Trip to Syria Delayed....

Well, now things are starting to get interesting. Just my luck...

So I was all psyched for my big trip, and then mother nature decided to throw a wrench in the plan. London is currently experiencing the worst snowstorm in over 2 decades and thus all flights out of Heathrow are essentially cancelled. Talal and I didn't discover this until we were already AT the airport, so we are in effect stranded here until further notice.

But this is where things go from bad to worse...

Issue #1
Lack of effective communication tools. Talal's super duper high-tech
I-phoneesque "international" blackberry storm has not had a signal since we landed in London and we have been unsuccessful in activating it so far. Now that we are stuck in the airport, crisis mode is setting in so we decided to make yet another attempt to get the bugger working. Unfortunately, Verizon in all their glory will not allow you to do this online, and asks that you call a 1-800 number for help. That would be a potential solution if in fact there were any calling cards to be had in this lovely Terminal ... So the Blackberry is on holiday until further notice.

Issue #2
Rebooking our flight. Currently, BMI (a subsidiary of British Airways) is only rebooking passengers that are "in transit", which apparently doesn't include us because we have been in London for 2 days. So they gave us this fabulous piece of paper basically saying that in order to rebook we have to call customer service, but to expect delays in getting through as everybody booked on flights today are also trying to reschedule... doesn't matter anyways because we don't have a working cell phone or a calling card and we can't seem to get the payphones to work...

Issue #3
Flying to Syria. So apparently, flights to Aleppo (Talal's hometown), are not in high demand, thus there are only 2 flights a week (yes, I said 2 flights a week) into Aleppo from London, so missing the flight today means there won't be another flight until maybe Thursday or something. One alternative to this would be to catch a flight to Damascus, which is slightly more likely as there are about 5 flights a week to Damascus. This might mean we could leave London tomorrow, but we would then have to rent a car in Damascus to make the 3 hour drive to Aleppo(might be a great way to see the Syrian countryside??? I'm trying to keep my "glass half full" hat on). I am, however, reluctant to book a flight out for tomorrow as the storm is supposed to continue on through tonite into tomorrow, so we could be facing this all over again. Part of me is thinking we should lay low until Wednesday. Better start searching for a few good English Pubs to kill time.

Talal is super duper happy at this point, as I'm sure you all can imagine. He even had his mocha and double chocolate muffin this morning, but even that is not making this situation more bearable for him.

Up until this point however, London has been fabulous. I love this city. The people are overall very cheery and helpful, and I can't seem to get enough of their accents. We took one of the double-decker tour buses around the city yesterday, which seemed to be the best way to see the sights in the short time we had in the city (or the short time we thought we had!). We also did a Thames River cruise, where we went under the actual "London Bridge". (Robbie, I immediately thought of you busting out your best Fergie impression...)

And for those of you that have read the book or seen the movie "The Other Boleyn Girl", we made a stop at the Tower of London, which is where Anne Bolyen (one of King Henry the VIII many wives) was beheaded. It was fascinating to see this historic landmark after just having finished the book.

I made sure to have traditional fish and chips last night for dinner, although I must say I wasn't that impressed. I might opt for pizza tonite, as I'm pretty sure I won't be eating that in Syria. Becasue of the time change, Talal and I were wide awake last night and caught the Super Bowl from our hotel room. Good for Talal, he feel asleep after that. Bad for me, I couldn't sleep for the life of me and found myself working out in the hotel gym at 3:30am. Now I am wide awake and ready for a fabulous day at Heathrow.

Hope you all are well, and I'll keep you posted if we can find a way out of the UK...