My last Saturday in the UK!! And also, my last day in the UK for 3 months!
I'm writing this all cwtched up in my bed at the Yotel in Gatwick Airport but more about that in a moment!
Today has been a looooooong day. I haven't slept well at all for the past two days, as I think this whole thing is finally starting to hit me! It honestly didn't seem that it's all happening this weekend! So I was up very bright and early this morning which was just as well as i still had my hand luggage to pack.
I was also very relieved this morning as at 11:20am - exactly 24 hours before me flight - I actually managed to check in online onto my flight. Yay! I was told by my travel agent that this wouldn't be possible so I was a bit annoyed that I wouldn't be able to sit near my other ICP lovelies on the flight but next to some fat, balding, sweaty bloke who honked of garlic and B.O. instead. I've got nothing against sweaty garlicky people though... just don't want to sit right next to them for over 9 hours! So yes, seat 23A here I come!
Yep, that's my boarding pass! "Miss Bethan John you're ready to fly!"
After saying goodbye to my brother at home (was very quick and typical brother-like: was just a quick "see ya buttie!", no hugs :( ), my parents and I set off for Cardiff for me to catch the National Express to Gatwick airport. Now, Cardiff is normally just a 50 minute drive away but we still decided to leave the house a good deal earlier! And thank god we did! Was quite a close call; the queues for the multi-story carpark was sooooo long, and then the queue for the lifts to get down from the carpark were even worse! It was a bit of a mad dash (I love the adrenaline rush, my parents not so much!), but we ended up making it to the bus station with around 10 mins to spare :) It's all part of the adventure!
Soon the bus was pulling up, and the time I had been dreading - saying goodbye to the parents - had arrived :( I'm glad I did it at the bus station rather than at the airport though - I reckon it would have been much harder if they had brought me to Gatwick! Airports are just emotional. No? Just me then... So after lots of hugs and kisses, my Dad's parting comment to me was: "Now Bethan, no messing around with Mickey Mouse OK?". Not sure what he meant by that haha... ! My parents also gave me a lovely card along with a picture of them and little bro inside as I was getting onto the bus:
"Bethan, have a wonderful time and have wonderful memories. Missing you already"! Aww - promise I'm not gonna cry...
I'm not a fan of travelling by National Express, as I always suffer from travel sickness. So I wasn't looking forward to spending 5 hours on the coach, even more so when I got on the coach to find it absolutely stinking of FISH! What's the deal with that?! Anyhow, considering where I was traveling to I was willing to put up with it :) So, a couple of hours went past, I listened to some music, watched some Glee and then dropped off to sleep (note how I hadn't slept for the past 2 nights). I was properly out for the count, but somehow felt the bus slowing down, opened my eyes and noticed that we were now parked in something that resembled an airport and saw that everyone was getting off the coach. I got up, walked off the coach still half asleep, and this is where I almost made the biggest fail: This was the bus' first stop at HEATHROW. But... I WAS FLYING FROM GATWICK. Want to know my first thoughts?..."Oh shit!". Luckily my bags hadn't come off the bus yet, I just pretended I'd got off the bus to stretch my legs and coolly stepped back on. I'm getting good at playing it cool, I mean you have to when you're as silly as I am!
Back safe on the bus, we were finally on route to Gatwick!!
If anyone ever fancies an "adventure" then come and catch the National Express with me! I also always somehow manage to attract the most weirdest people to come and sit by me - good times!
Once I arrived at the airport (the correct airport this time!) I headed straight for the Yotel. It looks really suspicious: the lifts down to the Yotel are tucked behind a shop in International Arrivals, so it's like someone sees you walking behind the shop and then poooft, you're gone!
My first thoughts when I got to the Yotel check-in was WOW! Everything was lit in purple - so moody! I was met by Steven and I was happy to find out that we had rooms next to each other on Steven's request! Good thinking! I'm not prepared enough to sort stuff out like that... The Yotel is a set of little cabin rooms actually within the South terminal of Gatwick airport - I'm sure I've mentioned it in a previous post. Now, I was expecting small, seeing as the hotel is based on those tiny Japanese capsule hotels, but I didn't expect this small! I opened the door (inwards), wheeled my suitcase and myself in and there was no room left to close the door! I really do love it though - it's all so cute! Everything you could possibly want is in this room, all folded/built into the walls! The room also has purple mood lighting, and is all very swish! I'm going to be dreaming purple tonight I tell you!
And just in case you were wondering what I would look like if I were to be lying in bed in a purple room:
Another thing I chuckled at was the bed! It all looks very nice and soft, but it literally was at chest height. And I'm 5 ft 9 so quite high! I'm not sure if this picture shows it very well, but you can kinda see that it's quite a bit higher than my suitcase on the right there...
So after performing some sort of crazy acrobatic jump where I had to spin in mid air to try and land sitting on the bed, I finally made it on. Only to look down to realise that the bottom panel of the bed which you can see on the picture that has a little tag on it, actually folds down to make a step... my way was much more fun though! My jumping attempts also meant that I had worked up a bit of an appetite for dinner :) Steven and I headed into the terminal to hunt out somewhere to eat but we were really disappointed. The whole foodcourt thingy in the South terminal is closed and is being renovated. We then caught the monorail over to the North terminal to find nothing there either. So it was back to the South terminal where our choice was Giraffe...or... Giraffe. So we went to Giraffe (funnily enough)! We had a lovely meal in the end - I opted for a chicken salad as I reckon veggies may be hard to come by for the next 3 months :)
And that brings me to now!! Think I'll settle down to watch the TV which I have just found in the wall!
See you in Florida!!
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