I needed to google "scrofulous" and, well, that was unsettling.

The lack of any update in the last 45 minutes is because we were boarding from the wifi black spot that is gate A6

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Arriving at the gate and there were people everywhere. This gate is always a mess as the position is horrible and there really isn’t anywhere for people to queue sensibly. I sidled along the edge of the tensa barrier and asked at the desk if they were pre-boarding group zero, and was let through to wait at the head of the escalator.

It was only a couple of minutes before they started the escalator and I was first on the plane and into seat 12C. Another seat block next to me, 12B is empty on this almost full plane and so it’s poor man’s club Europe again this afternoon :D

We have finally pushed back a full half hour late and are currently taxiing around Heathrow.

Next Stop: Lisbon in a couple of hours time.

Bar11 deserved it, it was horribly run down and scruffy
and dirty and probably diseased :D. The revamp was
sorely needed.

Quite the queue for the runway this afternoon and it was 15:50 before we got our chance to get out of London.

As an aside: I have a request from one of the CCR servers for Pastel de Nata so if you haven’t seen me post/comment on some sort of take home by tomorrow afternoon please feel free to prompt me.

Once we were well into our ascent the captains announcement was made that he expects a 2:40 flight time and we will be arriving roughly 35 minutes late. A couple of minutes later, once the seatbelt light was off, the snack and a drink service commenced and today’s snack was chocolate digestives. Finally a snack that I fully approve of :D

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Next up, the BoB trolley run started and I settled for a couple of JD and a coffee and that saw me all the way through to the pilots announcement that we would soon be starting our descent.

It had been a little bumpy previously, but nothing of great note, however the seatbelt sign had been on for the last half hour of smooth flight so I hit the call bell to ask of they would check with the flight deck. I got some serious attitude in return around the flight deck knowing what they were doing and expecting turbulence etc. My only response was to please check before they were clearing up puddles and, lo and behold, 30 seconds later the seatbelt light was off.

Whilst I was attending to natures call I asked the crew at the back if they would check if anyone had any skyflyer logbooks. After the almost standard conversation around them being at checkin, and the families desk, etc they promised to ask around and happily one of the crew at the front had two. At least that replaces my spare I usually carry around plus an extra!

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And that sums up this pretty uneventful flight. Seats for landing at 18:20 and on the ground at 18:30.

A full thirty minutes to clear to land side and then the game of ‘hunt the pick up’ began. I’m honestly not sure why I decided on a transfer rather than just using
Uber, but that is most definitely water under the bridge!

There was no sign of the driver at arrivals, nor at the many meeting points so in the end I phoned him and he didn’t speak much English but was at ‘meeting taxi’. Out to the taxi ranks go I, nope, no sign of him. Eventually I asked the taxi marshall to speak to the driver and we ended up meeting outside the Vodafone store,

The car was actually parked up around the corner of the airport in an unsigned parking spot, I had no chance! All in all it took twenty minutes to find him and now, almost an hour after landing, I’m in the car heading to the hotel.

Exactly the same happened to me on my last trip, also parked in a very random non parking place! I should warn you that for your return that signposts in the airport are less than helpful, particularly if you get a bus gate! Trying to find it is an Olympic challenge, both in understanding and length of walk🙈

Thanks atcodave I look forward to that at stupid o’clock Sunday morning!

Enjoying the report so far. Did the person in row 11 who you shoed away with your hand say anything?!

And finally at the hotel at almost exactly 8pm!

The hotel for the weekend is the Boutique hotel Alegria which has a certain dated charm

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I am absolutely shattered so the plan of the night is an early bed!

No, I just waved my hand over the seat and said ‘blocked’ and his mate sat in his assigned seat which was also an exit - 12A

hahaha. I don’t know why that made me laugh out loud. Lol

Lisbon is great. If you get a chance take a wonder down to Belem which is always relaxing by the water. If it’s raining, watch those bloody street tiles!! It’s so easy to slip over

"Hotel has a dated charm", so does that mean it's as old as you and I are? :)

Guilty as charged :D

If you have time, checkout “By The Wine.” It’s a fun wine bar with great vibes/interior design.

I must admit that the way you describe chatting up the flight attendants and your amazing spirits tolerance, you bring to mind the character "The Saint" (Roger Moore), even though all we ever see of you physically are your legs.

"Charming", dated or not seems to fit you......