It seems along time since i wrote my blog, may be it is .
i had a flying visit to UK to check out my dads new place and catch up with an , what shall i call him, friend i suppose.
I made a bit of a boo boo when i booked my flight to Luton instead of gatwick but after said friend offered to pick me up , i breathed a sigh as getting from luton to my desination would of been tricky to say the least.
I some how managed to have one of my moments of doubt, worry, whatever you call it, remember i never flew for 10 years, any how , it was ridiculous and i packed the morning of leaving, yes a little late but i was hand luggage only and i knew i would buy a few things, so it took me only a few minutes to throw the stuff in. Just about to leave and remembered my Allen Carr book, how to enjoy flying, i know it would take up valuable space but i needed it.
friend messaged me as he has now realised he got to drive all the way round the M25 and than all the way back to take me to my desination and than all the way back. pretty awesome of him to do this.
I drove to airport and parked with my faithful company i had been parking with for years(yea we parked at airport when we went on the cruises, oh the days of cruises)They have moved to the middle of no where and i had plenty of time to look for them, oh no i have not i only had 3 hours to departure. Well i found them quite easily and no tom tom insight to help. They are hell of alot cheaper for being out in the wilds, so happy with that.
Malaga mega busy, never seen it so busy, even a really long queue to get through security. Flew with monarch and jolly good flight it was
I arrived at Luton airport, walked to passport control, really long queues must of been about 500 people in there. 2 ways to go ,1 to the really long queue, 2nd to really long queue but you had to have a chip on passport to use, i look at my new passport and yea i have a chip, no brainer, chip queue i tag onto. Well queue number 1 flies through but queue number 2 does not, but i stand tall, i am going to use my chip, well more time passes and now number 1 queue is no more and they are moving people from my queue, i move forward and this charming man says to me, you stay there, ok, i thought, than few minutes later tells me to move forward now, nope, i think ,im staying where i am, and i did. What fun the chip way is and when i got through i turned round to see i was the very last person to get through passport control, it was sort of eerie looking at it empty.
I had a mini panic than, not seen him for over a year, right of to face him..It was kind of nice having someone there waiting for you. How cool is Luton a costa coffe right at the arrivals and wow he looked good. I mumbled i was the last one through he rolled his eyes saying he just knew i would be. How nice he is i remember. We walk towards car and recounts how he had stopped at the double yellow lines for a few secs to work out how to get into car park and a car with a camera was filming him, oh dear. I slightly think he may of been debating waiting there , anyhow i offered to pay car parking and he wants to, so he can prove he parked , ok, £11 for an hour, oh my, how expensive is that. I may not curse the icc parking for a pound an hour anymore.
Journey was good and we caught up , but what alot of speed cameras there are now in UK , i do not think i could cope with them.. We had a coffee before he headed back .He gave me an umbrella, sweet as it was raining, though i later realised i left it in the coffee shop, shocking. He offered to take me back to Gatwick later in the week. Yea got the return flight right.
Caught up with family and happy to see him settled and into a routine, oh the routine. But happy
I did do alot of shopping, had my usual omellette from John Lewis,there the best, mcdonalds milkshakes, why Spain do not do them i am not sure. Did not have a kfc, shock, well i got that in Spain now.
As the week progressed so did my hand luggage. On the day of departure i was in a state of panic, i had weighed it and it was 9.9k but without my 2k handbag and it was now fat very fat.
I got to gatwick and thought i would reweigh my bag and nope it had not lost weight on the journey it was still 9.9 but i had a plan. I i brought a magazine and hid my handbag in there. Right now to put it in the unit to see if ok in size, yep, i push , i squeeze, yep it fits, yipee, but than i try and get it out, i pull, i squeeze, i tug it out and fly across with it, but hey it fits.
I put it off no more i go to counter, before he speaks i say, it fits. I know he chuckles i saw you go flying when you got it out, i sigh, now for the weight and whether he makes me put carrier bag on. IT weighs at 15k WHAT i say, i just weighed it and i was sure it was 9.9k, he chuckles again and lifts his hand of the scales, big sigh now as its in weight. Oh i say i have been so stressed, he laughs and said he thought so and thats why he put hand on scales. Funny, very funny. I ask can i check it in, yes for free he says and as i have, he gave me priority boarding,nice but you do not really need it ,if ya not got a bag to place up . I thanked him as he was a jolly nice man considering all the horror stories you here of over weight baggage, and size, He said have a safe trip and you can get ya handbag out of the carrier now, i giggled but they dont miss a trick.
Off to marks and spencers now to stock up on the goodies, now i was hand luggage free.
I headed for departures and this man asked if i was flying out, yes i said and so he offered me to go through that way, oh it said invited people only. Did i look dodgy or something or maybe i looked so stunning how on earth could i queue with the rest . Either way i entered. only me in there, i placed my stuff on belt, nipped through scanner thingy and within seconds i am standing in south terminal, cool, more shopping time. A mac donalds in departures, so my last milkshake until Christmas, nice, and a wander around the terminal, however did not like or what was it, actually the sales staff were all stood together and i felt , dunno how i felt but i know i never brought any perfume like i normally do in departures and so they missed a sale.
But i did buy a water bag, very nice lady there sold me it and a huge tic tac box, do i like tic tacs, there ok, but hey it was so cute and so the girls at work will all get a tic tac box..
I stumbled forward for my priority boarding, a bit early, very confusing but she let me enter . The flight was hmmm. a nightmare, am i getting old or something as there were 3 hen parties and 1 stag do on flight, yep, noisy . Though the funny thing was the stag do which was average age of hmm 40ish being generous and the hens average age 20ish , yea of course they thought they had a chance.
On a final note when i arrived in Uk i felt i was on holiday , when i landed back in Spain i felt i was home. So if i am thinking of uprooting myself anytime i must remind myself of how i felt.