Planes, Trains & Automobiles
(aka London to New York in just 36 hours or Farnborough to Virginia in only 46 hours)
It started like this...
Tuesday:
Up at 5am and into the car (that wouldn't start at first - I think it needs a new starter motor) We drive to Southall to park the car and get two separate shuttles to Heathrow T4 and T2
8am: Get text message from BBFK... "I'm at the wrong airport" BBFK should have been at London City Airport (Docklands I think) for a 9:30 flight to New York via Amsterdam and Lever's flight to New York via Madrid was at 12:15. How TF did that happen?
BBFK gets tickets transferred and finally exchange of tickets for a direct flight to New York.
Lever waits around for 7 hours whilst fog delays flights.
BBFK touches down in New York and spends night in Brooklyn.
Lever touches down at Madrid Airport at 7pm and is told the next flight out to JFK is Wednesday 1pm, 18 hours away...
After trudging 2 hours through Barajas airport, being sent form pillar to post, Lever finally secures a ticket that will gain him a bus ride, a meal and a bed for the night... sans suitcase, fresh clothes and washing kit.
Oh, and if you ever get banged up in the Tryp Diana Madrid ignore the quatro estellas rating... it's about the equivalent of a UK/US 2 star!
After a bland meal and a couple of small glasses of frothy-topped CruzCampo it's off through the threadbare corridors to the flaky bedroom for 8 hours kip.
Wednesday:
10am: Go. Catch bus to Barajas Airport, sit in the departure lounge and be thankful for the sound of the English language... Americans, Germans, a couple of Brits and a Puerto Rican.
Hit JFK at 3pm and find lost luggage, getting the grouchiest of Russian yellow cab drivers to whizz me to La Guardia and giving him $20 too much in the rush.
BBFK's phone worked yesterday in NYC when I called her from Madrid but today mine doesn't work in NYC so we're completely incommunicado. I check-in my luggage at La Guardia, 4pm, for the 6pm flight to Newport News airport and wait to see if BBFK turns up. The guy at the gate says best to pass through security by 5:25pm at the latest. So I wait...
At 5:25pm I decide it's time to go to my gate when BBFK arrives! We check her in just in time and race to the gate via the security check where we have to even remove our shoes and belts... before stuffing ourselves onto a plane to Newport News. I also find out that she lost her phone.
By the time we extract ourselves from the plane and head out to the baggage carousel we're the last ones there with all but one case. Yes, we're a case down! So we leave the airport bound for Chesapeake, Norfolk, Virginia, and get there a mere 46 hours after we left home :) So that's 3 planes, 2 trains and 4 automobiles.
I do love travelling but after this episode I'm so glad to finally stop moving..
It started like this...
Tuesday:
Up at 5am and into the car (that wouldn't start at first - I think it needs a new starter motor) We drive to Southall to park the car and get two separate shuttles to Heathrow T4 and T2
8am: Get text message from BBFK... "I'm at the wrong airport" BBFK should have been at London City Airport (Docklands I think) for a 9:30 flight to New York via Amsterdam and Lever's flight to New York via Madrid was at 12:15. How TF did that happen?
BBFK gets tickets transferred and finally exchange of tickets for a direct flight to New York.
Lever waits around for 7 hours whilst fog delays flights.
BBFK touches down in New York and spends night in Brooklyn.Lever touches down at Madrid Airport at 7pm and is told the next flight out to JFK is Wednesday 1pm, 18 hours away...
After trudging 2 hours through Barajas airport, being sent form pillar to post, Lever finally secures a ticket that will gain him a bus ride, a meal and a bed for the night... sans suitcase, fresh clothes and washing kit.
Oh, and if you ever get banged up in the Tryp Diana Madrid ignore the quatro estellas rating... it's about the equivalent of a UK/US 2 star!
After a bland meal and a couple of small glasses of frothy-topped CruzCampo it's off through the threadbare corridors to the flaky bedroom for 8 hours kip.
Wednesday:
10am: Go. Catch bus to Barajas Airport, sit in the departure lounge and be thankful for the sound of the English language... Americans, Germans, a couple of Brits and a Puerto Rican.
Hit JFK at 3pm and find lost luggage, getting the grouchiest of Russian yellow cab drivers to whizz me to La Guardia and giving him $20 too much in the rush.
BBFK's phone worked yesterday in NYC when I called her from Madrid but today mine doesn't work in NYC so we're completely incommunicado. I check-in my luggage at La Guardia, 4pm, for the 6pm flight to Newport News airport and wait to see if BBFK turns up. The guy at the gate says best to pass through security by 5:25pm at the latest. So I wait...
At 5:25pm I decide it's time to go to my gate when BBFK arrives! We check her in just in time and race to the gate via the security check where we have to even remove our shoes and belts... before stuffing ourselves onto a plane to Newport News. I also find out that she lost her phone.
By the time we extract ourselves from the plane and head out to the baggage carousel we're the last ones there with all but one case. Yes, we're a case down! So we leave the airport bound for Chesapeake, Norfolk, Virginia, and get there a mere 46 hours after we left home :) So that's 3 planes, 2 trains and 4 automobiles.
I do love travelling but after this episode I'm so glad to finally stop moving..
Blue Skies thinking @ 12/21/2006 04:40:00 PM
8 Comments:
At Fri Dec 22, 10:58:00 AM,
Red said…
Wow! That's a little tortuous!! I'm aware of how much £$£$'s it costs travelling at this time of year, but why the "diverse" route? :)
At Fri Dec 22, 01:33:00 PM,
Lever said…
Red: Yeah, but it was kinda find too :)
After the BBC kindly advertised how strong sterling was against the dollar and then went on to say "it's a great time to do your Christmas shopping in the US" the price of flights shot up! I sniffed out the Iberia flight via Madrid (12 hour round-trip plus connections and waiting) and it was just over 400 quid :)
So yeah, it was cheap, I got to see a little of Spain and otherwise there'd be nowt to blog about other than just getting here ;)
At Sat Dec 23, 09:34:00 PM,
Mummy/Crit said…
Wow, that is a wild commentary. I liked the "I also found out she lost her phone" aside. I was wondering why you didn't fly together, but i think you explained it in your reply to Red. We're looking at going over in late Jan for a week or so, but have not yet organised it. Work will pay for the beloved, and his frequent flyer points will pay for me.
At Sun Dec 24, 12:05:00 AM,
Lever said…
Mummy/Crit: Yeah, I had to be fairly oblique or else it would have been a rambling old tale of many many details.
Becky booked her flight months ago whereas I left mine until the last minute as usual :)
Oooh, you're over in Jan? Awesome. And freq flyer points? Double wow. That must be some traveling to afford that!
At Sun Dec 24, 03:44:00 AM,
narthex said…
Lever, do these types of adventures happen to you frequently or is it only because you traveled when Orion is low in the sky and BBFK was involved? Heh! :D
At Sun Dec 24, 04:13:00 AM,
Lever said…
Narthex: LOL Yeah, we always have fun, just this time the car didn't get towed ;)
At Wed Jan 03, 10:55:00 PM,
woman wandering said…
Ahhhhh, so you were in Spain ... hell of a trip eh wot. Congrats on surviving :)
At Fri Jan 05, 03:52:00 PM,
Lever said…
Wandering Woman: LOL Yah, absolutely :) I kinda like this travelling business... must get to the continent a bit more this year :)
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