Wittertainment Adventure IV: Voyage Home
I finished writing previous installment of our apparently 4 part story in Diners Club lounge at Edinburgh airport. Now I'm starting the last part at Diners Club lounge at Heathrow terminal 3. Last leg of my journey is beginning. (Or second to last, if you count taxi home.)
I woke up early and before breakfast alternated with showering, packing and writing blog post. At breakfast I tried haggis and it was not bad. For Finns the taste (and texture) could be described as "spicy maksalaatikko". After the breakfast I went to look for "correct" stamps. First place I asked didn't sell any and second shop was all out. Third one told me that first class stamps were ok after all and I bought Scotland on Sunday instead.
On the way back to the hotel, I got stopped at Bruntsfield Links to admire the view and for a moment considered going to computer shop across the park to ask for a job. Not feeling that adventurous, I returned to hotel and checked out. Then I took taxi to airport.
Check-in and security check was quite fast even if the metal detector beeped, because I forgot some change in my pocket. I decided to leave my last moment shopping to Heathrow with bigger selection and headed to Diners Lounge, where I finished the previous post as I told in the beginning. Flight to London was interesting even though I didn't see the Forth bridge at the take off as I had hoped. I did see Docklands when we were landing, though. I couldn't help listening in two women sitting next to me. That was because the older woman had very interesting hobby. She was going to Africa for wildlife photography. She told a story how she was almost bit by a viper.
We landed Heathrow on time (or maybe a bit early). I took a bus to terminal 3 and even though I once again got thorough security check, I had ample time to do last minute shopping. I got a toy car for my godson. Since I couldn't find any Jelly Bellies, I got some Jelly Babies. But that was only as a backup (and maybe Finncon masquarade), since I had already on my first flight noticed that they sell Jelly Bellies on the plain. I also bought an apron from Harrods. Then I went to the lounge, where I started writing this blog post. I had a bit of trouble finding it, since I was not sure if I had found the correct Servisair lounge. So, I went to look for info and realized that you are allowed to use cell phone at the terminal, which meant that I had Internet, albeit slow one. It was so slow that I lost my patience waiting for dinersclub.com to load and googled "diners lounge heathrow" and since I saw the text "can use Servisair Executive Lounge" in Google search results, I knew (or at least strongly suspected) that I had found the correct lounge.
When they announced the gate my plane was leaving, I headed there. It felt a bit strange hearing people speaking Finnish. The flight back was rather uneventful. Except there were some complications buying Jelly Bellies. Stewardess wasn't familiar with Jelly Bellies and thought I wanted Jelly Babies. When we got that sorted out, their card reader had trouble accepting my card. I should have used my Diners Club card, but decided to use Visa instead. Since it is a smart card, the card reader tried to verify it and failed miserably. Not surprising since those smart card systems hardly work on the ground. So they had to process my card manually, but at least I got Jelly Bellies.
After landing first thing that greeted me at the airport was huge F-Secure ad. The taxi queue was longer than New Year's Eve's queue at Railway station, but it moved fast and eventually I was on my way home. Taxi driver surprised me asking which route I would like to take. Now that (at least most) taxis have car navigation systems, I've used to not giving driving instructions. Now it's morning of second day at work and even though I'm more or less back in my routine, I only have to think my trip to cheer up. I'm excitedly anticipating reliving the event listening three part podcast from the radio show.
(I'm in the second part starting at 21 minutes and 25 seconds.)
I woke up early and before breakfast alternated with showering, packing and writing blog post. At breakfast I tried haggis and it was not bad. For Finns the taste (and texture) could be described as "spicy maksalaatikko". After the breakfast I went to look for "correct" stamps. First place I asked didn't sell any and second shop was all out. Third one told me that first class stamps were ok after all and I bought Scotland on Sunday instead.
On the way back to the hotel, I got stopped at Bruntsfield Links to admire the view and for a moment considered going to computer shop across the park to ask for a job. Not feeling that adventurous, I returned to hotel and checked out. Then I took taxi to airport.
Check-in and security check was quite fast even if the metal detector beeped, because I forgot some change in my pocket. I decided to leave my last moment shopping to Heathrow with bigger selection and headed to Diners Lounge, where I finished the previous post as I told in the beginning. Flight to London was interesting even though I didn't see the Forth bridge at the take off as I had hoped. I did see Docklands when we were landing, though. I couldn't help listening in two women sitting next to me. That was because the older woman had very interesting hobby. She was going to Africa for wildlife photography. She told a story how she was almost bit by a viper.
We landed Heathrow on time (or maybe a bit early). I took a bus to terminal 3 and even though I once again got thorough security check, I had ample time to do last minute shopping. I got a toy car for my godson. Since I couldn't find any Jelly Bellies, I got some Jelly Babies. But that was only as a backup (and maybe Finncon masquarade), since I had already on my first flight noticed that they sell Jelly Bellies on the plain. I also bought an apron from Harrods. Then I went to the lounge, where I started writing this blog post. I had a bit of trouble finding it, since I was not sure if I had found the correct Servisair lounge. So, I went to look for info and realized that you are allowed to use cell phone at the terminal, which meant that I had Internet, albeit slow one. It was so slow that I lost my patience waiting for dinersclub.com to load and googled "diners lounge heathrow" and since I saw the text "can use Servisair Executive Lounge" in Google search results, I knew (or at least strongly suspected) that I had found the correct lounge.
When they announced the gate my plane was leaving, I headed there. It felt a bit strange hearing people speaking Finnish. The flight back was rather uneventful. Except there were some complications buying Jelly Bellies. Stewardess wasn't familiar with Jelly Bellies and thought I wanted Jelly Babies. When we got that sorted out, their card reader had trouble accepting my card. I should have used my Diners Club card, but decided to use Visa instead. Since it is a smart card, the card reader tried to verify it and failed miserably. Not surprising since those smart card systems hardly work on the ground. So they had to process my card manually, but at least I got Jelly Bellies.
After landing first thing that greeted me at the airport was huge F-Secure ad. The taxi queue was longer than New Year's Eve's queue at Railway station, but it moved fast and eventually I was on my way home. Taxi driver surprised me asking which route I would like to take. Now that (at least most) taxis have car navigation systems, I've used to not giving driving instructions. Now it's morning of second day at work and even though I'm more or less back in my routine, I only have to think my trip to cheer up. I'm excitedly anticipating reliving the event listening three part podcast from the radio show.
(I'm in the second part starting at 21 minutes and 25 seconds.)