We had an early finish from work today so that I could get my hair done in preparation for our trip. The rest of the day was spent doing normal stuff like walking the dog, nothing exciting except we were finished with work!
Friday 5th – steps 11289
This morning we got up and set some washing going so that we came home to clean work clothes and bedding etc. We then set about cleaning the house from top to bottom (again so that it was clean on our return).
We took the dog to the kennels around lunchtime and then stopped for lunch at our local garden centre.
We got the car cleaned whilst we were having lunch. Once back at home we finished cleaning did a stack of ironing and packed our bags
We left the house at around 5.30, timed to hopefully miss the traffic on the A303. We got an exciting dinner in McDonalds at Fleet services and then continued on our way. We had some minor traffic issues but nothing major.
We parked the car in Gatwick long stay and took the bus to the terminal. We walked across to the Hilton, getting our usual upgrade to the Executive Lounge courtesy of our Hilton credit card.
Unfortunately though they have changed the lounge hour and so we just missed the free beer and snacks (it now stops at 8.30).
We had a couple of soft drinks and then headed off to bed.
Food:
McDonalds at Fleet £9.68
Saturday 6th – steps 5271
As our flight was at 1550 we had no rush this morning so we didn’t even set an alarm! We were still awake in plenty of time and we checked out of the hotel at 12.
For some reason Cosmos would not give us our Norwegian flight reference so we had to get in the reasonably long line to check in…which was slightly annoying.
All checked in and we headed to security where they seemed to be trialling a new system – it did seem to be faster but was somewhat confusing.
We decided to get lunch at Nandos, we had ages to our flight and so we weren’t in any rush. I don’t appear to have taken any photos but I know that I had the butterfly chicken and Rob had a half chicken which was yummy.
After lunch we went for a wander around the shops, along the way we discovered that our flight was delayed by an hour. I decided to go to Costa for coffee so that Rob could spend as long as he wanted looking at headphones in the Dixon’s shop.
Our final job before boarding was to buy some drinks for the flight. We had meals included as part of our package but I wanted some extra water and coke for outside of meal times as I guessed drinks would be quite expensive.
Eventually our gate was announced and we actually weren’t quite as delayed as originally expected. I think we started taxiing at about 1630.
The food on-board wasn’t bad at all, we had a chicken curry along with a salad and some kind of dessert. We also had a sandwich about an hour before landing – although who thinks a cheese and onion sandwich is a good idea?!
The entertainment system was fine, some of the movies were older than is typical but there were enough options to keep most people occupied.
We landed at around 2030 and came into a different section of the airport than on previous trips. The immigration hall seemed smaller and it took quite some time to get through. Once we got to the baggage hall our bags had arrived but there was a massive line to get through customs.
We headed to Dollar to get our car and got the rudest woman ever.
She insisted that the booking was in my name (it wasn’t) and then made a big song and dance about how we needed to take the roadside assistance option. I told her that I didn’t think we needed it and she proceeded to tell us how likely it was our car would break down…..! Not the best approach! We declined and managed to finally get our paperwork to collect our car from the garage.
We walked across and headed to the midsize SUV aisle to find NO CARS! Not one….! The very (un)helpful assistant told us that we really shouldn’t arrive so late in the day – they have a better selection in the morning…!
She offered us a convertible mustang which we reluctantly agreed to take for the night and then come back the next day for a more appropriate vehicle. Somehow we managed to fit our bags in and off to the hotel we went.
We eventually got to the hotel around 2300 and after quickly checking in we headed to bed. We had originally planned breakfast at Be Our Guest the next morning but I had a feeling that we wouldn’t be up in time so I cancelled it before we went to sleep.
Food costs:
Nandos £25.60
Costa £3
Drinks for the flight – around £3 (I paid with Boots points).
