Victoria - Poking Around Europe 7.0 - CycleBlaze

October 27, 2022

Victoria

Home Sweet Home

What a treat the Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel was, for me anyway. I didn’t sleep well, worrying about the CN, and was wide awake at 6 AM. Not wanting to disturb Keith, I tiptoed downstairs to the restaurant and managed to spend a full two hours there, eating a delicious and unearned breakfast, drinking endless cups of good coffee, watching the planes taking off, reading the Globe and Mail, updating this journal and enjoying myself immensely. 

A newspaper! Even though I access most of my news (including the Globe and Mail), online, I still love a physical newspaper.
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Enough breakfast for three. I made a good stab at it though.
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Then it was time to check in on Keith. His sore throat started in the middle of the night in Lisbon, and we had to leave for the airport at 9 AM. I would have been happy to lay low in Lisbon for as long as it took for him to feel healthy, but we really didn’t have that option with that tight timing. By the time we got to Vancouver he was feeling really quite rough. So was I after 8 hours to Toronto, 3 and a half in the airport there and 5 hours to Vancouver, but Keith’s was more than just exhaustion. We fell into bed, and I slept with a mask on. After I came up from breakfast he tested and there was no waiting fifteen minutes for the results. He definitely has Covid. So then a moral dilemma. 

After discussing it though, we just didn’t  see any way out except to carry on carrying on. We talked briefly about the ferry but that meant two cabs and once on the ferry we would be walk on passengers exposing even more people to the virus.  Staying in Vancouver would have been a very expensive option and if I pick up Covid we would have wound up in Vancouver for a long time.  We are so close to home and it seemed the most sensible thing to do to was to just get there.  On top of all that, Air Canada had our bikes as they were checked through. 

I am writing this from the departure lounge and we are both wearing N95 masks. Our flight is delayed for technical reasons. Darn. More later. The good news is that Keith has mild symptoms and at least for now, I am fine. 

Looking good!
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It is now Friday morning and we are blissfully home. We are a hilarious household. Our housesitter Mikaela has her own flight to Toronto tomorrow, so she is wearing her N95 and hanging out in the spare bedroom. Keith is confined to our bedroom and I am sleeping on the couch. So far so good. I suspect I may get it simply because we were side by side for so long, masks or not, but I hope not. It was interesting to us, on all three flights, we were two of just a handful of people wearing masks that I could see. Our final flight was just twenty minutes long in a small plane, and I only saw one other person in a mask. 

Our friends Nick and Anne drove their vehicle and ours out to the airport, said hello from a distance and left our keys on the seat of our car. Friends and neighbours have kindly dropped off enough groceries and home made soup that I don’t need to go anywhere for a few days. Keith feels like he has a bad cold, and so far anyway, I am fine. 

We plan to do a final page with thoughts about this tour, and so I will leave it at this for now. 

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Scott FenwickOh poor Keith. I hope he recovers quickly and that you dodge the bullet. Seems to be just another cost of travel these days. I likely became infected on an airplane coming back to Canada and Pat was collateral damage a few days later. Both on the mend now. It is similar to a wicked cold. Loved the blog - take care - fingers crossed.
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1 year ago
Mike AylingI hope Keith shakes it off soon.
I had terrible sore throat for about three days and Mary had very mild symptoms.
Did you remove your masks to partake of any of the airline food?
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1 year ago
Keith ClassenTo Mike AylingThanks for your note Mike! Yes we removed our masks to quickly gulp some food down and hydrate on our flights home. We were surprised at the number of people not wearing masks on the flights. We wore masks on all our flights to and from Europe. Feeling pretty good at the moment so hopefully on the mend.
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1 year ago
Keith ClassenTo Scott FenwickThanks for your note Scott. Feeling pretty good on day 4 and so far so good with Kathleen. You are so right as it being another cost / risk of travel these days. Glad to hear you are both on the mend. Enjoyed following along with you guys over some familiar territory . All the best!
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1 year ago
David MathersWelcome home Keith and Kathleen. What an adventure and then Covid! Take care and get well soon. Love to hear more when you’re feeling better.
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1 year ago
Rachael AndersonSorry you got Covid! I hope you recover quickly and Kathleen doesn’t get it.
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1 year ago
Jacquie GaudetGlad to hear you got home okay (or close) and I presume your bikes made it too. I really enjoyed following along in your journal!
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1 year ago
Tricia GrahamThat certainly was a nasty end to your trip but in your always positive outlook on life is once again so obvious. Best wishes for a quick recovery for Keith and fingures crossed that you dodge the bullet
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1 year ago
Ann HutchingWishing you a speedy recovery Keith, and remain contagion- free , Kathleen. Thanks for sharing your latest adventure- most enjoyable and informative.
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1 year ago
Mike PigdenSandie and I hated to see your trip end. Since meeting in Ronda we have been following your adventure. It was great fun to read where you were and see the pictures. Especially when you were some place we had been before. We got home to Winnipeg late Friday. Nice to be home but it was hard leaving Seville after living there for two months. But we have our home in Mexico to look forward to. Leaving for Mazatlan on the 15th for seven months. It was great to meet you both and we are looking forward to the next trip.
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1 year ago
Keith ClassenTo Mike PigdenThanks for your note Mike. That was a fun evening in Ronda. We think you and Sandie have retirement nailed. Enjoy Mazatlan . I was there in 1973 so imagine things have changed.somewhat. Puerto Vallarta was just a small village then and is recognizable now.
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1 year ago