I strolled down to the ROI departures area which was quiet and was quite content to sit near gate 86 which tends to be the one for the ORK flights and watch planes landing on the adjacent runway and daydream. I also had a mission. I was aware that two flights arrived within ten minutes of each other, the first from Dublin followed by the Cork one and as my niece and I are each going to be on one of those and meet up for our trip to JNB in February I was doing a recce to decide whether we should meet up at the gate or in the baggage hall. So at the appointed time for the Dublin flight an A321 arrived and made its way to gate 86 over which was posted EI715 Cork. That started me off! Its the wrong plane! [:0] It should be an A320! [:0] The Cork planes are A320s! [:0] The A321 summer flight has finished! [:0] Were going to get on the wrong plane! [:0] Thats the Dublin plane! [:0] Theyve got it wrong! [:0] Sometimes its better not knowing these details as a few minutes later another A321 arrived which was indeed the Dublin flight a few minutes late. All that fussing for nothing!! [ii]
We boarded shortly after and pushed back early following VS45 on its way to JFK. From my window seat I could see the take-off and the amount of distance given by ATC between it and the next plane. Sitting next to me were three guys who just as we were taxiing had read that a certain greyhound was racing that night and the three of them got so het up about it and wondering if they could get to a bookies in time that I literally could not hear the safety announcement. [V] This debate continued all the way over to ORK and it was a very grateful honey lamb that got off the plane.....
.....and this was where the fun began!
Immediately after our plane landed a Centralwings flight arrived from Poland. There had been a delay in getting the jetbridge to our aircraft and in any case, I was at the back of the plane so that by the time we had got to Immigration and Passport Control the two sets of passengers were converging. Usually when arriving from the UK it is customary just to wave the photo page of the passport (or other ID) at the guy there, but this time he was taking no chances as far as the Polish passengers were concerned and their passports were being scrutinised carefully. It would have been quicker to go through the non-EU channel. When we arrived in the baggage hall the luggage from our flight was just coming through so we didnt have long to wait but there was a nasty incident when some of the Polish passengers started to pull bags off the belt, not realising that theirs was on a different carousel. To add to the confusion a flight had just arrived from Paris, full of French schoolkids, chattering like magpies at the tops of their voices. It was quite chaotic and certainly very noisy!!
The bag that I had checked through from GSO came off quite early, much to my relief but I had to wait for the second bag and it was then that I realised how I had managed to shoot myself in the foot a second time. [B)] As I waited I read the various notices about which channel to use and especially the one that said if I had started my journey in a non-EU country (I had) but had come in on an EU flight (I had) I still had to use the Green channel unless I had previously cleared customs in another EU country (I hadnt well not that bag) I looked down on it and realised I hadnt a hope in h*ll of going through the Blue channel. My baggage tag had a plethora of destinations on it including IAD; it had a TSA cleared sticker and it didnt have the green stripe down the side to show it had come from an EU country. In other words, it stuck out like a sore thumb. In addition the customs officers were vigorously policing the Blue channel and sending the Poles to the Green channel and I felt I had no option but to go there myself with my case. And it was full of booze! There was worse to come. They had an X-Ray machine and were x-raying all of the cases! [:0] I had no choice but to put my case on the belt and hope for the best. I was within the limits from an EU country, but didnt know whether those limits were the same for Poland as an Accession State. At least the x-ray wouldnt tell what country I had come from so I just held my breath. I dithered about putting the second bag on because technically it had been cleared in LHR but I didnt want to draw attention to myself. However the lady manning the channel urged me on and as I walked past the machine, there displayed in glorious Technicolor were my bottles of wine, port and a very nice marinade from the Yadkin Valley. [:I] While I consoled myself that none of the bottles were broken, I held my breath as they were scrutinised in detail. Finally the belt moved on but I wasnt out of the woods yet. There was every chance it would be swooped on as it came out of the machine. However there was a bit of a minor kerfuffle as people were not taking their bags off the end of the belt and it was beginning to pile up, so I strolled over to the end, taking advantage of the confusion and whisked my bag off the belt. Trying desperately not to break into a trot, or even a gallop, I strolled as nonchalantly as I could out of the customs area and into Arrivals. [:w] Part of me had earlier hoped that Aer John might be there to meet me if he didnt have a lecture or tutorial, but at that stage I was glad he wasnt. Resisting the urge to look back to see if they were coming after me, I paid my parking fee and then, once outside the building went like the clappers for the long-term car park, my car and home!
Oh and when I got home I found a note from TSA saying they had inspected the contents of my case. I suppose I should be grateful they left the wine intact and hope they enjoyed rifling through my dirty underwear!! [:w][:I][:w]
