Yeh, yeah, I know! I couldn’t resist, Especially as my newest distraction has proved to be far more time-consuming than I expected and has been put on hold for the foreseeable future.

“what’s going on?” You ask, Well, let me tell you. Easter is upon us, the time of fluffy bunnies and chocolate eggs and most especially a four day bank holiday that was looking excruciatingly dull. I decided I’d much rather do bourbon than boring and this trip was born.

The plan? tasting bourbon, blending bourbon, bourbon touring, drinking bourbon, comparing bourbon, discussing bourbon like I know what I’m talking about, and inevitably buying bourbon that I absolutely do not need but will fully justify anyway.

If you’ve read any of my trip reports, you already know this isn’t a casual weekend. This is a highly committed operation that starts with “just a tasting” and ends somewhere between “one more flight” and “this seemed like a good idea at the time.” There will almost certainly be a point where the plan becomes more of a suggestion. But let’s be honest, this is exactly on brand.

The plan?

Thursday - afternoon NCL-LHR and Premier Inn overnight
Friday - CCR, LHR-CVG day flight, and a very strategically placed HIE
Saturday - Much bourbon, including distillery tour, bourbon tasting, and bourbon blending.
Sunday - More food and bourbon and then CVG-LHR night flight
Monday - CCR and LHR-NCL

I have never been more than mildly tipsy on any of my trips, this one might break that restraint

Classic! I hope all goes well. It seems I'm in NCL one day early!

Bon voyage!

Bonkers. But we are in FT and it is business as usual.

And we’re off and running!

Uber are having a fine old time with their pricing, now I have wait and save, standard, priority, and a dozen varieties of other options. All of them were more expensive than the local taxi service. I’ve notice Uber pricing steadily climbing, I swear they’re experimenting to see at what point it becomes too much, that point was today. Local taxi arrived quickly and traffic was light so they made short work of the trip to the airport.

The airport is pretty quiet despite the fact that there is a whole host of LCC departures in the next couple of hours. First stop was the checkin desks for a document check. Heaven knows why this is required, that passport goes through BA systems multiple times every month but so be it.

Fast path was quick and easy despite the traditional secondary screening of the iPad.

Now it’s time for a nice glass of Castelnau in Aster and Thyme, courtesy of Priority Pass.

Off to the lounge for 40 minutes and some new (to me) food offerings




The Bhajis are better than expected, definitely edible and a little bit of heat and spice. Should keep me going until it’s time to head to the gate.

And so on board with boarding starting 10 minutes before scheduled departure so we are likely to be a little late. One cheerful crew member and one decidedly surly one to bring balance to the force!

G-EUYB and it is looking in need of a paint job!



boarding completed really quickly, I wasn’t paying much attention but I assume we have a light load for this evenings flight which isn’t a great surprise given the previous BA flight was only an hour ago.

Buckled up, doors about to close, next stop LHR T5 in under an hours time.

A little minor drama on the ground. The ground power failed and caused a couple of issues for the flight deck that needed engineering attention. Once that was sorted the runway changed direction causing further delay. In the end it’s now 30 minutes after planned departure and the cockpit door has just closed. Not in the slightest bit bothered, I’ve nothing to do and nowhere to go this evening except the nearest bar!

I might have to clear my weekend schedule just to follow your latest adventure. Enjoy!

In the end it was a slightly delayed but pleasant flight The champagne flowed and the meal was a beef salad that made a very acceptable beef roll



It’s now 18:25 and they are currently loading the sardine tin over at the remote stand we have parked up at. Cannot help but notice this



I assume that once upon a time BA did segregated buses?

Next Stop: premier inn.

So, that's two days running, as we had exactly the same issue with ground power on the flight down from NCL yesterday! I say we, as there was a straggler onboard in the form of KARFA !

How many bottles? Have you counted them?

Only one for me, cannot speak as to the rest of them

19:15 and I’ve made it to the room. 423 bus stops right outside and is 10 minutes from T5.



I paid a few pounds extra for the Premier Plus room which comes with a runway view I won’t look at, a swankier coffee machine I will not use, and better wifi



No complaints about the room, it’s spacious and clean and the bed is comfortable as you would expect with a premier inn.







Time to go check out the bar and restaurant. It’s not going to be a late one tonight, I was nodding off on the flight down, but there is definitely enough time for a beer or three

Good to know as in two weeks I will be at the same spot for the same bus but to a different hotel.