Day 1 Wed 12 November Travel Day - the day before is HERE

Awake at the normal time of just before 6 but amazed that we had slept right through and had such a good nights sleep – this is unheard of on the night before travel.

It was nice not to be in a rush so we had coffee and our biscuits watching breakfast news and checked in at home that everyone had got off to school ok.

Feeling guilty but excited at the same time.

Very impressed with the PI – lovely hot showers and generally a great set up for overnight.

We set off for the long trek to the terminal at 8.30 – arriving at ooh, 08.35 which was way early for our 1145 flight given we only had to clear security.

The airport was still quiet – such a contrast to travelling in the summer holidays .

We are through security in no time with only Andys ridiculously oversized watch setting the machine off . After re packing half of PC World back into our bags we set off for the Aspire Lounge .

This was initially tricky to locate as its at the end past the shops and down several flights of stairs.

It seemed quite busy and looked as if we might struggle to find a seat and I was beginning to regret not just going for the meal deal at the Premier Inn but by the time we had finished our breakfast the lounge seemed to suddenly empty.

Breakfast choices were croissants, pastries, cheese, yoghurts, cereals , tea, coffee, various fruit juices. All set out around this island



( as you can see, I took this when everyone had left …)

We opted for these



Andy having several of them, I had one and then went for some of the mini pastries.

It was all fine. The nice thing was that when it emptied, it was so quiet in there and we were able to move to a couple of sofas and make use of the charging points.

I settled in with some coffee and a few of their magazines



I am sure this is apple juice ……. Not



Around 1030 we decide to venture out for some duty free shopping – they were clearing breakfast away and putting out the snacks and nibbles so if you are using the lounge, late breakfast isn’t on the cards.

We had enjoyed a very relaxed morning so far – a quick wander around duty free and some £££s lighter after buying quite a lot of aftershave and perfume and we discovered it was time to go to the gate. A mega quick stop in Smiths to get a couple of magazines and a very trendy but utterly impractical mini notebook for me ( it was hopeless) for the all important trip notes.

After the quietness of the lounge , the boarding gate was a bit of a shock – it was very busy and one family insisted on shouting across to each other whilst making seemingly endless incompetent trips to the vending machine and failing to get any bottles of pop being dispensed . I was surprised at how many school age children were on the flight – I know it’s a hot topic , just wasn’t expecting to see any to be honest with it being no where near any type of half term.

Boarding was well organised though and after passing enviously through the WT+ cabin , we arrive at our exit row seats.

Ah, space



It’s a shame though that the pics are not in smellovision as by now the pong of the lav would have you all fainting .

Oh my goodness, what do they clean the loos with – or maybe not, the smell was horrible and that’s before taking off – it smelled like a car park stairwell after a Saturday night .

Ewwwwwww.


Wiffy is an understatement. For those with iron bladders like Andy and the chap next to me who can seemingly last for hours , this is fine. For all us mums with teabags for bladders, this is not good news.

Sigh.

Anyhoo, whiffs aside we settle in , slippers on, hand luggage safely stowed and we sit for about 30 minutes waiting for the off.

We both start to watch the IFE but its playing up and they announce they are going to reboot the whole cabin so we will start again after 15 minutes or so. In fairness , that does sort the problem out for the rest of the flight.

I thought the films were good , being a Sci fi fan, I enjoyed X men- Days of Future Past and the Edge of Tomorrow ( gotta have a dose of Tom Cruise on flights, its mandatory). I also watched Lucy – weird that one was.

Lunch was soon arriving











We enjoyed all of it. The side salad was nice, the chicken tikka was quite tasty and the chocolate dessert was layered and not over sweet. We were quite impressed.

We then compared the finished trays

Mine



Andy’s



But the neat tray smugness soon caught up with me as I leant over and tipped the lot on the floor – good job it was all eaten. I am such a clutz.

That horrible quiet mid flight spell then arrives – you have been going for ages and its still ages to go





Its also the point in the flight where being in the middle seat runs out of novelty – I mean, never mind the reclining debate – which arm rest is yours when you are in the middle ? Well, neither it seems as both chaps either side of me were firmly occupying them .

