Gatwick Airport, London
We arrived yesterday from NYC to Heathrow International. Mom took Virgin Atlantic and Jeff and I took Aer Lingus across the pond. Jeff and I had to land in Dublin and change plans, Mom had a direct flight. In Dublin we had to go through customs so now we both have Ireland stamped on our passports. Our time was fast through customs, but we had to return through security and the que was four rows deep. We had about thirty minute experience getting our ears comfortable with all the new sounds of English. It was Jeff’s first time hearing Gaelic and it was the first time I had heard it in a long while. Jeff thought it was fast spoken English or the pilot clearing his throat; however I understood clearly what was being said! HA HA! After a quick flight across the Irish Sea we met Mom at Heathrow. Heathrow is one of the largest airports in the world. Thankfully we had a plan ahead of time for Mom to walk from terminal 3 to meet us in terminal 1. Mom pushed the luggage and seems to think it was about a half hour walk. It took Jefferey and me about 10 minutes to find Mom, not to shabby.
Mom’s flight was something special as she keeps reminding us all the “free” perks she received from the airline. Not only did she have a whole row of seats for her to stretch out on, she had a lovely salmon dinner, two glasses of red wine, and a nice key lime pie for dessert. For breakfast fresh fruit, muffins, tea and juice were on the menu. They gave a travel pack with a toothbrush, toothpaste, eyeshades, and earplugs to make you feel at home. Mom recommends Virgin, so perhaps we’ll try it out next time.
After our reunion, we purchased some bus tickets to get from Heathrow Airport to Gatwick Airport. It is about 30 miles between the two airports and takes about an hour to get between the two. The best part about the bus is we didn’t have to transfer our baggage more than once. Baggage, this trip, is quite cumbersome, and we have a lot of it too. The roads in England are crazy and full of round a bouts. On more than one occasion during the bus ride I felt dizzy.
We stayed at a hotel in Gatwick that day so we could fly out to Sardinia the following day. Mom, Jeff, and I enjoyed some food from a local pub. It was about a 3 minute walk from where we were staying. After some food we got some much needed sleep. We were up early on Saturday morning getting a ride on the free shuttle to the airport.
Gatwick to Sardinia Saturday, October 15, 2005
I was so shocked to see the British Military walking with huge (HUGE) machine guns in the Gatwick Airport. My brain saw the guns first, the uniforms second. They were big and pretty intimidating. We got our boarding cards and went to our gate. The place was hopping with people flying all over. One the plane we had a row together. We flew Easy Jet, much like a version of Southwest. No Frills, but the plane got us where we wanted to go so that was the most important part.
Upon arrival to Olbia, we rented a Renault station wagon to comfortably fit the luggage and the three of us. The car is really high-tech that starts and is shut off by inserting a card and pressing a button. No keys really, just a big computer chip. The other great feature is that it is diesel. They don’t make them like they used to. This has 6 speeds and a crazy button that needs to be engaged to shift to reverse.The weather was nice and warm on our drive to Palau. It took about an hour to get to the ferry. It was lovely to see the farm land countryside and the beautiful views. Jeff said it had a feeling of Baja in the springtime when it is green. Sardinia has rocks out cropping from the bush like shrubs and a relatively mild climate. Once in Palau we purchased our ferry tickets and sailed to La Maddalena. La Maddalena is where I lived as a kid because of my Dad’s job in the US Navy. We were here from 1978 – 1981. It is a beautiful island with lots of great views and crystal blue water.
