Dear friends
So after finally touching down at Heathrow we were tired and somewhat ill. I still had a terrible cough from the cold/flu I had contracted the previous Thursday. I also found myself carrying quite heavy bags and it was the first time that I had arrived with the family at Terminal 5. There was the obligatory long walk from the aircraft to the immigration queues and although our flight was one of the first arriving in the morning, there was a queue - quite a long queue. I took my bags and dutifully joined the queue.
Kim had her letter from her doctor stating that she had ME and that she should avoid standing as much as possible and using this letter she approached an immigration official and asked if she would be allowed to sit down until such time as I reached the front of the queue. There was a seating enclosure nearby where people who had to have their documentation reviewed were asked to wait. The official studied Kim's letter and asked her where her husband was in the queue (I had moved on a little, with people behind me at this stage). She pointed me out and the official asked me to join them. We were then shown to the front of the queue and asked to wait for the next available immigration officer! We were so thankful and the immigration officer made sure that our biometric data was confirmed and passports were stamped within a few short minutes. We had passed the UK border. This was a much more painless experience than the last time we arrived in the UK!
The rest of the airport experience was painless - even though I was sweating profusely from the fever of the flu. I managed to get our bags and load them up on a trolley. Kyra needed water, which I got for her very quickly. After passing the customs gates we were land side. All the familiar stores were there; M&S, WH Smith, COSTA. I left the family with the trolley full of bags while I went off to find the Enterprise Car Rental counter and get us some sim cards for our phones. Luckily Heathrow T5 had wifi so Kim and Kyra had let everyone back home know that we had arrived and what our movements were.
The young chap at Enterprise was very friendly and most helpful. I had pre-booked and paid the car, but they did of course have to take a credit card impression as a deposit. Then it was a short bus ride to the actual car rental area. Once we arrived there we were again greeted by a friendly lady who indicated that there was problem with the credit card which I had presented and would I mind them trying again? Of course I agreed and they sorted out the problem without any fuss. They did however apologise for this extra delay and said that in view of this, they were going to offer us an upgrade in the vehicle. I myself was quite worried about the size of the car which I had reserved and was very grateful of an upgrade - especially to a larger car! They gave us the choice of two cars, an Ensignia and a Toyota RAV4. Kim had no hesitation in selecting the RAV4! It took all our kit and was comfortable too to boot.
We bundled in, I fiddled about trying to find our GPS, and eventually we were off. We left Heathrow while the sky above was cloudy and grey and a soft rain started our automatic windscreen wipers moving across the windshield.
More in the next installment....
So after finally touching down at Heathrow we were tired and somewhat ill. I still had a terrible cough from the cold/flu I had contracted the previous Thursday. I also found myself carrying quite heavy bags and it was the first time that I had arrived with the family at Terminal 5. There was the obligatory long walk from the aircraft to the immigration queues and although our flight was one of the first arriving in the morning, there was a queue - quite a long queue. I took my bags and dutifully joined the queue.
Kim had her letter from her doctor stating that she had ME and that she should avoid standing as much as possible and using this letter she approached an immigration official and asked if she would be allowed to sit down until such time as I reached the front of the queue. There was a seating enclosure nearby where people who had to have their documentation reviewed were asked to wait. The official studied Kim's letter and asked her where her husband was in the queue (I had moved on a little, with people behind me at this stage). She pointed me out and the official asked me to join them. We were then shown to the front of the queue and asked to wait for the next available immigration officer! We were so thankful and the immigration officer made sure that our biometric data was confirmed and passports were stamped within a few short minutes. We had passed the UK border. This was a much more painless experience than the last time we arrived in the UK!
The rest of the airport experience was painless - even though I was sweating profusely from the fever of the flu. I managed to get our bags and load them up on a trolley. Kyra needed water, which I got for her very quickly. After passing the customs gates we were land side. All the familiar stores were there; M&S, WH Smith, COSTA. I left the family with the trolley full of bags while I went off to find the Enterprise Car Rental counter and get us some sim cards for our phones. Luckily Heathrow T5 had wifi so Kim and Kyra had let everyone back home know that we had arrived and what our movements were.
The young chap at Enterprise was very friendly and most helpful. I had pre-booked and paid the car, but they did of course have to take a credit card impression as a deposit. Then it was a short bus ride to the actual car rental area. Once we arrived there we were again greeted by a friendly lady who indicated that there was problem with the credit card which I had presented and would I mind them trying again? Of course I agreed and they sorted out the problem without any fuss. They did however apologise for this extra delay and said that in view of this, they were going to offer us an upgrade in the vehicle. I myself was quite worried about the size of the car which I had reserved and was very grateful of an upgrade - especially to a larger car! They gave us the choice of two cars, an Ensignia and a Toyota RAV4. Kim had no hesitation in selecting the RAV4! It took all our kit and was comfortable too to boot.
We bundled in, I fiddled about trying to find our GPS, and eventually we were off. We left Heathrow while the sky above was cloudy and grey and a soft rain started our automatic windscreen wipers moving across the windshield.
More in the next installment....
