Quito - Amsterdam - London

08 December 2011


Unsuprisingly, I managed to sleep quite well on the flight, whilst Lynn didn't!  I woke up about 2 hours before we were due to land feeling fairly refreshed.

The weather over UK and at Amsterdam was very overcast so we didn't see much until we were about to touch down.  After a very long taxi, the aircraft arrived at the terminal and we all got off.  The airport was decorated for Christmas and very busy.  We managed to get some Euros and went to get a coffee.

Our next flight to London was due to leave 1 hour and 45 minutes later, so we didn't have long to hang around.  We were taken to the aircraft on a bus, and once out of the bus could feel how windy it was.  Once on the flight, the captain informed us that there were delays at Heathrow and we would have to sit in the aircraft at Schipol for 30 minutes.  Some passengers were clearly unhappy with this news!

Finally, we took off and headed out across the North Sea to London.  Once in the London area, the captain came back on the intercom and said that we would have to circle for about 30 minutes before we could land.  It was a shame the cloud was so low as we were over the city by then.  Apparently, when the weather is poor at Heathrow, including very windy, the number of flights that can land every minute is decreased.  Usually, a flight lands every 20 seconds, but today it was every 40 seconds.

Once we had landed we were quickly off the aircraft and went to immigration and baggage collection.  At immigration, we were able to use the new automatic machines and then went off to collect our baggage.  One of the bags was damaged, so we stopped to report it the airline representative.  Hopefully, we will get a replacement bag later.

We grabbed a taxi from the airport to the hotel, and despite the heavy traffic, the cabbie managed to get us there quite quickly.  We checked in and then I went to find the car, but it had been moved whilst we had been away!  With the help of the staff, I found the car and loaded one of our bags into it.

We both had a shower and freshed up, what a great feeling!  After our long flight, my teeth felt as if they were furry too - urgh! After over three weeks of not being able to use tapwater to clean our teeth, it was a great to be able to do so in UK.  A beer and a small meal later saw us heading for bed after a very long day/night.