Moving day. The things that are to be left behind in boxes and hauled down to the box room on the mezzanine - awkward as the lift doesn't stop there, but a pretty secure storage spot. And our cases stuffed to the bursting point - well, they are pretty small suitcases.
Bus to the airport. We're waiting at the stop across the road when a plain white van drives up onto the sidewalk followed by a police car with flashing lights. A policeman waves us to move over. A little annoying as we feel more entitled to the sidewalk than the vehicles. Out of the van a man emerges in helmet and bullet proof vest bearing a package and all becomes clear We're standing outside a bank and this is a delivery of much needed cash from the equivalent of an unmarked Briks van. (The man who emerges from the police car is wearing a black tshirt with logo and army style camouflage trousers). Across the road a man has been watching and is first over to make a withdrawal.
The bus, when it comes, is a minibus but everyone squishes over obligingly and insists that our luggage is not in the way - which it is. Picnic lunch at the airport. An elderly couple in the lounge near us are well equipped for the wait. He has a bottle of whiskey and one of water in a plastic bag as well as clear plastic glasses. Once he's poured generous drinks he takes out a crossword book and she a novel.
Flight not overfull and pretty quiet. Shrimp salad, chicken curry and chocolate cake for dinner. The wine's not bad either. Pretty good for the $22 we each paid for the flight after redeeming the air miles with BA. Canadian air mile redemptions always seem more like a down payment on a flight than the acquisition of one.
The usual meeters at Heathrow holding up placards with the names of the passengers being met. One man is holding a sign reading "Silence" - presumably a name not an instruction. Pounds at the cashpoint and the tube to Bayswater. It's cold, and windy, and beginning to spit a little. But we're only a couple of blocks away from the little hotel and our usual room looks like home.
Bus to the airport. We're waiting at the stop across the road when a plain white van drives up onto the sidewalk followed by a police car with flashing lights. A policeman waves us to move over. A little annoying as we feel more entitled to the sidewalk than the vehicles. Out of the van a man emerges in helmet and bullet proof vest bearing a package and all becomes clear We're standing outside a bank and this is a delivery of much needed cash from the equivalent of an unmarked Briks van. (The man who emerges from the police car is wearing a black tshirt with logo and army style camouflage trousers). Across the road a man has been watching and is first over to make a withdrawal.
The bus, when it comes, is a minibus but everyone squishes over obligingly and insists that our luggage is not in the way - which it is. Picnic lunch at the airport. An elderly couple in the lounge near us are well equipped for the wait. He has a bottle of whiskey and one of water in a plastic bag as well as clear plastic glasses. Once he's poured generous drinks he takes out a crossword book and she a novel.
Flight not overfull and pretty quiet. Shrimp salad, chicken curry and chocolate cake for dinner. The wine's not bad either. Pretty good for the $22 we each paid for the flight after redeeming the air miles with BA. Canadian air mile redemptions always seem more like a down payment on a flight than the acquisition of one.
The usual meeters at Heathrow holding up placards with the names of the passengers being met. One man is holding a sign reading "Silence" - presumably a name not an instruction. Pounds at the cashpoint and the tube to Bayswater. It's cold, and windy, and beginning to spit a little. But we're only a couple of blocks away from the little hotel and our usual room looks like home.