The Wrong Direction Seems to be The Right Direction

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This is technically the first day of our holiday, so it warrants a blog entry, but it's going to be a little dull as the day consisted of going to the airport and flying right through until the next day.

It was an early start, but it was no where near as anti-social as it could have been. The flight was at 11.10am, so we aimed to be at the airport at around 8.00, hopefully allowing loads of time given that we have almost had a previous holiday ruined by the M25.

We had booked the “meet and greet” car parking, but there were no signs for that so we followed the signs for “valet parking”. Wrong! Could someone explain the difference between “valet parking” and “meet and greet parking” to me please?

The valet parking office was closed, but there was a number to call and they kindly pointed out that there was a difference. We were directed towards the short-stay car park and from there the long-winded route to the meet and greet was signposted.

Most of the Vietnamese who were checking in for our flight had obviously been shopping as they all had trolleys loaded with shrink-wrapped boxes. Due to our wonderful devalued currency no doubt.

My wife has been doing some work with a company in Hemel Hempstead who make airport security equipment. She was pleased to see that their equipment was being used in Heathrow.

Despite the threat of strikes (called off at the last minute) and delays due to the hot weather (only in the UK) the flight left the terminal almost on time, but then we spent 40 minutes sat in a queue of other flights waiting to take off. I know it is controversial but please can all the farting around be ended and just get on and build the third runway. And a fourth for that matter.

Whilst we were waiting, we saw one of the old Concords parked-up beside one of the BA hangers.

The route was not what we would have expected, but I suppose that's where the curvature of the earth can be deceptive. We headed off over the Baltic then over Latvia and into Russia. Perhaps our convoluted journey to Bangkok via Moscow all those years ago was not as indirect as we thought it was (see Heading East, But Not Quite in the Right Direction).

The plane was one of those Dreamliners, so if the PR is to be believed we will be getting off the flight tomorrow morning refreshed and ready for the day ahead.

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Photos

Concord
One is being kept at Heathrow for prosperity and to see while queuing.

Tourist Rip-off
£15 for a small box of shortbread, despite having all the London clichés??