- Joined
- Jul 13, 2005
Firstly, I would like to apologise for my tardiness in beginning this trip report. I am doing it all from memory as I didn't take any notes on this trip. And, since the whole trip passed in a blur, I really struggled to recall a lot of the detail. That aside, though, I wanted to write a trip report - as much for preserving my own memories as much as for anybody else - so here we go.
Thursday 24th October 2013
Finally the big day had arrived. I switched my phone on this morning, logged into my countdown app and this is what I saw
I was so excited but we still had lots to do. Having discovered the previous day that Garys flashy new car was NOT a family saloon (as he had claimed when he bought it) and we could only fit three suitcases in (and one of those had to go in the back seat), we had to rethink the packing arrangements. Sian and I had to ditch some of our cruise outfits and I had to gasp leave a pair of shoes behind. I was not impressed
Daniel covered over the last day on our Family Countdown Chart before getting dressed for school.
After dropping Daniel off, Sian and I went to the hairdressers, where Sian had her first hair cut in months. She has been wearing it curly more and more recently but the hairdresser dried and straightened it and it looked lovely. Id had my hair cut and highlighted the previous weekend so we were both good to go now.
We arrived home just before lunch, when I suddenly remembered online check-in. For some reason I couldnt check Sian in. Wed added her to our booking at a later date so I dont know if that was the reason but it just wouldnt let me so, in the end, I gave it up as a bad job. We were planning to do Twilight Check-in at Gatwick anyway.
Pretty soon, it was time to pick Daniel up from school. Id told a little white lie so he could finish early told the school he had a dentist appointment. Because I couldnt trust Daniel not to let the cat out of the bag, I had also told Daniel he was going to the dentist. When he got in the car and I told him the appointment had been cancelled he was over the moon and immediately asked if we could leave early to go to the airport. Thats my boy!
Gary had loaded up the car while I was collecting Daniel so, as soon as we were home and Daniel had changed out of his uniform, we set off for Gatwick. As it was a Thursday afternoon, we were hoping the traffic wouldnt be too bad. While it was more bearable than on previous journeys, the M25 was still a bit of a nightmare as we hit it around 3.30pm. We still made good time, though, and were pulling up to Gatwick just after 4.30. We had been lucky enough to get free meet and greet parking with Airparks, thanks to a price match offer, and I had called them when we got onto the M23, as instructed. We had barely pulled up when an Airparks driver appeared. There was a slight confusion as we had changed our car since the original booking and, although Id updated the booking online with the new details, the guy had been looking for a black VW Passat. It was quickly and easily sorted though and we were soon unloading our cases and handing over the keys. Gary waved a sad goodbye to his baby after the Airparks guy assured him he would take good care of it.
We grabbed our cases and wheeled them up to the terminal. We headed straight for the Twilight check-in desk, which was completely empty. Another minor panic ensued when our cases were weighed and all but one were already up to (OK, over) the weight limit. That was going to severely impede our ability to bring anything home and I had a list as long as my arm of things to buy, both for me and other people, I quickly decided that this would be the trip that we would invest in an Owners Locker (more to come on this later). After a mini lecture from the lovely check-in assistant about keeping our cases under the 23 kilo limit, we were issued our boarding passes (seats A and C in rows 62 and 63). When booking our seats, wed deliberated and conjugated about whether to go for our favourites (the twos at the back of the plane), upstairs in the bubble or four seats towards the front. Since I really dont like anyone other than my own family sitting in front of me and I didnt want to take the risk of being sat with a stranger, we opted for the twos at the back knowing this might mean a longer wait at immigration the next day.
Boarding passes in hand, we walked over to the Hilton to check in. Our rooms were ready (obviously they almost always are). We had, once again, booked them using Tesco Clubcard vouchers. For £52.50 in Clubcard vouchers plus £63.60 in cash, we got two adjoining rooms (1 King, 1 twin bedded). This also included breakfast and, considering you need a mortgage just to eat breakfast at the Hilton, we considered this a complete bargain. Up in the rooms, we dropped our hand luggage and took some photos.
