Once the morning came, of course, I woke up late and scrambled to get downstairs in time for the cab. Because one of my Serbian colleagues was arriving at the flat the same day I was departing, it was essential to leave some items for him - flat key, cell phone, oyster card for the tube, etc. So the cabby swung by my British colleague's house so I could drop them off. We then headed toward the airport, and I must admit I was quite pleased with the morning's progression so far. Until I reached into my pocket for tip money and realized I'd forgotten the flat key in my pocket. I was too far from the city to return it at this point. This, my friends, was the beginning of a very long day.
London-Heathrow airport is unlike most airports in that there are four terminals for departing flights. Can you guess which terminal I was dropped off at? The wrong one. I began to mildly panic, as airport complications make me quite uneasy (especially if there's a time constraint!). A disgruntled employee pointed me toward the terminal shuttle, so I lugged my beastly bags on a trek across the airport.
Fully aware that my large bag would be overweight, I anticipated paying a baggage fee. What I didn't anticipate was a fee of $250!! For six pounds of luggage. This would normally be $50 in the US. So I began the game of shuffling items and re-weighing my bag. I went through three rounds of this before I was given clearance to check my bag (still three pounds overweight, ha!). Keep in mind that my carry-on suitcase became unbelievably stuffed - to the point where it almost didn't qualify as a carry-on! And I could no longer close my tote.
Security presented no problems. I arrived at my gate to find an additional security check point. I passed with flying colors, but not without my bags spewing their contents as soon as the balance was disrupted. Luckily the airline employee found it amusing! Together we pinched and tugged until everything fit again!
My flight boarded not ten minutes after I finally sat down for a breather. The flight was not full, so I had three seats to myself in which to stretch out. I snuggled up with a pillow and blanket, put on my sunglasses, and fell sound asleep within minutes of taking off. I woke up a few hours later to a screaming two year old in front of me. This little girl only knew how to express herself through screams and whimpers. Of all the seats and all the children - why me??! Somehow, luckily, I still managed to fall back asleep.
I awoke a few hours later with renewed vigor! The child in front of me was silent, the stewardess magically appeared with a gingerale, and the map in front of me said I was half-way there! I popped open the window shade, turned on the inflight radio, and jammed out to "Cooler Than Me" as the almost-home adrenaline kicked in :)
The rest of my flight passed in a blur. Somewhere over the US I jumped the gun and set my watch to eastern time. We landed in Chicago for my connecting flight, and I was instructed to go through customs, claim my checked bag, go through immigration, re-check my bag, and go through security before catching my connection. Forgetting that Chicago is in central time, panic set in as I realized I had "one hour" to do all of this! I speed-walked to customs, made it through in a timely fashion, and arrived at the baggage carousel before it began circulating. Ever the impatient traveler, there were quite a few foot stomps, eye rolls, and bitten nails before bags FINALLY came out. Horror crept in as I watched the carousel circulate until no other passengers were left waiting. My bag was not there. I found a man who scanned my luggage ticket and informed me, "I don't know where your bag is, but it's not here!"
So I proceded to immigration and security without my bag. Because I only had "15 minutes" left after emerging from security, I sprinted across the airport as quickly as I could, weaving in and out of the crowd, until I reached my gate, huffing and puffing and breaking out in sweat. The gate marquee was blank and there was no plane waiting outside. I still had "5 minutes"!! Did it take off early??! I ran to the nearest airline attendant I could find. The woman looked up from her computer as I practically crashed into her desk, frantically inquiring about my flight. She checked her computer and looked at me hesitantly before replying, "Your flight leaves at 4:30." I looked down at my watch, then back up at her like she was clearly missing something and she'd soon realize what an idiot she was. She then offered, "It's 3:30 now." Relief and humiliation washed over me as I realized what an idiot I was!
Everything else went smoothly that evening. My connecting flight arrived on time and my parents were waiting for me at baggage claim! My bag arrived as though the Chicago debacle never happened, and we ate dinner at Five Guys before driving home from Orlando. It was midnight by the time we made it back to Ft. Pierce and I'd showered from the long trip. Needless to say, I slept like a baby. There truly is NO PLACE LIKE HOME!! :)
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