Not so Easyjet

A day of travelling starting before 6 am in order to be at the airport before 8 am. The drive back was incredibly quiet on the roads.  Fog was around until the sun rose but we hardly saw another vehicle until we reached the outskirts of Lisbon.

We dropped off the car after filling it with petrol (at €2.06/lt ouch) and then joined a long check-in queue for baggage drop off.  Despite printing off our boarding cards we were still provided with new cards (the same had happened at Manchester).  The same also happened for people who had electronic boarding passes.

The usual drill with security and border control and then the inevitable wait to board the plane.  Everything was as expected aboard and we treated ourselves to a bacon roll after a week of continental breakfasts.  All seemed fine until we started to descend when we noticed a lot of turbulence as we went through the clouds. Still as the land rushed up to join us we were looking forward to getting home.  

It was just as we were expecting the bump of landing that the engine tone changed and we felt the plane start to ascend.  For a few moments the apprehension was palpable in the cabin.  People were looking around and wondering what had happened.  It was down to the cabin manager to address us and say that this was a well practised contingency and we would be going around and landing again.  The pilot came on a few minutes later to explain that the plane’s systems had detected something called reactive wind shear as we were about to land.  Modern planes have various safety systems and this was instigated automatically on the detection of strong winds that might cause problems.  Thankfully the second time was successful and the expected ripple of applause rang out from the passengers.

The rest of the trip home was uneventful but for a lorry that decided to signal and pull out of the inside lane without checking, while we were next to him and had another car parallel in the lane next to us! We survived but it still caused the heart to race for a few moments.

We got home mid afternoon, to be welcomed by the cat.  Now the washing starts.