Worst Snow in 40 years...

... and I missed it all.
I flew out of Glasgow at 0630 on Monday morning. The taxi ride from Troon was quick with the driver commenting on just how warm it was that morning. The flight to Cardiff it self was quite pleasant in a small Dash 8 and we made good time. The weather was beautiful - as the sun rose it was clear with good visibility
As we lined up for final approach we could see bright white cloud which turned out to be quite thick ground fog. We made our approach and at what seemed the last possible minute the engines went into full power and we entered a steep climb - the pilot rapidly climbing to 4000ft. We circled for another 90 minutes while we waited for it to thin and landed on the second approach. At least I would have something to tell people about!

What a difference on the ground. Cardiff was quite fog bound with the resultant overcast and cold damp feel. At almost 2 hours late we headed direct to the customer for the first of 5 training and discussion sessions with local and remote staff. It went quite well. By the time I take over this business stream in the new year I would like to think our order intake is already above target.
As an bonus we were staying in the Hilton in Cardiff, just opposite Cardiff Castle. As usual, there was no time to see anything but after dinner we took the long walk back t the hotel and passed through the Winter party which was being held - Ferris wheel, ice rink, mulled wine but we had an early start again on Tuesday. Headed up to the room where I finally saw the news reports about Glasgow and Scotland. Hard to believe all the disruption caused in such a short time.
Tuesday morning Andy and I met at 0600 for breakfast to find that the breakfast doesn't start til 0700. We were early enough to go back to his room and order room service so at least it wasn't a second day of no breakfast. How he's going to account for "room-service, breakfast for 2" on his expenses is something I look forward to hearing.
Andy's son Ian is coming across for Bristol this evening so there is just enough time for a quick lounge in the pool/sauna before the three of us head out for a meal and back to the hotel for a drink.

Wednesday is more leisurely. Instead of training we are discussing proposals before another application training session this afternoon, so we don't have to be in quite so early. As its bright enough I finally get a picture of the castle right outside my bedroom and Andy is charged with taking some pictures as we drive.
We finish the day with time to spare and head for a leisurely trip back to the airport. The airport itself is quite quiet. The shops are slowly closing and the one bar is closed. We get some food while we wait for the check in to open. So far everything looks good. Looks can deceive. But in all fairness it wasn't that bad. Our flight out should have left Glasgow at 1400 but by 1800 still hadn't left. The check in opened and we were assured that the flight would go so we went through security and went down to the pub to wait. At about the time we were due to board it took off from Glasgow, and made good time. It turned around quite quickly and we finally made it back into Glasgow just after 2300. Luckily the taxi driver was waiting (though not where I was waiting) and despite a few hairy moments the drive home was straight forward.

Another trip survived. Seen a hotel other than that one in Aberdeen. And missed a huge amount of disruption.