Packing. All of the extra bits and pieces we've picked up along the way need to fit into these bags... There. In. Zipped up. Phew. The troops seem eager to go, time to refuel the car one last time before returning. Hmmm, surprisingly I've located diesel for £1.40 ($2.38CAD) / litre right next to Heathrow airport. That's about the best I've seen on this trip.
Car return was smooth and the shuttle bus soon has us deposited outside of Terminal 3 ready for check-in. Rolling bags dropped of at baggage, security cleared. Time for Duty-Free shopping. Brandon picks up a bottle of Cuban Rum, Barb a bottle of Pimm's and I choose a bottle of 15-year old Glenfiddich single malt whiskey. Some chocolate & last minute souvenirs and its time to sit down and relax.
In order to have people mill about the shopping outlets, Heathrow does not publish the departure gate until about 20 minutes before boarding. This leaves everyone corralled near the center of the terminal and not wandering about resulting in the terminal having a bigger hustle and bustle feeling than it should. In reality, if the people were allowed to go to their gates earlier, the terminal would actually feel much quieter. Hmm.
As a result of the above, once arriving at our gate and being checked into the boarding lounge, it was only a few minutes until we were being boarded.
Rant: Why do airlines even bother having cabin baggage restrictions? Air Canada puts out those silly metal frames asking "Does your baggage fit in here?" But I saw no one being challenged by airline staff as to the size or number of bags they brought onto the plane. This really slows boarding and is dangerous to other passengers should one of these oversized, overweight behemoths come loose in flight due to turbulence. Those of us that follow the rules, get on, sit down and watch the absurdity ensue, all the while hoping that none of these huge bags drops on us in flight. Air Canada, its simple, you have the rules and tools at your disposal, use them!
Flight was quite uneventful, no bags dropped on us even though there was some turbulence out of the UK and into Canada. Favourite movies seemed to be Oblivion & Iron Man 3. Favourite meal was the chicken.
Landed a little ahead of schedule and cleared Canada customs without incident. Soon we were outside and loading the car which Barb's sister, Kath had brought to the airport for us. I drove home (on the right side of the road) in beautiful sunshine. Tomorrow we will relax and get the house in order. It's great to be home, but we had a fabulous time.
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