The door between the two rooms was locked so we phoned down to ask somebody to come and unlock it. The lovely foreign lady on the phone kept trying to tell me I could unlock it from the other room and wouldnt believe me when I said it was locked. Eventually she agreed to send somebody up straight away.
Straight away turned out to be about 40 minutes (and two more phone calls), however we were in no hurry to go anywhere as a friend of mine from work was appearing on the episode of Eggheads being shown that evening. We all settled down on the big king bed in our room while we waited for it to start. It was quite surreal seeing him on the screen and I took a few photos to be used as ammunition to embarrass him at a later date.
The program had been filmed months before so I already knew that Keiths team didnt win the prize. Daniel, however, was very excited at the prospect of someone I knew winning all that money so I kept quiet as I didnt want to ruin it for him. After wed watched and seen them lose (surprise, surprise) we headed over to the main terminal for dinner at Giraffe.
Ive said it before and Ill say it again but I always find I am disappointed with the options at Gatwick (pre-security). Gatwick village always used to be a great place to eat and do a bit of shopping the night before your flight but now there really is very little choice. We had already decided to eat at Giraffe, though, so we went straight there and were seated immediately at a booth.
I wasted no time in ordering a Cosmopolitan while the others all opted for various soft drinks. The drink was lovely and I felt myself relax for the first time all day as the stresses of the day ebbed away and the excitement slowly returned.
Our waiter returned to take our order and I chose my usual Chicken Schnitzel BLT Burger.
Gary opted for the Breakfast Plate Special, Daniel the Pasta Margherita with added Polpettes (meatballs) and Sian chose Jambalaya Risotto with chicken, prawn and chorizo.
The food was delicious but, as usual, it all felt a bit rushed. I know they are an airport location and they pride themselves on being quick but I wish they would ask, when they take your order, if youre in a hurry and allow you to take your time if youre not. Not sure how much the bill was as Gary paid and you all know that my husband is useless at keeping receipts. He just doesnt take the trip reporting as seriously as he should.
Back at the hotel, we watched television for a while before despatching Daniel to bed. Sian and I lounged on the bed reading, relegating Gary to the chair. Just after 11 we turned in for the night. Tomorrow is going to be a looooong day!!!
Next up Parlayers Reunion!!!
Thursday 24th October 2013
Finally the big day had arrived. I switched my phone on this morning, logged into my countdown app and this is what I saw
I was so excited but we still had lots to do. Having discovered the previous day that Garys flashy new car was NOT a family saloon (as he had claimed when he bought it) and we could only fit three suitcases in (and one of those had to go in the back seat), we had to rethink the packing arrangements. Sian and I had to ditch some of our cruise outfits and I had to gasp leave a pair of shoes behind. I was not impressed
Daniel covered over the last day on our Family Countdown Chart before getting dressed for school.
After dropping Daniel off, Sian and I went to the hairdressers, where Sian had her first hair cut in months. She has been wearing it curly more and more recently but the hairdresser dried and straightened it and it looked lovely. Id had my hair cut and highlighted the previous weekend so we were both good to go now.
We arrived home just before lunch, when I suddenly remembered online check-in. For some reason I couldnt check Sian in. Wed added her to our booking at a later date so I dont know if that was the reason but it just wouldnt let me so, in the end, I gave it up as a bad job. We were planning to do Twilight Check-in at Gatwick anyway.
Pretty soon, it was time to pick Daniel up from school. Id told a little white lie so he could finish early told the school he had a dentist appointment. Because I couldnt trust Daniel not to let the cat out of the bag, I had also told Daniel he was going to the dentist. When he got in the car and I told him the appointment had been cancelled he was over the moon and immediately asked if we could leave early to go to the airport. Thats my boy!
Gary had loaded up the car while I was collecting Daniel so, as soon as we were home and Daniel had changed out of his uniform, we set off for Gatwick. As it was a Thursday afternoon, we were hoping the traffic wouldnt be too bad. While it was more bearable than on previous journeys, the M25 was still a bit of a nightmare as we hit it around 3.30pm. We still made good time, though, and were pulling up to Gatwick just after 4.30. We had been lucky enough to get free meet and greet parking with Airparks, thanks to a price match offer, and I had called them when we got onto the M23, as instructed. We had barely pulled up when an Airparks driver appeared. There was a slight confusion as we had changed our car since the original booking and, although Id updated the booking online with the new details, the guy had been looking for a black VW Passat. It was quickly and easily sorted though and we were soon unloading our cases and handing over the keys. Gary waved a sad goodbye to his baby after the Airparks guy assured him he would take good care of it.
