We are at Heathrow waiting for our flight to Athens. In the usual Maxwell style...we arrived several hours earlier than necessary!
At YVR we checked our bags through to Athens instead of claiming them in London and rechecking them today. At first we thought that this was a brilliant idea...walking away from the plane, drifting effortlessly through Customs, finding our hotel bus without being encumbered with dragging bags. After all, the hotel would supply us with shampoo and anything we needed for an overnight stay!
Then we noticed what was missing from our shoulder bags...toothpaste, mouthwash, hearing aid batteries (yes...they died this morning), bandaids for John’s toe. Oh well! Our only hope is that the bags arrive with us in Athens despite our overnight stay at Heathrow. Otherwise British Air will have to track us down in Athens...or...ship the bags to Amorgos!...or?!
The Leonardo Hotel near Heathrow was adequate but not recommendable. Checking in took forever...not sure why?...inexperienced staff?...room not ready at 4:00pm?...at least the clerk offered us a free drink at the bar while we waited. Our request for a taxi this morning was acknowledged, ignored and finally apologies were extended. If I had taken the time to review my notes we could have taken a bus instead of a taxi. Sleep deprivation is blamed for that faux pas!
At Terminal 5 we are watching the planes moving in and out with a flurry of ground activity around each one. Our taxi driver told us that every 30 seconds there is an arrival and a departure at Heathrow. When Terminal 6 runway is finished they expect the air traffic to increase to every 10 seconds!
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