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America New York Plane Travel

Come Fly With Me….

I’m early. Very bloody early. Very very bloody bloody early. As a rule of thumb, us Phillips’s are never this early. When I say early… I’m checked in and through security and there’s still 1 hour and 50 mins until the gate is announced… Let alone boarded!

I’d guess this is earlier than any Phillips has ever been before.

Sadly it's a bit too early to do some serious damage in here!!
Sadly it’s a bit too early to do some serious damage in here!!

Thankfully due to a quick reshuffle just before check in, my bag went through at the right weight…. Also, I appear to have shaken off the Phillips trait of getting a good frisking! I sailed through security painlessly!

Sitting here in this “world class” terminal, looking at all the shiny metal and glass twisting and twining as far as the eye stretches I think back to stories grandma told me. When air travel was still fairly new. Things were a little different. As she said to me “the world was a simpler place”.

The terminals were tents or shacks and planes were a little different to the beasts that rule the airways today.

While grand and flash looking (apparently the largest free standing building in the UK) terminal 5 just leaves me feeling a bit…. Lacklustre. Everything shiny, everything nearly new….I’m yet to have a “wow moment”….

Perhaps I’m being a tough critic…. Currently the outside world is still “asleep”. Surrounding the edge of the building is darkness littered with the orange glow of some sort of lamp. Perhaps when things light up a bit the landscape will change and I’ll have a wow!

To me, this terminal suggests, as probably is true that we are out the other side of grandma’s flying stories…. The golden glamour age of air travel is over… This is now as mundane as getting a train or a bus. (Not for me it aint!)

Talking of the glamour of air travel. There is the odd whispery nod back in time – “The BA Concorde Lounge”. Now that was something I always wanted to travel on!

Sadly, the plane which was the fastest commercial airliner for 27 years, is no more. In an industry which moves as fast as air travel (see what I did there!) That’s an incredible feat. It amazes me that since retirement in 2003, no one has yet come up with a magical tin can which can break the speed of sound twice, while also carrying passengers like Concorde did.

Enough reminicing, back to the matter in hand…. Where in the world can you get sourdough toast and a coffee for £4? Weatherspoons Heathrow. Admittedly, its quite a snazzy spoons, but it’s spoons all the same! You can’t go wrong. Not even at 6am!

Mmmn. Toast and Tiptree jam!
Mmmn. Toast and Tiptree jam!

Opposite from me, I’m not sure if you’d call it art, but is a world map. The world map has cast upon it different degrees of light depending on where in the world is currently experiencing daylight… Some could say I’m literally watching the world wake up! (For a spoons that’s pretty impressive I’d say!)

Wake up world!!!!
Wake up world!!!!

On that note, toast has been eaten, coffee has been drank, it must be time to gawp aimlessly at copious amounts of Toblerone and alcohol as displayed by the duty free shop…. Does law require every airport in the world to sell Toblerone?

I can’t promise updates as in depth and regular as this… (I’m killing time here!) But I’d like to try and write something once a day!!

See you on the other side of the Atlantic!

5 replies on “Come Fly With Me….”

Have an amazing time over “The Pond”. Look forward to the next installment. Want to see loads of pics. Happy fighting love from the Steinberg and Dashwood clan xxx

Hi Steven,
If you’re interested in helping the children, please pop by terminal 2 on your return to LHR.
Happy flightings! Hope you enjoy your complimentary glass of orange juice and browse of the daily mail.

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