A long, long day

SUNDAY 20 AUGUST 2017

Our day started at 3am with the alarm going off to wake us from a not so deep sleep.  I have been fighting a cold going around the office for a couple of days but it seemed to hit me Saturday night so that I was running a temperature and sore throat and stressing that I might end up too sick to fly.  Ready and dressed by 3.20am and the taxi was prompt and we were out at the airport by 4ish.  

Through immigration and into the Emirates Lounge for a tasty breakfast though it did feel silly eating so early in the morning.  Plane left on time at 6ish and we made good time to Dubai.  Let’s just say the combination of being right at the back of the plane on a fairly bumpy flight combined with feeling off-colour anyway did not sit well with Jenny. 

A fairly short stopover in Dubai meant a quick trip to the Emirates Lounge for a bottle of water and a toilet stop and then back on the plane.  This was an even more gruelling leg for Jenny as it started with a 45 minute sit on the runway with an outside temperature of 42 degrees and the air conditioning on the plane not working.  By now my throat was really sore and I wasn’t even able to keep sips of water down so pretty much seven hours of hell. 

Arrived in Heathrow on time at about 6.40pm UK time and a really straightforward trip through immigration and straight on to a Heathrow Express train and then a very short walk from Paddington Station (yes, Paddington, not quite sure why we kept thinking Piccadilly) to the Westbourne Hotel which is absolutely lovely.  The bed was comfy and the shower wonderful and we just couldn’t face going out again to get dinner and were both fast asleep by 9pm.