20 April 2010

Greece Slips Away? And Other Volcano Craziness

Thanks to the eruption of a volcano in Iceland, Nana and I have been in travel limbo for almost a week now, and have resigned ourselves to not knowing before Friday morning whether or not we'll be headed off to Athens that afternoon. But compared to a lot of other travelers, we have it easy: we're at home, and since we're planning on staying with a friend in Athens, we have nothing to lose if our flight is canceled (in the EU, if your flight's canceled, you're entitled to a refund).

Anyway, Nana and I weren't sure if our friends and family across the pond were following the story, so I thought I'd round up a few links on the biggest aviation shutdown in European history.

-Latest from the BBC (with a bunch of further links in the sidebar)
-British Navy plans to repatriate stranded Brits.
-Slate.com on the long-term geopolitical effects.

Long story short, this thing is a huge deal, and there's the chance that continued eruptions in Iceland could make air travel within Europe touch-and-go for months (though intercontinental flights, especially transatlantic flights, should be less of a problem).

Of course, as Nana notes, there is a bright side in the potential for a zeppelin renaissance! (Complete with steampunk styling, we can only hope.)

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