May 26, 2012 – And that’s a wrap.
We were up obscenely early to meet our ride to the airport for a 7:30 am flight out. We were picked up at 6am (the driver refused to pick us up any earlier) and assured that it would be plenty of time since no one is on the roads at that hour.
Mostly right.
Very little traffic, but we were a bit stunned when we walked into the airport at about 6:30 and were confronted with quite the chaotic lineup for British Airways. We opted to divide and conquer, so I stood in line and Kirk went over to customer service since our gate apparently closed at 7:10. We had hoped for a few minutes to grab a coffee and a croissant but that went out the window.
A British Airways employee came by and asked to see my boarding pass and I showed here and asked about the flight, she waved her had in the air and said something along the lines of “It’s fine.” When I pointed to the time for security, she again waved and seemed unconcerned. Kirk got the same reaction at his end. The couple behind me were also stewing as they had a connection for Chicago to make out of Heathrow.
It seems like the French are generally unconcerned until the last moment and then they kick into action, because all of a sudden, at about 7:05 there was a flurry of activity and the line flew through. Security was much the same, and the flight ended up leaving late. I always think it’s funny how everyone jumps up and lines up to sit on a plane – if you have an assigned seat, why hurry to be the first one on the plane? Same thing for when it lands. Why does everyone at the back of the plane leap up to crouch and hover above their seat?
The other question I have is when did “carry on luggage” become larger than the usual bag I check in? It’s amazing to watch some people push and grunt to stuff an obviously too large bag into the overhead compartment. I suppose with the increase in extra fees for extra baggage people have resorted to tricks to carry more for less. I just prefer to carry less. You can always wash something and wear it again.
Heathrow was much easier. We had a three hour layover and have become somewhat familiar with the routine there after several trips through over the years. The departure gate isn’t set until roughly an hour before the flight, so if you have more than an hour, go get a coffee, shop, eat, whatever, but just don’t worry about the lack of a gate number. And always check at least an hour before the flight because some gates take a train or a bus and up to 20 minutes to get to.
We had time for an English Breakfast (a little more reasonably sized one than we had encountered at the Inns we had stayed at last time we were here), a little bit of shopping (I found an adorable Pandora charm in the shape of a double decker bus with the Union Jack on the roof, and a airline power plug for my MacBook to let me work on catching up on photos on the plane). We even had time to grab a Starbucks before heading down to the train to get to our gate.
I’m always amazed by the air traffic when we fly through Heathrow. Three lanes deep, merging for takeoff. So busy compared to Vancouver. Another set of fabulous seats procured by Kirk – stretched out I can ‘just’ reach the wall with my feet! A really great lunch (we were presented with menus when we sat down) and all the wine we wanted. I LIKE this flight!
We looked down over Scotland, Iceland, the mountains of Greenland, the ice floes in Hudson’s Bay, and the Canadian Shield – fascinated by the snow that defines the rock scoured of everything by the glaciers so long ago. Not much down there. It’s always thrilling to see the Rockies come into view, and our airline attendant – who had become quite the friend to us – seemed equally thrilled to see them as he leaned down and pointed them out to us, just in case we’d failed to notice – and then he gave us more wine 😉 The flight was crystal clear almost all the way.
We landed in Vancouver at around 2pm, breezed through the Nexus lane at Customs, luggage came through without incident, rode the Canada Line train downtown and cabbed the final leg home. It was good to see the furballs again, and it will be good to have a day to relax before we go back to work Monday.
We tried really hard to stay up to a normal hour to get ourselves back onto our time zone quickly, but we were both out cold on the couch by 7pm.
Always want to stay longer, but always equally happy to come home. Travelling makes me appreciate other cultures, different viewpoints, different ways of life, different foods and drinks.
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