‘I’ve been skiing in Switzerland since I first learnt in Wengen in 1972 – but I won’t be going back any time soon.” The father-of-three returned from a small, family-friendly resort in Valais on Christmas Eve, after becoming trapped when Swiss authorities introduced a retroactive 10-day quarantine for UK passport-holders on December 20. According to some not entirely accurate reports, it prompted hundreds of British tourists in Verbier to head over the French border under cover of darkness, rather than be stuck in their hotel rooms over Christmas. The father, who wished not to be named, said he’d taken his family away for some fresh air and sun as a treat for his children, who had had a difficult lockdown. They left Gatwick on December 20, flying straight into the eye of the storm. After just one day’s skiing, he was informed of the quarantine by text message, at which point their entire Christmas holiday came crashing down. “I picked up the kids from ski school, grabbed some food from the supermarket, and returned to our room at the bed and breakfast. I thought it was a pain, but I’m a law-abiding citizen and toe the line.” But with three children aged 10 to 15, stuck in a room they’d booked until December 27 in a country that required them to quarantine until December 30, and with no way of getting meals other than breakfast, the situation soon became untenable. “We heard that there would be repatriation flights, but there was complete confusion about what was and wasn’t allowed,” he says. “I scanned UK and Swiss government websites and saw the Swiss authorities were considering allowing those caught by the quarantine to return home, provided their return journey didn’t lead to ‘further infections’.” While their B&B; owner repeatedly sought clarity, to no avail, the father found return flights on December 24, took his family to the airport by train – wearing masks and not speaking a word for fear of being stopped; extra police had been drafted in at resorts to check the quarantine status of anyone overheard speaking English.
from Yahoo Style UK https://ift.tt/3o6vdBB
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