My wife is currently working on contract for Rolls Royce in the UK, so most
of the Christmas was planned over the phone or Skype or by e-mail.
During the discussions we had decided to stay in Switzerland and try, as far
as possible, to have a traditional Christmas. For us that includes jointly
choosing the tree (it saves arguments later – like when it dies after
two days). With that in mind my wife had booked to fly in on the 23rd of December,
arriving about 11:30 a.m. in Zurich, which would give us enough time to get
a tree locally in the afternoon. Good plan! Good plan?
We hadn’t reckoned on the weather. For the week before the flight England had been covered in fog which had disrupted air travel quiet extensively. This had included the equivalent flight to my wife’s the day before. As a result on the 23rd - a clear bright day - the plane, which is only a 49 seater, was full! All seemed to be OK at first. My wife phoned me from Zurich airport as soon as it was safe to do so telling me she had arrived at baggage claim, the carrousel had started and should be home within the hour. A short while later I got a second call. Apparently after 20 or so bags had come down to be claimed the carrousel had been shut down. Then a local member of staff had come to tell them that there were no other bags and if there were any problems please report to Lost Luggage. She still hoped to be home within an hour. Shortly after that I got a third call saying the Lost Luggage queue was “2 miles long” and it was going to take a long time. At which point we gave up on the traditional tree buying and I was commissioned to go it alone.
