Can this be under Current Events?

Somewhere in Zurich ^ | April 19, 2010 | self

[bboop]

Any other FReepers (besides my chatroom friend in Frankfurt)stuck in Europe? Germany? Zurich? I think we have the makings of a Continental Tea Party Gathering. Perhaps we could charter a flight home? Sounds like the US is a bit less concerned about this ash cloud than the European governments here.

An interesting group in the breakfast room at our hotel this am, tho -- a man who was stranded in Vienna, who researched for 2 days and decided that Zurich was the place to be (why? the airport is like a ghost town); one man who had just gotten in from the US (via Rome/ train, we think) and had just rented a car to drive home to Denmark; and who knows who else.

Makes me think of Rick's Place -- "Play it again, Sam." Without the night life.

[AlexW]

“Any other FReepers (besides my chatroom friend in Frankfurt)stuck in Europe?”

Well, I was, until last year, when I left Bratislava, and
moved to the Philippines.

My flying is in and out of Vienna.
I checked the VIE airport site when Europe was shutting down
and it was still open, but yesterday, most flights were cancelled.

I am looking at a holiday trip back in September or October.

I am quite lucky in that Qatar Airlines has a daily flight to and from Vienna and Cebu, with only one stop in Doha.

While I would love to be at a tea party, I have no plans of ever returning to the now, USSA.

[bboop]

We met a kindred stranded traveler here who had been stuck in Vienna and took the train here. Sounds like the US is fighting to get European airspace open again, tho. Mt. St. Helens must have gummed up the airspace in the US, but the whole continent did not shut down.

It’s good they do not ask for my input at Air Traffic Control, tho. It will be over soon enough.

Meanwhile, off to a pilgrimage to Heidi Land (Peter’s goats, Alps-Uncle’s hut) and St. Moritz and the site of the early martyrs there. Who knew?

[Nahanni]

Mt. St. Helens must have gummed up the airspace in the US, but the whole continent did not shut down.

That is a rather simplistic comment.

All one has to do is look at a map of the Mt. St. Helens ash cloud fallout to understand why this is a bit different.

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/Maps/may18_ashmap.html

In a nutshell the ash from Mt. St. Helens fell over sparsely populated areas in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas. As you will note there are no major international or national airports in that area. Any transcontinental/international flights could be easily rerouted to avoid it.

Now here is an animated map of the Eyjafjallokull ashfall.

http://astuteblogger.blogspot.com/2010/04/great-danish-animation-of-volcanic-ash.html

Now ask yourself how many major international airports are within that area and how many major international air routes. Once you get done counting them then you will understand why I said your comment was rather simplistic.

[bboop]

I thank you so much for setting me straight.

[bboop]

Forgot the ‘not.’