Posted by Ed Wetschler on August 27, 2011 at 11:35pm
I'm sitting here waiting for Irene to blow in full force, thinking back to times when I've been caught by storms etc. while traveling. What's the most memorable natural disaster you've experienced on the road? Did you write about it?
You need to be a member of Tripatini to add comments!
The Icelandic volcano of 2010 was reportedly a disaster for many. However, as I was on a press trip to Portugal´s Alentejo region when it occured - in fact ours was the last flight to leave Dublin airport on the way out to the trip.
Well, at the end of the trip flights were still cancelled all over Europe and nobody was going home. Among the press group there was talk of boats and ferries, cars and taxis, and many other options were mooted... And the Alentejo tourist board stepped in. The director of the tourist board - as we were in his care - hired a spacious mini bus and with his colleague DROVE us the whole way from Southern Portugal to the French ferry port of Cherbourg, a three day drive.
Disaster averted, new friends made, lot of wine consumed, and the sure knowledge that the people and tourism board of Alentejo are some of the finest you could meet anywhere in the world.
PS I´m out on another press trip to the same region next wednesday.... Any signs of volcanoes I should know about?
Unfortunately, I wasn't writing (well, not very well, anyway) when we got caught in a torrential downpour in the Swiss mountains. A fallen branch snagged under my car, and I stopped to pull it free. Then, about a hundred metres along, a boulder the size of a house came crashing down the hill, and across the road. And, I'm pretty sure that, if I hadn't stopped to free that branch, it would have been Goodnight, Vienna!
Naturally, I stopped at the next inn we came to, and put up for the night until it had all blown over.
Last year we went to Glasgow, Scotland to pack up my mother-in-laws house. She had died the year before. We got caught in a horrible snow storm while packing up the house. After we have settled the estate we went to St Andrews to deliver some china to the family there. As soon as we got there we got caught in the worst blizzard in forty years. The Forth bridge that connects Edingbourgh to Glasgow closed and we were stranded in St. Andrews for days. When the trains don't move in Scotland you know you've hit some rough weather. And it was only November. We had thought we might move to Scotland one day, well that put an end to that.
It was actually a skit on SNL that made me think you'd be electrocuted so it may not be true. They were stuck in It's A Small World and went stark, raving mad and jumped out anyway and were electrocuted.
A massive storm hit Disney World when I was there. This was years ago. Like the 30,000 other wet tourists we hit for the indoor attractions. A friend and I were stuck in the Pirates of the Caribbean for over an hour. Had I not been so hung over I might have realized we were only in six inches of water and could have walked out. Only later, when I was having some hair-of-the-dog, did I question why the "boats" didn't move, but those damn little animated characters kept on pillaging.
The strangest of natural disaster experiences I've had came when my wife and I were on Barbados during Hurricane Luis. Luis must have been 1,000 miles away; we had blue skies and perfect little puffy clouds racing across them. And I do mean racing, because they were sprinting across the sky in the wrong direction: Prevailing winds are from the east in the tropics, yet these were coming from the west, drawn by some suction effect Luis was causing 1,000 miles away. The winds, in turn, pushed the waves, so on this fair and lovely day, we watched storm waves sweep away the resort's beach, boardwalk, and, finally, yacht.
My experience was more of a national disaster than a natural disaster. I went to Los Angeles for a press trip that was to start 9/12/01. I went in two days early to stay with a friend. I went to bed late the night before 9/11 and asked my friend to let me sleep in. She ran into my room about 8am and said, "wake up, there is a disaster" I said, "That is not a good wake up call, She said come down and see it on TV.
Needless to say, I was the only one to make it to LA for the press trip. The hotel said stay as long as you like. They encouraged me to invite any LA friends for dinner. But everyone was sticking close to home.
Replies
The Icelandic volcano of 2010 was reportedly a disaster for many. However, as I was on a press trip to Portugal´s Alentejo region when it occured - in fact ours was the last flight to leave Dublin airport on the way out to the trip.
Well, at the end of the trip flights were still cancelled all over Europe and nobody was going home. Among the press group there was talk of boats and ferries, cars and taxis, and many other options were mooted... And the Alentejo tourist board stepped in. The director of the tourist board - as we were in his care - hired a spacious mini bus and with his colleague DROVE us the whole way from Southern Portugal to the French ferry port of Cherbourg, a three day drive.
Disaster averted, new friends made, lot of wine consumed, and the sure knowledge that the people and tourism board of Alentejo are some of the finest you could meet anywhere in the world.
PS I´m out on another press trip to the same region next wednesday.... Any signs of volcanoes I should know about?
By the way, here´s a small ramble about my last trip: http://brendanharding.yolasite.com/stranded-in-alentejo.php
Unfortunately, I wasn't writing (well, not very well, anyway) when we got caught in a torrential downpour in the Swiss mountains. A fallen branch snagged under my car, and I stopped to pull it free. Then, about a hundred metres along, a boulder the size of a house came crashing down the hill, and across the road. And, I'm pretty sure that, if I hadn't stopped to free that branch, it would have been Goodnight, Vienna!
Naturally, I stopped at the next inn we came to, and put up for the night until it had all blown over.
Last year we went to Glasgow, Scotland to pack up my mother-in-laws house. She had died the year before. We got caught in a horrible snow storm while packing up the house. After we have settled the estate we went to St Andrews to deliver some china to the family there. As soon as we got there we got caught in the worst blizzard in forty years. The Forth bridge that connects Edingbourgh to Glasgow closed and we were stranded in St. Andrews for days. When the trains don't move in Scotland you know you've hit some rough weather. And it was only November. We had thought we might move to Scotland one day, well that put an end to that.
Cara Bertoia
But Betty, I was going to try to walk ON water ... ;-)
I truly pity people stuck in It's A Small World - imagine having to endure an hour of that song.
We were stuck in the Pirates as well. Good you didn't walk out as they warn you of the danger of being electrocuted if you walk in the water.
My experience was more of a national disaster than a natural disaster. I went to Los Angeles for a press trip that was to start 9/12/01. I went in two days early to stay with a friend. I went to bed late the night before 9/11 and asked my friend to let me sleep in. She ran into my room about 8am and said, "wake up, there is a disaster" I said, "That is not a good wake up call, She said come down and see it on TV.
Needless to say, I was the only one to make it to LA for the press trip. The hotel said stay as long as you like. They encouraged me to invite any LA friends for dinner. But everyone was sticking close to home.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next