Terminal 5 at Speed
I’ve barely slept all night. The excitement of returning to the USA is a little too much. Somewhere around 4.30am a text message arrives. It’s from BA. My flight from Manchester to Heathrow has been cancelled. I try ringing the number given for BA customer services but they don’t open till 6am. This is why I always leave suitable gaps between connecting flights.
Just after 6am and I’m in York station and on hold waiting to talk to someone. Fear not. My first flight is changed, can I be at Manchester Airport for the 9.55am flight? Yes, and I can get the 6.30am train to the Airport and avoid all the commuters who usually pack out this route.
I don’t think BA’s staff could be any more helpful or friendly. Check in at Manchester Airport is swift and smooth and after a short wait I’m Heathrow bound. Terminal 5, here I come.
Terminal 5 at Heathrow is a mammoth of a building. With walls of glass the place is lit and the views from all angles are a plane spotter’s dream. Having caught the earlier flight I’m also left with longer to wander round Terminal 5.
Exhaustion hits somewhere along the line and no amount of Starbucks coffee can keep me awake. Time steadily drifts by as I drift in and out of sleep. Another walk around Terminal 5 takes me to the top level. More Duty Free and more of the basics from most town centres. Gordon Ramsey’s place is somewhat overpriced. Unless the man himself is in residence, which I doubt he ever is, then these celebrity chef restaurants merely become the karaoke cover version of the food world.
Once my flight to Dulles is called I’m whisked away on the underground railroad to the B Gates and onto the flight to Dulles. Once settled in the scary realisation that this plane still has the old fashioned VHS tape entertainment system. In this day and age? It’s 2009, the Age of On-Demand and here I am on a plane with an antiquated system. Worse still, there’s nothing I want to watch. Except Cool Hand Luke. This is going to be a long flight.
Dulles Airport and I’ve not made the mistake of being at the back of the transport system taking us from plane to terminal. In fact, I’m neatly placed near the front as we wait for immigration. There are vast number of visa requiring foreigners on the flight. The Homeland Security guy is bored and irksome by the time I get to him. I’ve watched him deal with incomplete and incorrect visas so with a bit of luck my visa waiver won’t be too much of an issue for him. He couldn’t care less and waves me off with a terse goodbye.
It’s snowed while I’ve been flying and parts of Virginia have a white blanket. It’s also dark and late but here I am again.
