The holidays are finally here. The original plan was then to catch a bus to Málaga and on to the airport, to save the 120Euro’s in parking fees. However, a quick look at the Málaga web-site and I found out there was free parking at "P3". I imagined this as the rough bit of land next to the airport but sod it, we’ll give it a try.
We got to the airport in plenty of time. The free car park looks quite good. It is a secure area with parasol type parking, similar to that at El Ingenio. I’ll find out how secure when I get back. A short bus ride to the terminal and then on to check in. I had my doubts over Easy Jet, however we checked in with minimal fuss. The problem comes at boarding time. It’s a free-for-all. Passengers wait next to the gate, ignoring the pleas of the staff to remain seated until it was your turn to board. The scrum continued on the plane where most people wanted to sit near the front. This delays everyone getting on the plane as everyone ignores the flight crews calls to keep the aisles clear to speed up boarding. Maybe allocating seats would solve the problem for them!
The flight was OK even if a bit more cramped than usual. Monica had the delight of sitting next to a nervous flyer. To calm his nerves he ordered a double whiskey and coke. Obviously already having had several before boarding, he left most of the drink and fell asleep. His drink looking very precarious on the tray,with every twist and turn he made making it more likely that Monica would be wearing it. To makes thinks worse he was snoring loudly for the duration of the flight.
The arrival at London Luton was quite smooth. Not a long wait for the bags. However, it would be a long wait for the Easy Bus. The time was 10pm and the next bus with places was midnight. For a couple of quid more we got lucky and got a place on the Green Line. Lucky in that we didn’t reserve a ticket for our flight. As we landed early, the unlucky passengers that bought tickets for the time suggested where turned away by the scouse driver.
The journey to London was a bit bizarre. First, we stopped at the Luton bus terminal for about 10 minutes. The place was deserted. The scouser was busy on his mobile phone, hands free kit so we could all hear his scouse wit. After picking nobody up we set off for London. This time the scouser was on his personal hands free kit, all the way to London. He must have wanted the conversation to last a bit longer has he came off the M1, toured around the A roads for 10 minutes and re-joined the M1.
We arrived at London Victoria around 11:30pm. Monica said that the Hotel Diplomat, where she used to work in Belgravia was only 5 minutes away. Not when lugging cases about, as 15 minutes later we arrived. No chance to slip off to the local "Battle Cruiser". Not to worry though as Susan, the hotel manager had left a nice surprise for us in the Mayfair Suite (the best room in the hotel according to Monica). She had left us a bottle of champagne on ice. A perfect start to the holiday and a great time to give Monica her present.
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