flashman181

So , a long day beckoned. The Ashling was an impressive hotel and a good choice given it was done in 3ms. Quite room and great breakfast . Flight was due at 1300 and as has been case all along with BA the mobile options for checking in etc are useless so little Anal Annie thought we need to be at airport in plenty of time. Taxi booked for 0900 as probably at least 30 min drive

Taxi arrived at 08:45 . No traffic. We were tarmac adjacent just after 9 am! So we start the check in process and of course not simple. Our names are on flight but don’t match e ticket. Wait 20 mins for the one operator who can fix this who is taking20 mins to deal with one customer! Then it happened. “ Hey handsome, would you like to get on an earlier flight”? Well call me Chauncey and show me the way . In a double bonus for CLP we couldn’t sit together! I got 35 F which is where they would put the second roll of toilet paper if needed. Literally the back corner. So the flight was due to leave at 10:30 but of course delayed until 11:15. No sweat . The “ flight” is nominated at 90 mins from go to whoa which allows for getting off ground and getting to gate at Heathrow. Actual fly time is only 50 mins. Still we did not arrive until after 1 pm and then bags took at least 30 mins. Heathrow is your basic nightmare. We had prebooked Heathrow Express which is a great service

Now I had joined Accor as a member and as such had booked the Novotel at Paddington for a good price . This gave CLP much pause which turned into much grief for moi given the reputation Paddington as a bit of a hole. I had done my research though and the hotel is in a revamped area and had requested a high floor. The windows are double glazed and cannot hear a thing , not even a bear wandering the hallways

Then it was time for a walk around the area . It was cool and grey but quite pleasant . Had a coffee first up and even a lamington. There is an area nearby called Little Venice and there is a far canal with boats on it. Walked to Kensington Gardens but we were a bit shaggus by now and Princess Di was still dead so back to hotel as looked like a good bar with some great share plates. And a happy hour at 5 pm every day. It was only when we sat down we realised it was only just after 4:30 pm! After 15 mins of looking at my sad face the bar tender gave us the cheap drinks

Ah so share plates are not for one 😏

All in all not a bad day in the end . Hopefully we can relax next few days, get better, and stop having to deal with a new contingency plan every few hours

I couldn’t Bear it in Paddington as well