spoiled traveller
I am finding myself unreasonably irritated that, barring the horrors of Ryanair, it was impossible for me to leave Oxford after 4pm on Monday and arrive in Pisa before 10am on Tuesday. And in order to get there by noon on Tuesday I have had to go via Gatwick. Honestly, I thought you could get everywhere in Europe from Heathrow by now.
So I woke up at quarter past 3 this morning, so that I could pack and be out the door by 4:50, so that I could be on the 5:15 coach to Gatwick (for which a return ticket now costs an extortionate £35. This had better be covered in my expenses.)
Airport security included laptops-out-of-bags, a random beeping of the metal detector (I didn't know it would do that, but I wasn't wearing or carrying anything that would set it off, and the person who searched me said that it was random. So there you go, I guess), and that stupid secondary shoe thing.
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At that point, my post was interrupted by a fire alarm going off in the terminal. That was more excitement than I'd bargained for. We all get herded outside via the emergency exits, and hemmed in by lots of airport employees to make sure no one wandered off. I was pleasantly surprised to see that we didn't have to re-clear security. On the other hand, I think it would have been dead simple for someone to pull the alarm, hide in the general chaos (i.e. not go outside), and make mischief. It also struck me as a good way to ensure a flight delay if you are in the terminal and operating on behalf of someone who is running late.
Maybe I just have too devious a mind.
Now I am in Pisa at the sort of meeting where wifi is available. Hurrah, goofing off while half-listening.
So I woke up at quarter past 3 this morning, so that I could pack and be out the door by 4:50, so that I could be on the 5:15 coach to Gatwick (for which a return ticket now costs an extortionate £35. This had better be covered in my expenses.)
Airport security included laptops-out-of-bags, a random beeping of the metal detector (I didn't know it would do that, but I wasn't wearing or carrying anything that would set it off, and the person who searched me said that it was random. So there you go, I guess), and that stupid secondary shoe thing.
---
At that point, my post was interrupted by a fire alarm going off in the terminal. That was more excitement than I'd bargained for. We all get herded outside via the emergency exits, and hemmed in by lots of airport employees to make sure no one wandered off. I was pleasantly surprised to see that we didn't have to re-clear security. On the other hand, I think it would have been dead simple for someone to pull the alarm, hide in the general chaos (i.e. not go outside), and make mischief. It also struck me as a good way to ensure a flight delay if you are in the terminal and operating on behalf of someone who is running late.
Maybe I just have too devious a mind.
Now I am in Pisa at the sort of meeting where wifi is available. Hurrah, goofing off while half-listening.