means 4 degrees at lunchtime and minus 2 at night!
Enjoy the warm weekend.