Time dragged a bit and then the afternoon snack arrived



You will note the infamous white trousers are still white – miracle
The sandwich was very nice and I think Andy was disappointed not to be devouring mine as well as his.

As the snack can only herald the end is surely approaching, I decided to brave the by now very whiffy loo to freshen up.

I had in my bag a very small perfume sampler, but it had leaked all over the little plastic bag it was in and made the bag and my hands smell quite pungent.

Never mind I thought I will wash it off.

I also thought a quick squirt of Dove to freshen up would be in order too. But these lavs are tiny spaces and omg I nearly gassed myself.

So now the lav didn’t smell of wee, it smelled like the entrance to a department store with bazillion assistants all squirting you with pongy perfume

Flipping heck .

Well at least it was nicer than wee but now I wondered if it would give me and the other passengers a headache.

So I wafted my arms around uselessly and made sure I pushed the door back as far and as hard as I could so it would take ages to close .

I then waited to see if any of the next few passengers following me in would pass out but none did and was mighty pleased when a few peeps later another lady went in with a washbag even bigger than mine.

It can only happen to me - how do I manage these things?

So aerosol over exuberance aside, we finally land at 1622 and had clearly made up some decent time.

We were off quite quickly and opt straight for the kiosks. There is a problem though in that it wont read my fingerprints even after multiple attempts.

We are told to carry on to the officer – this is a result as the queue behind us for the non kiosk lines is blimmin mahoosive.

We get a really nice chap and he is very friendly and congratulates us when we tell him we have come over to get married.

Then he says “ your finger prints are an issue"

what does that mean ?

It means , they cant read them on the machines ( been gripping the plastic binder too hard I think) but after a bit of faffing about he finally lets us get through – and the queue behind us is even more mahoosive, I reckon we just took at least an hour off our immigration time there.


So , we landed at 1622 , cleared immigration , retrieved our cases and are through the customs bit by 1705.

I think that’s pretty good going. We kept our cases with us and boarded the shuttle at 1710, arriving in the Alamo queue at 1720.

There are only a few people ahead of us and as previous Alamo customers the guy gives us no hard sell and before we know it, we are out choosing our compact car.

Bypassing the silver Maserati that was calling us ( ok,it was not in the compact line), I thought we were going for a nice small number but no, Andy had his eye on this – for just us and the shopping –



Yes , that’s right, a 7 seater ! He is well pleased – I am a bit bemused, but hey , he is the driver.

Thinking I was super smart I had started up the satnav while in the Alamo queue, but of course it cant pick up a signal in the garage. I should say that a chap Andy works with lends us the satnav which is very kind and super helpful. His wife is a Dibber too

Anyhow, as we pull out, the satnav is busy re calculating and I didn’t have the sense to get the mapman map out so when presented with the road signs, there is an immediate difference of opinion.

We were also a bit flummoxed as it was pitch black. We have only been in summer and the nights are light so this exiting the airport in the dark threw us.

Bearing in mind our by now legendary propensity for complete navigational crapness you will know already that we of course go the wrong way.

So it’s a bit frosty , not an ideal start as we do a full loop and end up back where we started ( at the airport) but by now the satnav has happily found a signal and I have put in the postcode.

False start aside, we are off. Take 2.

We pitch up at the Rosen Inn at 1830 , so not so bad really. Check in is all good . We are in a far block (F) and on the top floor, I cant tell if this is a good thing or not just its quite a hike from the lift.

Here is the block in daylight – we were on the corner on the top floor ( obscured by the tree branch)



I am initially a bit disappointed by the room – i feel there is a lot of road noise from the I4 and the aircon is noisy. I had asked for a king room but we got the double – well, at least that meant the shopping had somewhere to sleep





I think it was tiredness though as by the following day and a good nose about I was much happier.

We had agreed we were not unpacking but heading out for something to eat, but Andy decided he wanted to hang his suits up,which then means taking some of my clothes out and before we know it, hey we are unpacking. We got a bit grumpy after about 20 minutes so left the last few things and headed out.

The plan said Millers – which I confidently announced was over the road at Pointe ) of course, it is over the road but just down a bit).

Pointe is undergoing a lot of work so some of the walkways are blocked off and it was a bit of a faff just getting across the road. It was nice to look around but the bars were packed out and we couldn’t see Millers ( well we wouldn’t if its not there would we, doh ) and a full on grump was brewing .

