Heading Down to Heathrow

Rach arrived in Yorkshire from North wales around 7pm. Spontaneous decision to drive down to Heathrow and get a hotel, rather than risk traffic and panic (and a 4am start) as originally planned. A smooth 3.5hrs and asleep by 11pm at Ibis Styles Terminal 2. Absolutely thankful for that decision this morning, as we woke up, had a leisurely shower and breakfast (Rach being far too friendly and northern striking up conversation over the coffee machine, and in awe of the automated pancake machine). We then made the 7 minute drive to meet and greet, and proceeded to ping pong between the Air Canada check in desk and “bulky luggage” check in until we got sorted. Seamless and very friendly security (Manchester please take a leaf out of their book!) All done in good time for a mooch around duty free and to pick up some last minute monster munch for Dom. The pre-flight giddiness was real.

First flight of 7hr 10 to Toronto left at 12.05. Enjoyed the selection of films (“500 Days in the Wild” - a harrowing Canadian pilgrimage to inspire future travels & “One Love” - the Bob Marley biopic for me). The only complaint was that our seat didn’t have a bloody window! Nothing like the “restricted view” warnings at the theatre… which was disappointing. Especially when the captain announced the “beautiful areal views of northern Quebec”.

We had free rein of a small and unremarkable area of Toronto airport for 3 hours. Learned that that’s more than enough time for a connection here in future. Burgers for tea and looking out onto the misty grey runway not dissimilar to Manchester.Read more