Well, I made it. 10 hour flight - is a long flight. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I rose at my normal time and did the normal things; feed the cats, get coffee, start work. I was only working a half day as I needed to get to the airport. The drive to the airport was fast and I got princess parking at the parking lot. The shuttle to pick up was there immediately too. Everything was on schedule and running smoothly. Almost too smoothly, said the pessimistic voice in my head.
Once inside, the ticket counter for Virgin Atlantic was empty. So I waltz on up and gave them my bag. Headed off to go through security.
SeaTac has this cool new feature where you can schedule your time to go through the queue for security. I did that but was an hour early for my time. The nice lady at the check in let me go through anyhow.
Again, no one in line. It was starting to creep me out.
Through the scanner thingy and WHOA…pat down time. And this time not just a pat down, but I swear I needed a cigarette after. I was completely checked. All good and I was on my way. Now I had 3 hours to wait.
I headed out to the S gates, which was a big mistake. They don’t have a Starbucks out there and the food options are sketchy at best. Still I had a Peet’s coffee and found a piece of banana bread to go along with it.
They finally boarded us and quickly I might add. On board I had an exit seat but I wasn’t expecting it to be the type with metal sides so you can’t life the arm rest. No worries I’ll just wait and see if I can move across the aisle.
The flight attendant passed by and said we weren’t full so I could move. Now I was in a seat with the bulk head. Lots of leg room and no on in my aisle yet.
Then another flight attendant stopped by and said people tend to cross through there and it can be very distracting and did I want to move up to another row. So I moved again. Third seat. Still no one in the row with me.
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The doors closed and that was that. On this massive 787-900 I think there was maybe 75 people. It was absolutely empty. It felt kinda luxurious to have a whole row to myself.
Let me just take a moment and rave about Virgin Atlantic. We flew them to Scotland for the first time in 2018. Amazing flight. And amazing flight staff. From the counter agent who went above and beyond to spell Janet’s name right after I had spelled it wrong. To the incredible on board staff who were chipper and happy the entire time. I swear by this airline and sadly don’t get to take them too often.
Today’s flight was no different. The crew were friendly, helpful and made sure we were all set with water and food. Really a stellar experience.
The flight itself was uneventful. I didn’t sleep much and so I’m pooped right now but have to stay awake.
Heathrow is a HUGE airport. I think we walked a half of a mile to get to the passport control. But that was uneventful and my luggage was waiting for me when I got to the other side. Then found a cab and off we went. It took an hour and a half to get to the hotel. Traffic is ridiculous.
I got settled and put my head down for a wee nap. Turned on an alarm so I wouldn’t over sleep. Then got out and did some walking.
My hotel (Zedwell Picadilly Circus) is a great location, but to say I was shocked at the room would be putting it mildly.
It’s called a cocoon and I think you can see why.
The bed is a double size pushed up against a wall. No closet. No dresser. No TV. No nothing. The space between the bed and the bathroom is about 3 ft. It’s crazy how small it is. And how boring it’s going to be at night without a TV.
Tonight I went and walked around Picadilly Circus. It’s the theater district and it really is a circus (that’s not why it’s called that BTW). But it’s like Time Square in NY in that it has all sorts of lights everywhere. I’ll have to share photos later since the internet is crap and slow.
Tomorrow is the big premier. I met with my boss today and am excited to be participating. I’ll be hosting one of our VIP clients at the premier - which was new to me, but it’ll be fun.
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