What, no bears? - Canadian Rockies Road Trip Aug/Sept 2019 - Travel day

[pinkrose]

Index is here

Travel day – Saturday 24 August 2019

I woke at 8am, showered and had breakfast. DH was already up and wanting to get on the road. I couldn’t see the point in leaving too early as I couldn’t check in now until 14.20pm. We left home at 10am for the drive to Heathrow. The M1 and M25 were both busy. There was Moto GP at Silverstone, lots of coaches of Forest fans on the M1 and at Toddington Services and Rugby at Wembley. The M25 was particularly slow and it seemed to take an age to get to the exit for the airport.

We followed the directions to T2/3 long stay car park and arrived there at 13.25pm. We unloaded the suitcases from the boot and, after a brief wait, boarded a bus to the terminal. The bus called at T2 first then dropped us off at T3. Once inside the building we went to find BA’s check in desks. We were greeted by BA staff with a mini Victoria Sponge to mark the centenary which was very welcome as it was now around 2pm and we were very hungry. We went to check-in to find that all they wanted to know was did I require any additional assistance. I told them I had my hearing aids in and was travelling with DH so would be fine. Our bags were checked in and we went up to security. DH went through the body scanner and was then singled out for a pat down with one of those electronic hand detectors. It seems he had left his wallet in his back pocket. He even got his bum felt!

Once through security we went to find No 1 Lounge. DD had paid for us to access the lounge as an Anniversary gift. We found you access it via a lift up to the next floor. We checked in at reception and found two seats together near the bar. The lounge was busy but not too bad.

DH ordered Butternut squash curry and I ordered Chicken and chorizo stew. We both had spinach and broccoli soup, salad, bar snacks and cakes from the buffet. I had a pink gin and lemonade and DH had cider. We also had tea/coffee. The lounge has a good view over the runway.

We enjoyed the time relaxing before the flight. At 4.40pm we left the lounge as the screen was showing our flight was now boarding. It was a quick walk to the gate and then we were heading upstairs on the A380 to our seats. The flight left at 6.12pm (52 minutes late).

As part of the 100th birthday celebrations BA had partnered with Tom Kerridge to develop some of his recipes into a special menu. Lunch began with a starter of salad of Dorset Blue Vinney cheese with celery, grapes and sunflower seeds. I don’t like blue cheese as a rule but it was not overpowering so still ate the salad. I had Braised beef, herb crusted new potatoes, chantenay carrots and a tarragon jus for main, DH had roast breast of corn-fed chicken with braised pearl barley risotto. For dessert it was a chocolate and amaretto tart and Butler’s secret cheddar with biscuits (sorry no photos).

I then settled back to watch A Star is born. At the end of the film I didn’t fancy watching anything else so went for a wander down to the back of economy. I ended up standing talking to the cabin crew (something I often do on flights). I was filling her in on the saga of our cancelled return flight and how we had nearly lost our Anniversary trip. I didn’t realise the cabin services manager had come up another set of stairs behind me. He offered to bring us some champagne so I said maybe later on as I thought DH was now sleeping.

I returned to my seat and decided to listen to some music on my IPod. I had closed my eyes and was trying to relax when I suddenly opened my eyes and realised the crew member I had spoken to was now coming towards me from the front of the plane. She stopped to make small talk and then I realised there were two more cabin crew hovering behind me. They presented us with a card, a plate with another dessert on (I think it’s the one they had in business or first class) and a glass of champagne each. I was flushed with embarrassment.

The flight was a little bumpy a couple of times but other than that uneventful and we landed in Vancouver at 7.17pm.

We couldn’t get our passports to scan on the first machine in immigration so moved to another one and had no problems then. We collected our luggage from the baggage carousel and then went out to find the taxi rank. We were directed to the next available taxi (a Prius) and were off to the city to our hotel. The taxi driver was crazy, dodging in and out of traffic and seemed to be driving very fast although, of course, the speedo was in k/hr so he might not actually have been speeding. The trip reminded us of a mad taxi driver we once had crossing from JFK airport to Manhattan some years ago. The cost was $35 CAD and we tipped him $10 CAD.

We checked in to the Rosedale on Robson. Our room was on the 17th floor and was a 1 bed suite.

There was a separate bedroom and bathroom and a small sitting area with kitchenette.

We unpacked a few basic items and toiletries and then crashed in bed.

[jocat]

Glad the flight went smoothly. That was a nice gesture by the cabin crew to mark your anniversary.

[smedley]

Travel day seemed smooth in the end. Nice to have the extra space in the hotel