Europe - Trip 1

Day 1 - January 08, 2002

A very long day ended when we got off the plane, considering we were only flying to London. Up at 3:30 AM; off to the airport at 4:00 - 3 hours before our flight; arriving and finding that we're 20th in line already and that US customs doesn't open until 6:00; through US customs and a short stop at Tim Horton's for a juice/muffin/donut; down to the gate and a nice loading on the plane; a 15 minute flight before the captain announces that we'll be returning to fixing a leaky door; 3 hours in the airport waiting for them to effect the repair; 3.5 hour flight off to Houston; 5 minute connection window which we make; a 9.5 hour flight to London which is slightly ameliorated by having a personal TV set in the back of the seat in front; landing in London and standing in the cattle line because we don't fit the nice categories like Family (British) or Friend (EU); then out to find the correct train into the city. Doesn't sound really awful if you're one of those that's-nothing-take-for-instance-the-time-I-went-to-Colombo-and-the-plane-had-to-stop-twice-for-fuel-once-in-Norway-once-in-Tibet-I-had-to-share-my-seat-with-a-pregnant-chicken-and-it-was-monkey-brain-soup-for-breakfast-lunch-supper people. It was inordinantly long for a trip to London, which normally takes only 7.5 hours from Calgary - but when you're flying cheap (points) it's tough to complain.

Met some nice people (cattle producers from around Edmonton) in line while we waited to get through customs. They were off to Costa Rica and we told them about the next year. They said, "So you're gonna come back and have kids then?" We were noncommital about the whole thing. US Customs was pretty easy, they waved us through and told us to have a nice trip.

The airport security wasn't as bad as we expected though all in all pretty entertaining. No one confiscated pens or our thin slivers of soap that could be used as weapons. We did have to turn everything on though: notebook, digital camera, camera, discman, CD burner, GPS, audio unit, headlamp, battery charger, and had to prove that the extra batteries we had in the pack were actually batteries.

Except for the 3 hour delay and bits of a bumpy ride on the Houston to London leg the flight was non-eventful - we both watched 3 movies and an episode of Friends and Frasier. The crew on these Continental flights were great. The captain was legible and actually provided good information, the cabin crew were helpful and friendly and the check in staff were very accomodating. Made us pine for the abuse and indifference we would have got on Air Canada. Maybe the route through Houston wasn't a bad idea regardless.

no photos, sound or video today