When It Rains, It Pours
It has rained 100% of the days we have been across the pond. 
Our flight from Calgary to Heathrow was uneventful. Discovered that with today's technology, on an international flight, there is a vast array of entertainment available. Movies, TV shows, games, music and even meditations. It was an overnight flight, so I was really hoping to sleep. That hope was in vain.
We had a nice 4 hour cushion for a layover, noon to 4. Despite all the horror stories I have heard about Heathrow airport, we found it extremely easy to navigate. Little LRT trains take you from terminal to terminal and the signage is very clear. There is ample opportunity to window shop (Harry Potter store!), lots of food choices (cucumber sandwiches), and people watching
I was tired to the point of being non-functional, but the next flight is only two hours. I can handle that.
Got our gate number, bit of a hike, so off we go. Get to the gate.
Attendant tells us the gate has been changed, gave us very good directions, another 10-15 minute hike, ride the LRT again.
Get to the gate- B33. Attendant tells us it changed to B36 the other end of the hall.
Get to gate B36. Attendant tells us it moved back to B33 - I kid you not! I felt like we were in a Monty Python sketch.
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| 60 year old man with Pac Man socks |
Delayed to 5:56. British Airlines brings a trolley of snacks and water to apologize for the delay, but please move over so the flight to Montreal can board.
8:00pm. Sat at the airport for 8 hours, left Calgary 16 hours ago. Flight has been cancelled. They had hotel vouchers for us, which took another 45 minutes to hand out. Attendant said to go to the airline desk and get a shuttle voucher for the hotel.
Trek back to baggage claim to find desk. Man tells us where to meet the hotel shuttle. I specifically asked him about shuttle vouchers, I have witnesses. He said we didn't need them.
Trek out through customs, it's raining. Find the shuttle stop with the rest of the Venice flight refugees. Shuttle pulls up about 15 minutes later, just sits there for 10 minutes not letting us on. When he finally opens up, turns out we need shuttle vouchers! Fortunately the kind man took pity on us and let us on.
Then we find out there are no flights to Venice until Wednesday. We're only in Venice until Thursday morning.
The hotel was amazing. They got the whole Venice group rooms in record time. It was 9:30 by then. They served us supper by 10:30.
At 11pm, we got another flight booked to Venice for the next day. Here's the catch. It's at 7:30 am. We have to be at the airport at 5:30. It's not at Heathrow, it's at Standsted, an hour away from the hotel. The very kind clerk at the hotel pre-booked a taxi for us at 4:00 am. When we dragged our sorry selves down to the lobby at 3:45, he had bagged breakfasts for us to take with.
Today was smooth sailing. Checked in, our tickets were waiting at the desk as promised. We had to check our bags, only one carry on for this flight, but they didn't get lost. We had time to eat our corn flakes, muffins and apples. Sailed through security. Met two lovely ladies at the gate. Flight left on time.
I sat beside a lovely man from Transylvania who took a picture of the Alps for me. We managed to successfully navigate public transit and get to our hotel. Exactly 36 hours from the time I left my house on Sunday!
Trek back to baggage claim to find desk. Man tells us where to meet the hotel shuttle. I specifically asked him about shuttle vouchers, I have witnesses. He said we didn't need them.
Trek out through customs, it's raining. Find the shuttle stop with the rest of the Venice flight refugees. Shuttle pulls up about 15 minutes later, just sits there for 10 minutes not letting us on. When he finally opens up, turns out we need shuttle vouchers! Fortunately the kind man took pity on us and let us on.
Then we find out there are no flights to Venice until Wednesday. We're only in Venice until Thursday morning.
The hotel was amazing. They got the whole Venice group rooms in record time. It was 9:30 by then. They served us supper by 10:30.
At 11pm, we got another flight booked to Venice for the next day. Here's the catch. It's at 7:30 am. We have to be at the airport at 5:30. It's not at Heathrow, it's at Standsted, an hour away from the hotel. The very kind clerk at the hotel pre-booked a taxi for us at 4:00 am. When we dragged our sorry selves down to the lobby at 3:45, he had bagged breakfasts for us to take with.
Today was smooth sailing. Checked in, our tickets were waiting at the desk as promised. We had to check our bags, only one carry on for this flight, but they didn't get lost. We had time to eat our corn flakes, muffins and apples. Sailed through security. Met two lovely ladies at the gate. Flight left on time.
I sat beside a lovely man from Transylvania who took a picture of the Alps for me. We managed to successfully navigate public transit and get to our hotel. Exactly 36 hours from the time I left my house on Sunday!
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