The 20th of
January saw both Mummies and Electra go on a plane for the first time
together. In fact it was also the first time both Mummies had been on
a plane together. But all had flown previously on their own.
Pipa got about an hours
sleep, while Electra and Sam got a fair bit more. Never the less we
were all up at 7 a.m. To catch the flight from Edinburgh to Gatwick.
The day started with
Pipa checking, checking and checking once more that everything that
was to be packed was, packed. All the paperwork was in order and all
the identification was to hand, then checked again. As you can tell,
Pipa is most certainly thorour.
Once the multiple
checks were done and Pipa was 90% sure everything was in order, we
piled in to Sam's granddad's car to the local park and ride so we
could get the airport bus. We were there earlier enough to catch the
bus before the planned one. This made Pipa happy, because there was
weather problems. The bus ride was only twenty or so minutes.
Once at the airport we
made our way straight to the British Airways check-ing desk. The
staff were great. Looked at the ID – checked us in and took our bag
away. Sam was a little hungry due to not having food prior to leaving
as suggested by Pipa. So, we went on the hunt. We found cheese
burgers and chips in the Turn-house bar (JD Weatherspoon's) which was
a massive disappointment for the £23 it cost. After leaving half of
it for the bin we headed through security.
Security, for Sam and
Electra was fine. They both walked through the arch with no trouble
what so ever. Pipa, was up last, needless to say it was less simple
for her. Beep, Ping, bong! “can you come over here please madam”...
Boots off and x-rayed; full pat down and a wave of the handheld metal
detector but nothing found obviously – so she was sent on her way.
Also needless to say, the security staff adored Electra and she made
many new friends.
At this point the
flight was delayed from 1435 to 1518 due to bad weather all over
Europe. We were pointed in the direction of the anticipated boarding
gate. We waited here for a while and Electra made more friends.
(you'll see a reoccurring theme :)).
Pipa's holding powers
aren't nearly as good as Electra's or even Sam's so after she found
the toilet we noticed the flight had been pushed back again. The gate
had also been changed too, so we relocated and got comfy.
While waiting – a
nice man came to ask a few questions on behalf of the C.A.A about our
thoughts of Edinburgh airport and how it could be improved. Pipa
suggested a TV wouldn't go a miss, even if it was just the news
channel that was on. Followed by the remark, “You can't beat a good
bit of genecide to pass the time”. Only afterwards did she realise
it was maybe a little bit in bad taste...
A while longer and we
were boarding the flight. The cabin crew were brilliant with all of
us. They made sure Pipa was comfortable and safe. That Electra was
comfortable and happily petted :). Also if Sam would like any help in
Gatwick since we didn't know where we were going. They kindly sorted
out some assistance once we got there. During the flight there were
snacks and drinks served, these were enjoyed by Pipa and Sam but
Electra didn't get so lucky. However, she got lots of attention from
all the cabin crew.
As we started our
decent. The sky below us turned into a shag pile rug of blackness. It
was pretty spectacular, Pipa was going to take a picture but her
camera was in the over-head bin, and she wasn't that committed. There
was a layer of dark royal blue above with a paler strip of blue at
our level and this fluffy blackness below. There was also a slight
glimmer of sun as it set and hid behind clouds. Then we plunged into
almost complete darkness as the lights were turned off and we went
through the black clouds onto a wet, and dark Gatwick airport.
Getting off the plane
was like stepping into the spectator area of an ice rink. It was cold
and stole your breath in part. Thankfully our assistance new were he
was going, some how. We went down all the little snickets and
corridors until we arrived at baggage reclaim. The nice guy was going
to escort us to the rail station but Pipa was happy with the
directions he'd given her so let him go. Our bag was the first off so
there was no waiting around.
We were aiming for the
1812 to Brighton since we'd missed the planned connection an hour
prior. Sadly, we got to the station at 1820 – however, it was
delayed until 1828 which was a result.
We got on the train but
it was really busy. Pipa being the way she is, rather than sending
Sam to hunt for a chair just plonked her bottom on the floor out of
the way. Sam and her were happy where they were until the conductor
offered us a seat in first class. Saying thank you to her, Mummies
and Electra grabbed the nearest seats and relaxed. The journey took
an extra hour and a bit due to engineering works and the lovely
weather. There were two ticket inspectors from a rival rail company
in there too. Pipa got chatting to them about all sorts from
football, hotel reviews and trains of course.
After some useful local
advice, we got off at Brighton, which was the last stop for the train
but not us. Into a taxi and away to our hotel. The Best Western –
Brighton Hotel, on King's Road. It was a little bit away from the
station but not so far away from food for that evening.
After checking in and
getting ourselves together again we left to hunt for food. At first
the idea was to just get some snacks to keep us going until morning,
we got these but we also got kabob meat and chips, then we trudged
back to the room over the ice, snow and through the cold.
We settled in for the
night with our food and television then got some sleep.
Up next the trip to the
capital of the UK – London. Coming to a computer and mobile device
near you very soon.
