The alarm was set for 4.50, and I think we managed to be awake just before it went off. Such is the plight of those who know they must be awake at a certain time. We lay around for a little while, as we had time, then finished the packing, and headed downstairs for the 5.35 call.
There weren't many people there, but there was a continental breakfast for us, which was very welcome. Turned out that others were making their own way, so only eight of us got on the coach for the airport. We trundled in silence through the quiet city, and disembarked at the busy airport. After lining up at the wrong desk (Air Berlin), we found the slowest queue ever, and then the stupidest woman behind the counter. Firstly she gave Christian James's boarding pass, and then after we'd gone back to correct the mistake, put Christian in the row in front of me. We went back again, but she insisted it had been pre-booked and couldn't change it. We tried at the enquiry desk, but they said they couldn't change it either.
Fairly disgruntled by now, we went through security, and headed straight for the nearest Air Malta gate staff. They were able to fix the problem within two minutes, though they couldn't print another boarding pass. Very silly business.
We sat waiting for the flight. Christian went off to buy some jigsaw puzzles. Then we went through passport control (?) and to our gate. We sat for a bit in the freezing room, and then went to Costa for a tea for me and a toastie for Christian. The flight was finally called (late), and we walked onto the plane. I sat in between Christian and Olaf - the Rackers were generally co-located again. It was a quiet flight. The breakfast they served was awful, but they got us there OK, even with a pretty strong cross-wind at Gatwick. We went through passport control (again?), collected luggage, and headed for the train station, saying goodbye to a few Rackers as we went.
We bought tickets to Horsham, got some sausage rolls from the pasty shop, and after some difficulty, found ourselves on platform 5. The Littlehampton train arrived, after two Brighton trains, and we got on for the short journey. It started to rain. Heather pulled up in Christian's car just as we walked out to the car park, and we jumped in. She drove us to Chesworth Gardens, and we only stopped briefly (with Christian sabotaging Heather's key ring), before heading for Hazlemere. The M25 was sadly broken. We called in at the office to collect a delivery (which wasn't the new laptop) and then for some fuel and shopping at Hayes Tesco. And then we were home between 1 and 2pm. Exhausted.
What a great trip. Brief, but very enjoyable, and carefully planned by the wonderful Emma.
There weren't many people there, but there was a continental breakfast for us, which was very welcome. Turned out that others were making their own way, so only eight of us got on the coach for the airport. We trundled in silence through the quiet city, and disembarked at the busy airport. After lining up at the wrong desk (Air Berlin), we found the slowest queue ever, and then the stupidest woman behind the counter. Firstly she gave Christian James's boarding pass, and then after we'd gone back to correct the mistake, put Christian in the row in front of me. We went back again, but she insisted it had been pre-booked and couldn't change it. We tried at the enquiry desk, but they said they couldn't change it either.
Fairly disgruntled by now, we went through security, and headed straight for the nearest Air Malta gate staff. They were able to fix the problem within two minutes, though they couldn't print another boarding pass. Very silly business.
We sat waiting for the flight. Christian went off to buy some jigsaw puzzles. Then we went through passport control (?) and to our gate. We sat for a bit in the freezing room, and then went to Costa for a tea for me and a toastie for Christian. The flight was finally called (late), and we walked onto the plane. I sat in between Christian and Olaf - the Rackers were generally co-located again. It was a quiet flight. The breakfast they served was awful, but they got us there OK, even with a pretty strong cross-wind at Gatwick. We went through passport control (again?), collected luggage, and headed for the train station, saying goodbye to a few Rackers as we went.
We bought tickets to Horsham, got some sausage rolls from the pasty shop, and after some difficulty, found ourselves on platform 5. The Littlehampton train arrived, after two Brighton trains, and we got on for the short journey. It started to rain. Heather pulled up in Christian's car just as we walked out to the car park, and we jumped in. She drove us to Chesworth Gardens, and we only stopped briefly (with Christian sabotaging Heather's key ring), before heading for Hazlemere. The M25 was sadly broken. We called in at the office to collect a delivery (which wasn't the new laptop) and then for some fuel and shopping at Hayes Tesco. And then we were home between 1 and 2pm. Exhausted.
What a great trip. Brief, but very enjoyable, and carefully planned by the wonderful Emma.
I liked the breakfast :-P
ReplyDeleteYou should have finished mine. The sausage was bearable (though it was like a hot dog), but the egg was truly terrible. I didn't even try the potato.
ReplyDelete