Strange experiences |
| Strange experiences for a Special Representative (some good some not so good) |
| Hi all, I´m John Forster, Special Rep. for the Fylde Coast, as a lot will know I enjoy my holidays out in my second home in Tenerife, where the weather is usually warm and sunny or even hot and sunny! |
| Well, after many months in “lockdown” writing newsletters, phoning Mark Members, and doing work in other Orders, I've been kept quite busy, but with the easing of restrictions, the phone calls and emails are getting less, so when the government announced that flights could be taken again, I immediately booked two flights for Sue and I, it was only then it hit me that things might not the same as I was accustom to! |
| First thing was we now had to fill in a health form to get into any Spanish Country, no problem bring it up on the internet and fill it in, and it was easy but you could not finish it of till 48 hours before departure, 30 hours before we were due to arrive in Tenerife, I duly tried to complete the form, this is where things went wrong, whatever I did it wouldn’t let me finish it, now, as it had told I would not be let into any Spanish county without it, I spent a sleepless night wondering what to do about it, we decided to go to the airport early and see if we could sort it out. |
| As we have all our clothes etc., in Tenerife, we travel very light, I just a sandwich in a small bag to carry, we arrived at the airport 3 hours before our flight, now things changed, we had to put on masks to enter the airport, then a man stopped us and put a gun to our heads, it was a temperature gun, we must have been ok because we were allowed to move further into the airport, (terminal 1 at Manchester). We found our airlines desk and asked about the health forms, they were given to us straight away, with words “Oh fill them in when you’re on the plane”. No problem at all. So, I had no need to worry after all! |
| The airport was eerily quiet; I would think 40 percent of the passengers were children as it was the first day of the school’s summer break, what was also strange we seemed to be the oldest travellers in the place! Loads of seats, easy for social distancing, but no bars or food. Masks in place all the time of course, boarding on to the plane was done by seat number, no hanging about which was good as it was pouring with rain, well it was the middle of July, you don´t expect anything else! The flight was also different; everyone in masks, only one to be standing for the toilet, drinks and pre-wrapped snacks available, no duty free. |
| As the flight of four and a half hours progressed, you could feel people relaxing, as the chatter got louder. Leaving the plane was brilliant, everyone had to stay seated when we landed, and just two rows of seats at a time only allowed to stand to take their bags, it worked so well instead of the usual scramble, through the walk ways and another pleasant surprise, during the closedown two moving walkways have been installed! |
| When we arrived at passport control, they saw we had our health forms in our hands, instead of being on our phones, we were sent to a booth to have our passports checked and we were through, in all the airports I've been to, never ever before have I gone through so quickly! Soon we were out of the arrivals hall and outside for a taxi, here was another change, normally there are dozens of taxi´s now just four, off we go, still masked up, as they have to be worn on all transport, dropped off at my garage, reconnected the battery on my car, and down to our favourite bar, here again changes, half the tables outside had been removed, also masks to be worn when going inside to the toilets, a large G & T and a large Bacardi & coke ordered, we were sat outside, in shirt sleeves, at 10 o´clock at night, just 50 minutes from the aircraft´s wheels touching the tarmac, can't be bad we're back to our second home! |
| Next morning, after the usual cleaning of the apartment’s balcony’s, and the sun beds etc., put in place, we went to a farm shop, which is set in a volcanic creator, in the middle of a banana plantation, for our fresh fruit and vegetables, even though we were outside, masks to be worn again. On to a coffee at our local Pool bar, hand sanitizer to be used on entering and they are only open for 4 hours a day due to the lack of tourists, staff on furlough! All a little different to normal. |
| All in all, the supermarkets, chemists, small bars and a few cafe/restaurants are open, the bigger cabaret bars, larger restaurants and big Hotels are closed. The roads are quieter, but the golf courses are open. Still even with all these changes it's a great place to be in, things are I'm reliably informed are opening gradually, the weather is perfect for us with sun, sun and more sun, I can feel the aches and pain disappearing from my ageing body and I'm back running up and down stairs again (well walking really), with the temperatures hitting the mid-30s. |
| A first for me, even though I'm on holiday, yesterday I was working on my next Mark newsletter for the Fylde Coast, feeling pretty proud of myself after downloading all my files from home off a memory stick, when I received a telephone call from our every vigilant Web Master, Mike Beesley, telling me my computer had been hacked and all my contacts had received an email from me, asking for help to buy an Amazon voucher to the tune of 200 pounds, if you received one please delete it asap. After Mikes call I must have had at least 40 plus phone calls, texts and emails, Thanks to Mike and all others that notified me, it was much appreciated. |
| Now if the writing of this is a bit disjointed or wobbly is not the fact that I'm writing it in 36.4 degrees of sunshine or the fact that I have another gin and tonic in my hand, it must be the fact that it has an extra 2,000 miles to travel! |
| Mark Well All, hope to see you in September, rules and regulations permitting. |
| Best regards John |
