Pleased I don't have to do that journey too often.
- Left home at 0630 on Sunday to get the 0820 from Newcastle to Gatwick, lots of un-forecast snow in County Durham and Tyneside to slow me down and stoke my blood pressure, got to the airport at 0755, thankfully security was quiet and got to the gate with 5 mins to spare.
- Get checked in at Gatwick and go airside. My 1300 departure now showing 1640. Spend all afternoon in Wetherspoons watch my flight go later. Finally board (and bored) at 1840.
- Get to Podgorica, connecting flight has been delayed to coincide with our arrival, off we go to Pristina, to be told in the air that we will have to turn back as Pristina is fog bound, 5 mins later the Pilot says, oops Podgorica is shut, so we are off to Tirana.
- Land at Tirana 0030. Stuck in the departure lounge with no info, no shops/cafes or vending machines. finally get some shut eye in a quiet corner of the lounge at around 0300. Wake at 0440 to find the place empty! Run across to concourse ask security where the rest are, just make it through immigration to follow the last passengers through the exit. See 2 buses and jump on them (first checking that I recognise some faces). Still no info but I presume we are going to a hotel - 30 mins later we are on the road to Kosovo. 2 hours to the border, an hour at the border and 2 hours to Pristina over the mountains. No toilet or refreshment stops.
So all told, I was delayed by 14 hours, taken to a third country, left overnight in a departure lounge with no facilities, information or offer of refreshments, spent 5 hours on a coach wedged into a seat with a spotty teenager sleeping on my shoulder. The joys of Balkan airlines.
