Our flight was from Amsterdam to London, but there were no bags loaded.
Winds of up to 90 kilometres an hour meant it was unsafe for the aircraft hold to be opened to unload the bags from the previous flight.
Our bags were to be delivered when it was safe to do so. We were told it was the airline's problem and they would fix it.
We will get an email with a link, so we can provide our accommodation address.
They will deliver the bags. Remember, it's their problem. Our original flight this morning was cancelled, so this was the next available one. It's also late leaving because of the wind.
We will be in London around 6pm. No need to wait around for our luggage when we get there, obviously.
Luckily we have our hand luggage. Chargers for our phones, chocolates, the iPad, medications.
But we have no change of clothes or toiletries - the nice stuff. Luckily we aren't sweaty, as it was cool in Amsterdam.
We have lost baggage before - it was a few years back, coming from Tegal airport in Berlin, via London to Singapore. My bag went walkies and wasn't seen for a month. My lovely lost replacement jeans bought in Singapore on that trip are still at Schiphol Airport in my bag, waiting until the wind drops and can be loaded. There may or may not be a story or two in that pair of jeans.
We are lucky, though. We have a hotel in London to stay at for the next week.
We got to see a snowstorm on an afternoon in Amsterdam and we got to see our family who live there.
Luckily, we have learnt to always keep the most important stuff with us in our carry-on luggage. I have my flanno, beanie, puffer jacket and a light jacket.
Our bags didn't arrive until three days later.
We had bought toiletries - razors, deodorant and face scrub. I may be 60, but have a shaved head and need to keep it looking fabulous.
We bought socks and jocks, an emergency fresh flanno and a jumper for Bill.
We head out to explore the city by foot due to the London Underground being on strike. We end up in the lovely district of Soho. We had a fabulous lunch at a gorgeous pub called the Dog and Duck. This is where my phone was stolen.
I don't need to go into the details, but well done to the youths who enticed me into looking at a map while it was over my phone on the table.
We went to the Charing Cross Police Station to report it stolen for travel insurance.
The lovely officer asked, do you have the phone's IMEI [International Mobile Equipment Identity] number? What's an IMEI number, we asked ourselves.
We were lucky that we could erase the data on the stolen phone within minutes, but what would happen if we couldn't?
Lessons learnt for our fellow Novocastrian travellers:
- Always have in your carry-on all the necessities in case your luggage goes missing.
- Never put valuables in your stowaway luggage.
- Never put your phone down on a table. The pub mine got stolen from was quiet, but the thieves are smart.
- Always make sure your phone is locked when you aren't using it.
- If you like to Facebook your stories, get it up before the bastards get ya phone.
- Have fun and be fabulous.
