6 HOURS ON THE RUNWAY - HEATHROW AIRPORT

6 HOURS ON THE RUNWAY

HEATHROW AIRPORT, LONDON

Delayed overnight in Los Angeles was heaven compared to what we endured in London. We arrived after a 10 1/2 hour flight to snowfall and and an airport that perhaps is not prepared too well for snow. After being huddled up in a small lounge we were told that our flight was delayed because of the snow. We waited over an hour and then were placed on buses to drive to the plane which was not near the terminal. When we departed the bus, it was snowing. We had to walk up stairs to the plane in the snow. Keli liked this but it was cold. We stuck our tongues out to catch the snow and had some fun. We got settled in to our seats and found that we were surrounded by a certain ethnic group that loved to talk loud amongst each other. They had a dozen children and just had to scream across the isles to talk. After a while the pilot came on the intercom and announced that we would be delayed one hour so they plane could be de-iced. I tried to sleep but a two year old in front of me was hanging off the back of his seat screaming. The lady behind seemed happy to continually grab my seat back and bounce me around a bit. Our one hour delay soon turned to two. Then three, then four, then five hours. Thankfully the crew busted out free wine and beer. The loud got louder and the quiet got drunk. We learned the life stories of the people in back of us and a little bit about the drug cartel in Mexico that forced our friends on the other side of the isle to move to Arizona. Everyone was yapping in a dozen different languages. The bathrooms ran out of water, the wine ran out and there was no food. After six hours of this crap the plane finally departed for Barcelona. SIX HOURS ON THE RUNWAY GOING NOWHERE. Got to hand it to the British Airlines crew. They were really relaxed and treated everyone well. They kept the booze flowing until they were completely out of stock. The flight to Barcelona was two hours. We arrived after midnight and got to our hotel around 2:00 am.

DELAYED IN LOS ANGELES

LOS ANGELES DELAY

THE TWO DAY FLIGHT TO BARCELONA

Five hour flight to Los Angeles was smooth and uneventful. Upon arrival in L.A., we were told that our connection to New York was cancelled. The gate agent attempted to book us on a flight out the next morning and then in the middle of doing this decided he had to go somewhere else. He handed us off to the gal next to him who quickly explained that there was a flight out tomorrow she could put us on standby. It was around 1o:00 pm. We were tired and decided to pull our thoughts together in the American Airlines lounge. We sat down very relaxed and asked ourselves what we were going to do. Sleep in the airport and go for the standby flight to New York (which may be cancelled again) or attempt something else. Shirley approached the agent in the lounge and explained that we needed to get to Barcelona. I sat back with Keli and enjoyed a glass of wine and some complimentary sandwiches, cheese and crackers. After about two hours were were first booked on an Air France flight the next morning. Then that flight was not available so they switched us to British Airways flying into London. No guarantees we were told, just be at the terminal first thing in the morning. We left the airport and grabbed a shuttle to the Crown Plaza Hotel. Arrived after midnight to a clean room and slept. We were the very first in line (waited 5 hours) at British Airlines. We were ticketed and got our seats for London. I grabbed a couple of Carne Asada Taco's from the El Paseo Cafe stand above the ticketing counter. Two tacos ($7.80) were quite good. I ate them while standing over our bags at the ticket counter. After a few more hours waiting we were finally in the air for over 10 hours. When we arrived in London, snow was falling and the airport was going into cancellation mode. We had over six hours layover and decided to enjoy lunch in a British Pub.

Heathrow Airport is filled with people from all over the world. People watching at its best here.