The Christmas That Wasn't...

...like Christmas at all. Sitting in a hotel with others caught in a similar plight (some were going to Brazil, some to Spain, others to France), but all of us sent to a hotel with orders to come back to the Lisbon airport tomorrow to catch our respective flights. The cause of all this? A work slow-down by the pilots of the Portuguese airline, who are protesting because the government is changing the rules and wants to make them work until 65 before retiring, instead of the age-60 limit in place up to now. Not all flights are affected; some are delayed; others are simply cancelled for lack of crew. Our 6:00 a.m. flight was one of the "chosen" ones.

The meals in the hotel,lunch and dinner, were plentiful(buffet, eat-all-you-want), but the menu of codfish, seafood, roast pork, and stewed kid just doesn't fit the image of Christmas dinner we've grown up with and the tradition we've maintained. We're not hungry, but maybe we're not "satisfied" either.

But we are thankful to have a place to stay, food to eat, and a bed to rest in. And we may have a similar occasion to be thankful again tomorrow night. The last word we got from the service representative of the airline was that she couldn't confirm our flights tomorrow from here to NY or on to Denver.