We grabbed our cases and wheeled them up to the terminal. We headed straight for the Twilight check-in desk, which was completely empty. Another minor panic ensued when our cases were weighed and all but one were already up to (OK, over) the weight limit. That was going to severely impede our ability to bring anything home and I had a list as long as my arm of things to buy, both for me and other people, I quickly decided that this would be the trip that we would invest in an Owners Locker (more to come on this later). After a mini lecture from the lovely check-in assistant about keeping our cases under the 23 kilo limit, we were issued our boarding passes (seats A and C in rows 62 and 63). When booking our seats, wed deliberated and conjugated about whether to go for our favourites (the twos at the back of the plane), upstairs in the bubble or four seats towards the front. Since I really dont like anyone other than my own family sitting in front of me and I didnt want to take the risk of being sat with a stranger, we opted for the twos at the back knowing this might mean a longer wait at immigration the next day.
Boarding passes in hand, we walked over to the Hilton to check in. Our rooms were ready (obviously they almost always are). We had, once again, booked them using Tesco Clubcard vouchers. For £52.50 in Clubcard vouchers plus £63.60 in cash, we got two adjoining rooms (1 King, 1 twin bedded). This also included breakfast and, considering you need a mortgage just to eat breakfast at the Hilton, we considered this a complete bargain. Up in the rooms, we dropped our hand luggage and took some photos.
The door between the two rooms was locked so we phoned down to ask somebody to come and unlock it. The lovely foreign lady on the phone kept trying to tell me I could unlock it from the other room and wouldnt believe me when I said it was locked. Eventually she agreed to send somebody up straight away.
Straight away turned out to be about 40 minutes (and two more phone calls), however we were in no hurry to go anywhere as a friend of mine from work was appearing on the episode of Eggheads being shown that evening. We all settled down on the big king bed in our room while we waited for it to start. It was quite surreal seeing him on the screen and I took a few photos to be used as ammunition to embarrass him at a later date.
The program had been filmed months before so I already knew that Keiths team didnt win the prize. Daniel, however, was very excited at the prospect of someone I knew winning all that money so I kept quiet as I didnt want to ruin it for him. After wed watched and seen them lose (surprise, surprise) we headed over to the main terminal for dinner at Giraffe.
Ive said it before and Ill say it again but I always find I am disappointed with the options at Gatwick (pre-security). Gatwick village always used to be a great place to eat and do a bit of shopping the night before your flight but now there really is very little choice. We had already decided to eat at Giraffe, though, so we went straight there and were seated immediately at a booth.
I wasted no time in ordering a Cosmopolitan while the others all opted for various soft drinks. The drink was lovely and I felt myself relax for the first time all day as the stresses of the day ebbed away and the excitement slowly returned.
Our waiter returned to take our order and I chose my usual Chicken Schnitzel BLT Burger.
Gary opted for the Breakfast Plate Special, Daniel the Pasta Margherita with added Polpettes (meatballs) and Sian chose Jambalaya Risotto with chicken, prawn and chorizo.
The food was delicious but, as usual, it all felt a bit rushed. I know they are an airport location and they pride themselves on being quick but I wish they would ask, when they take your order, if youre in a hurry and allow you to take your time if youre not. Not sure how much the bill was as Gary paid and you all know that my husband is useless at keeping receipts. He just doesnt take the trip reporting as seriously as he should.
Back at the hotel, we watched television for a while before despatching Daniel to bed. Sian and I lounged on the bed reading, relegating Gary to the chair. Just after 11 we turned in for the night. Tomorrow is going to be a looooong day!!!
Next up Parlayers Reunion!!!
Woo Hoo! Finally 
Shall be reading along, in need of a Disney fix 
