Sunday 18th January 2015

Saturday.

I had set the alarm for quarter past four, which, thanks to the time difference, was three fifteen in UK, where I would be if all went well by lunchtime.

If not sooner.

However, after my failure to set the alarm the night before and only waking up by luck in time for work, I slept fitfully, walking up at quarter TO four, and laid in bed listening to the drunks outside making their way either home or to the next 24 hour bar. When the alarm went off, I switched the light on, clothes and paperwork were all over the place.

I get up, have a shower, pack, and by quarter to I am ready to leave. Once last look around the room reveals no items left behind, so I walk to the lift, go down, hand the key into reception and walk to the car. A heavy dew had fallen, but at least not frozen. I switched the sat nav on, 44 minutes it said. Lets go!

A quick tour of the city, doubly so when the main bridge over the river was found to be closed, but taking the next turning got me back on track, then via a short detour from the main road onto the autobahn, and zoom. And at least it was dry, which was just as well as most of the road markings had been erased, making it very difficult when overtaking. But 32 miles later, I turn off, the road sign agreed that was where the airport turning was. But after that, I saw no more signs of the airport for quite some while.

Maybe it was because we have never updated the sat nav, or maybe it got bored, but it took me through industrial areas, over half built level crossings, down narrow residential streets, and past brutalist shopping centres. I was talking to the sat nav all through this: are you sure, this don't look right, and so on. When we make a turn onto a four lane road, and there was the familiar aircraft sign, and only three miles to go. So with 90 minutes to spare, I arrive at the car hire drop of point: mietwagon garage, and drop the keys off in the night safe, and a quick walk to the terminal, I find the desk, there are a dozen desks manned, so I drop off my case, am through security and have over half an hour to kill.

I have been up two hours and not yet had a coffee. ! So, I find a place and let the company treat me with a cheese sandwich, and a huge cup of coffee. Feeling better, I see I have 45 minutes to go before take off, so I had better walk to the gate.

Once again the pane is less than half full, so once aboard, I take a seat in another empty row, which I argue with the steward not to use my allocated seat. He lets me stay. Anyway, I close my eyes as the safety brief is carried out, the engines start and we taxi off into the darkness, it still being dark at half seven.

I snooze as we take off and climb over Hamburg, the lights of which showing clear down below.

I open my eyes as we are descending over the North Sea. Stretching away to the right I see the Suffolk coast from Felixstowe below all the way up to the bright lighs and beyond into Norfolk where the familiar shape of Yarmouth could be made out, even in the gloom I could also make the lights of Norwich. But we turn south-west, and the view passes.



It is dawn now, or at least getting part-light, as we fly over Chelmsford, and further down to where the orange lights of the M25 cut through the subdued tones of the Essex countryside. I get my camera out of may bag, hoping that it might be light enough to capture the scenes passing through my window. We circle over north east London, and the whole vista of the city, along the Thames is laid out. I sanp away, hoping against hope they will come out.



Finally, we come out of another turn, swooping down and along the river, over the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, down, down until the lights of the airport show, and we are down, back in Blighty. And we are half an hour early. But, we then have to taxi round the airport for 20 minutes, finally finding our gate. And we are home. Or nearly.

Heathrow is a huge airport, always has been, or at least it is since I have been using it, and despite the rebuilding, we walk miles and miles, using travelators, escalators, endless corridors until we arrive at immigration. At least with the electronic passports, there is no waiting now, I scan my passport, and I am through, my suitcase is going round the carousel, I collect that, walk through customs, and waiting on the other side was Jools. She had come to meet me, so we can spend more time together.

We walk to the car, drive out of the garage, and the barrier lets us out without paying. We are so lucky. As we drive out onto the motorway, the sun rises, which means we are driving into the sun, making it difficult for Jools is driving.