Getting to London

The time has finally come for Chloe and I to embark on our European and Dubai tour. First, we would meet up in London, spend a few days there, fly to Barcelona for a few days, fly to Pisa, Italy, train to Florence for a couple of days, and train to Rome for a few days then Lastly we would fly to Dubai to turn up for Chloe’s big birthday.

My way to London was from Philadelphia to Washington Dulles and Dulles to Heathrow London. I arrived at Philadelphia just in time for my 30 minute flight to Washington Dulles, Check-in was painless and fast however boarding was not so much exciting. First of all, the plane was about 20 minutes late arriving to the airport for us to board. After boarding the itty bitty plane, we were told there something wrong with the engine that requires a maintenance person to clear us before taking off. Why does this always happen to me? So we were told to sit tight for a few minutes. A few minutes became 20 minutes. Keep in mind that I was on the last flight from Dulles to Heathrow and if I miss the flight, it would have to wait until the next day. It was not now 8:15 pm and was supposed to have taken off by now to arrive in DC at 9:30pm for my 10 pm flight to London. The maintenance man took his sweet time and did not show up until 8:50 pm meaning we did not take off until 9:15 pm. The flight to Dulles was only 30 minutes so at that point; I was praying that we would arrive in time for boarding or at least take off.

Everyone on my flight had a transfer after arrival in DC so this sparked a conversation amongst the passengers. It seemed like everyone was on the last flight out of DC, therefore they were afraid they would miss their flights. We arrived in Dulles at approximately 9:41 pm. The flight attendant was kind enough to tell the passengers who did not have transit to allow us to exit the plane first which did not help because 90% of the passengers had to do a transit. After exiting, I took off running; I had about 15 minutes to make it to the gate before takeoff. I arrived at the gate at 9:50 pm and found the gate completely empty as if no one had ever been there as desks were cleaned up and the lights were out. I looked around and found no one near. WTF? Am I at the right gate? I checked and Yes! I was at the right gate but apparently the gate closes 20 minutes before take off for international flights. I never knew that! I was furious! I had plans in London; I was supposed to meet Chloe at Heathrow. Luckily for me, Chloe’s flight from ATL to London was delayed so I was able to warn her about missing my flight before she left.

I furiously walked over to the united airlines customer counter. I was going to give them my peace of mind and demand that they get me to London somehow tonight. My anger took the best of me and had me cursing at the poor customer service clerk. I later realized that it was not his fault. He was kind enough to put me in a hotel room for the night and give me two food vouchers equaling $14 and put me on the next flight to London for the following morning. Most of the people on my flight that missed their flights were also put in the same hotel so we all hung out that night in the hotel restaurant and shared our travelling stories. It was quite interesting to hear some of the stories. One of them was an American girl who lives and works in Germany. She used to live in England where she met her fiancée who is from Belgium. The other was an Asian-American couple who currently lives in Philadelphia. They were supposed to be on the flight with me to London. Their trip to London was part of a European tour of England, France, Germany and Belgium. This couple has travelled to over 10 countries together. Whoa! I was impressed and wanted to befriend them so I could go on trips with them. Lol After a couple of drinks, we all decided to get some rest because we had an early morning flight.

The following morning, I arrived to the airport way in advance because I was not trying to miss this flight. I used the vouchers they gave me for breakfast and waited to board the plane. Thankfully, this flight was on time. The flight was pretty empty therefore I was able to change seats to an empty row. I slept the entire six hour flight in between meals, it was great!

Going through immigration in Heathrow is a nuisance. First of all, the line was super long. I literally stood in line for an hour before going through immigration. Just my luck, the immigration officer I got was a super A-hole! He did not greet me nor did he acknowledge me as a human being. I guess after seeing the US passport, he was immediately ticked off to say the least. He looked through my passport and asked, “what is the reason for your trip?’. I told him I was there to visit with some friends and family. He then asked, “How do you know your friends?” Seriously? Stay tuned for what he said next.

#London #England #Europe