Visiting Britain - Days 1 and 2 - May 16 and 17, 2011

So... this one time, Heather had a flight out of Winnipeg at 6:30, courtesy of Air Canada, who had very kindly decided to change the flight she booked at 10:00 to one that was at 6:30, thus ensuring that she arrived at the airport at 4:45 am, which is "the best."

Of course, because Air Canada changed her flight to Montreal to an earlier time of day, it also meant that she had to hang around the Montreal airport for even longer.  Total length of time spent in Montreal = 9 hours (approximately).  Here are some things we did:

1.  Had a mid morning snack.
2.  Had lunch.

3.  Bought maple cookies for Hannah and maple syrup for Helen's granny.
4.  Walked from gate 2ish where the plane landed to gate 58ish where the next plane took off (in other words, all the way across the airport)
5.  Bought a sudoku book and did about 10 of them.
6.  Read a book in its entirety.
7.  Wandered aimlessly up and down the airport.
8.  Checked e-mails to determine where Helen's granny lives so we could go to her house.
9.  Sat around and did nothing.
10. Ate a meal that vaguely resembled supper.
11.  Listened to the nice Air Moroc lady get increasingly exasperated as she announced the final boarding call for her plane about 87 times.
12.  Got bored.
13.  Watched the airport people load the plane.

Eventually, the wait was over, and we were allowed to get on the plane to London.  We landed at Heathrow at 7:00 am, which was slightly ahead of schedule.  Then... it was time for Standing In Line At Customs, which is a Very Fun Activity.  By 8:30, the Customs adventure was over, and after a temporary panic where Heather thought her luggage was lost, we FINALLY made it to the underground station.  Then we took the tube to the middle of London.  Then we took the train to Oxford.  Then we took a bus to Eynsham.  Then we got lost and couldn't find Helen's granny's house.  Then we asked a nice lady for directions and she told us where to go.  Then we found Helen's granny's house, and at 12:30 pm, when we got there, we went to bed, after being awake for a day and a half.

Subsequent days in Britain were much more fun because there were no airplanes (or airports!) involved.  Penguins were not meant to fly, so other means of transportation are definitely preferable.