Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Round The World 2006-07
Ticket Run to Gib
Another day at Heathrow and another early start for me. With my alarm clock set once again for 0500, I had no real trouble getting going and making my way down to the hotel lobby for another ride on the Horrid Hoppa which, even at this hour of the morning, managed to turn up at a time that bore no resemblance to the published timetable. Still, I got to Terminal 1 soon enough and was surprised to find that it wasn't all that busy. By that I mean that I could reach Zone R without having to leave the building, walk along the outside and re-enter. I had an easy passage through to airside and was soon in the F lounge, enjoying a repeat of Saturday's breakfast offerings. I made my way to the gate as soon as it was posted on the electronic displays.
(Link to flight log in side panel)
It was a beautiful day on arrival
in Gibraltar, but of course initially at least I was pre-occupied
with the main business in hand : picking up my One World Explorer. I
was confident that there wouldn't be any hitches and sure enough,
the ticket was ready and waiting for me and a quick check confirmed
that everything was in order. Great job, Rossanna
With that vitally important document now safely stored on my person, I started to make my way into town, but decided to wait and see off the A320. After all, it's not every day that you get to see a plane taking off at such close quarters. When the time came, the police made the necessary preparations, the aircraft taxied to the far end of the runway then, with a roar of the engines, she was off into the clear blue skies.
I resumed my walk, finding the central area easily
enough - hardly surprising, really, as it was still less than three
months since my previous, first visit. I decided to have lunch in
the same place that the group had used in January, possibly
demonstrating a lack of imagination, but it did appear to be the
best in the square. Trust FTers to have chosen well
It did give me a slightly odd feeling,
though, being there again minus the others. After lunch, I decided
to forego a repeat visit to the top of the Rock and opted instead
for a more restful visit to the Botanic Gardens, following a tip
that I had read in the airline's Medlife magazine. It proved
to be an attractive place in which to enjoy a seat in the afternoon
sun, making good progress with the book I had brought along. When I
felt that I'd had enough, I made my way back to the central area,
nice and slowly - I was in no hurry at all. As I had plenty of time
available and it was still warm and sunny, I decided to walk round
to the Eastern Beach. It was a bit disappointing however : too many
boy racers making a racket with their souped-up cars
I read another couple of chapters and headed back in the direction
of the little airport, which turned out to be extremely busy due to
a couple of Monarch flights departing for LTN and MAN. In fact the
place was absolutely heaving and I was truly grateful to be able to
escape into the sanctuary of the lounge. I used the opportunity to
catch up on my diary - yes, I had my laptop with me, due to the lack
of suitable secure storage at the Holiday Inn!
Time passed fairly quickly and soon I was boarding the flight for Heathrow.
(Link to flight log in side panel)
I was in good spirits as I arrived at Heathrow, helped enormously by not having to wait around in order to reclaim hold baggage. Even the prospect of riding the you-know-what failed to get to me and I waited happily until one eventually took the notion to turn up and transport me back to my hotel.