Nothing else quite appealed so after a totally pointless ( pun pun) 20 minutes we walked back over the road to the Zebra Sports bar in the hotel

Andy ordered 10 spicy wings for $9



As you can see he was keen to get started

I ordered the loaded fries for $6.75 but when they arrived it was just plain fries .



Never mind, they were probably just the right thing as by now I was feeling queasy with tiredness so maybe all that cheese would have been a bad idea. We were only charged for plain fries .

I can't believe I took a photo of a plate of chips

Andy says its very important that I note they had Stella on draft here. This is apparently most important.

We are wilting now, the bar is good , the service is quick and the food does help but I am really flagging.

We head back to the room and I think we were both fast asleep by 9pm ( 2am UK time).

Early start tomorrow – off to get our licence, shop and see the Osborne Lights . A nice gentle start then !

the next day is HERE

Oh Amanda, you do make me laugh! Believe me, the sort of comedy embarrassments you tell here do not just happen to you

(Me - I don't even own a pair of white trousers. That would be like inviting trouble )

Good start im looking forward to more =]

The middle seat armrest is a constant problem for me on flights too! Great start to the trippie

Have had to giggle at you tipping your very neat dinner tray on the floor. Was trying to work out for ages how this is even possible when you're trapped in the middle seat, but then remembered you've got extra legroom. Must read more carefully in future.

And that 7 seater will hold a LOT of shopping!

Sounds like a very smooth travel day all in all. Shame about the whiffy toilets though, that sounds pretty grim.

Had a chuckle at your comment about the 'horrible quiet mid flight spell' arriving. I know a lot of people love travel day, but I personally hate it and in particular I hate that depressing realisation that hits when you think you've been flying for absolutely ages, check the clock and realise you've got bleedin' hours to go! Gets me every time.

On a more positive note, I'm impressed with the food you had on the plane and I'm even more impressed that your trousers aren't some kind of mottled brown by this point!

Brilliant going with immigration and getting out of the airport so quickly. Definitely the stingiest toppings I've ever seen on loaded chips, but sounds like you didn't miss this in any case.

A great read as always, looking forward to more.

The lounge at the airport looked really nice especially those bacon butties You did really well at the airport at the other end, managing to get through immigration and customs so quickly.
Great travel day x

Thanks Karen, honestly , I just get myself into the most stupid situations. Andy says I have no common sense. Sadly the loo was also a major feature on the return trip too

And the white trousers, I only wear them as they are super comfy elasticated waist ones . Maybe I should just get done nosebleed ones though

Thank you x

Oh it's so annoying isn't it scrunched up in the middle. It was worse on the way home, Andy's not exactly small but the bloke the Other side of me was huge( as in tall). I think his arm was probably the same size as my whole body length

There I was being smart and partially folding my tray table and then forgetting I had done that when I leant over and spilled the tray. The benefit is no one behind could see ! I'm that person who stands up forgetting they have a plate on their lap

And yes, it did hold a lot of shopping. Jeez. We don't get one that big even we take the kids, he was chuffed to bits though !

Thanks Terry, the food was really nice, we could have eaten more ! But then that would mean more trips to the loo and that would have been really bad

That bit in the middle on the flight just drags, IFE novelty worn off, no food, just a bit boring. It was much worse when we did the flight to the west Coast , that took forever !

We did super well getting out of MCO, all power to Dibb tips I have to say

Thanks for reading

Hi Julia, the lounge was so civilised , a lovely start to the day. We had a pretty good day really all round with only teeny hitches

Thanks for reading .

White trousers, brave lady!
On the fingerprints thing do you always have an issue? My dad does and it's from years of using steroid cream for his psoriasis - he barely had any finger prints - he could start a new career as an international jewellery thief and never get caught!

OHHH LOVELY, you have started your report,been looking forward to it!
You had me laughing about the sat nav,I switched ours on leaving miami this year ( but we were still in the garage and it wouldn't pick up a signal…before we knew it we were bitching at one another on a 6 lane motorway…tense wasn't the word!)
A quick turn on/off sorted it but you can't beat a bit tension at the beginning of a drive!