Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: A Tale of Two Cities (2010)
Long day, long way
I woke with my alarm, went through my usual morning routine and had breakfast in the Executive Lounge for the last time. When it was time to leave, I returned to the Executive Lounge for check-out purposes, then made my way down to the lobby to catch a taxi to the airport. The journey proceeded smoothly and I was soon being deposited outside Terminal 3. I checked in, only to be told that the flight was running behind schedule due to a late inbound aircraft. "Oh well, there goes my connection!" I thought. But I knew I had a backup plan, so even though the BA domestic flight that I was now destined to miss would be the last of the day according to the special strike timetable, it didn't worry me in the least. I made my way to the designated BA lounge which, oddly, was that of Star Alliance member Air China.
I eventually decided to make my way to the gate, despite the absence of any announcement. My timing turned out to be perfect.
(Link to flight log in side panel)
With all possibility of making my BA domestic connection long since blown out of the water, assuming that it did manage to operate in spite of the strike, I simply put it out of my mind and let Plan B take over. I'd booked a fully-flexible backup ticket with bmi and now I needed to use it. I transferred to the main T5 building and made my way to the baggage reclaim area, where I overheard a fellow-passenger blabbing into his mobile about how so-and-so had been on board and how they'd cleared the First Class cabin for his benefit. Er ... no, actually.
Reunited with my luggage, I caught a Heathrow Express train to Terminal 1, checked in for my final flight, passed through Security and made my way to the upstairs bmi domestic lounge, temporarily pressed back into service while the lower level was being transformed into The London Room.
(Link to flight log in side panel)
Finally back at Edinburgh Airport, it was an easy matter to pick
up my suitcase and then my car, head for home and, as quickly as
possible, go to bed. I'd been travelling all day and had suffered a
seven-hour time change; it was around 10pm and I was due to be up
for work at 6am the following morning!
I did, however, have the presence of mind to shift my clocks one
hour forward to BST - or at least, the ones that mattered.
Looking back on the trip as a whole, it will no doubt seem a little crazy to many people, but it worked for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As another of my travel diaries draws to a close, I can think of no better way to end than by bringing the story full-circle, with a passing apology to the master novelist:
It was the best of times. Period.