UK Trip 2005

But there's not quite so much point in rising at dawn to score an exit-aisle seat for extra legroom as a 6 ft 4 economy passenger if the extra legroom then becomes everybody else's anti-deep-vein-thrombosis exercise area. Five years ago you didn't see a dozen people at a time standing or walking about longterm on a 747 and muddling the toilet queues because of thrombosis worries. All very well, but what if the turbulence gets them instead? Drink more water, wriggle your toes, follow the in-seat exercises prescribed by the nice young woman on the video presentation, take SHORT strolls down the aisles, stop your kids using the toilets for hide-and-seek four times an hour, and all will be well. Really. Heathrow. Touchdown 4.18pm after one circle of the area showing the Thames, calm, serpentine, majestic, even from several kilometres up. Then we taxied, waited, waited...docked. Terminal 3 customs at Heathrow, the signs announce, is enjoying refurbishment...and you can tell. The corridor is currently a narrow hoarding-clad gauntlet. One decent-size trolley-load of luggage being paused for query brings all to a stop. 5.35pm. Waiting for Pete who is on his way with a car, bless him. No staggering through the mounting darkness with major luggage across London THIS time...and not stupid enough to depend on jobsworths like Hotelink either. First drink in the UK was a large cappuccino at "bite", a colourful and cheerful eatery next to Heathrow T3 Meeting Point and Arrivals walkway. £2.20, very nice. First tune heard in there, believe it, was 12" mix of Madonna's "Holiday". Soon followed by "Crazy In Love" by Beyonce, proving everybody has one decent tune in them. Rent a mobile for effective £3.74/day? You sure? "Unfinished Sympathy" now. Nice! 6.02pm now...and Talk Talk's "It's My Life"...good grief, is this BBC6? Pete is here, smiling. Brentford, brief orientation, very low batteries, 23+ hours awake and in sunlight, must sleep zzzzz... Next Previous

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Andrew L

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ukmay05@yahoo.co.uk