#259042 by DarkAuror
06 May 2009, 11:05
After an enjoyable week in Edinburgh and surrounding area, it was time for us to return home. I did online check-in the day before in an internet caf where the boarding passes were sent to my mobile.

We left the apartment around 10am and made the journey to the airport, we arrived about 20 mins later and took our luggage to the bag drop. Now I think having your boarding pass sent to mobile is a great idea except when you are checking in 4 people as you have to show four separate texts. However, the check-in assistant was satisfied with just see my boarding pass text. We went upstairs to the landside eateries but couldnt see any food that would pleased everyone. So we went through Passport Control where I held up the queue, going through my mobile to retrieve the 4 boarding card texts to scan through the machine. As we did this, I realised that I was still holding my hessian Sainsburys bag which had my 2 cases of heather ale! (my latest favourite tipple). Yes, I know, Im a muppet, I was asked about liquids when I was going through Passport Control but somehow, it didnt register that beer was liquid. A security officer explain nicely (so I cant have been the first!) to go back landside and get the bag checked in. So leaving Mrs DA, Mrs DA-in-law and the Apprentice in the security hall for them to go to airside, I, like a salmon, pushed my way through the queue that going the opposite way to me. I got back to the check-in and I got lots of baggage tape and fragile stickers to make the bag more secure. After getting another boarding pass, I gave the bag to the outsize luggage people, who said they will hand deliver the bag to the plane.

After I got airside, I found the family and settle down for a full Scottish breakfast and watched the world pass by while waiting for the flight to be called. The time came to go down to the gate and my Apprentice couldnt understand why he couldnt see the plane. I knew the reason and I had kept quiet about it because my mother-in-law is not a good flier, shes hates take-off and landing and is ok if there is not turbulence. The reason is because we were flying on embraer ERJ 135, a small plane with a 2-1 configuration. So we went through the gate and down the stairs and more stairs until we went on to the apron. I looked around and my mother-in-law briefly froze before carrying on walking. We boarded the plane and I sat next to my mother-in-law while Mrs DA sat next to the Apprentice. As it was a small plane, we pushed back 15 mins early and trundled down the taxiway to the runway. Again, like with his first ever flight (see previous TR), I could the Apprentice giggling away and as we took off he said Goodbye Scotland. We flew down the west coast over Liverpool and then cut across country to circle the north of London. We had great views of Wembley, Heathrow, The Haemorrhoids (sorry, the Emirates), Houses of Parliament and the city before turning to make the final approach in to LHR, where unlike the bigger planes, the ERJ 135 seem to take its time landing.

We rolled on to a remote stand overlooking the south runway and close to the main taxiway to the runway. This is where our plane was up close and personal to an Emirates A380 taxi-ing near us. As we boarded the shuttle bus back to T1, we watched the A380 lumber down the runway and somehow lift itself slow off the runway, there is it seem to hang, slowly moving upwards and then banking left to go south, there was something mesmerising about it as it seemed that it didnt move very fast.

Got to T1 and after a few minutes, got the bags including two unbroken cases of heather ale. My Apprentice had a scare when he was near to another baggage reclaim belt and the lights and alarms went off, he thought he broke it! Not realising it was a warning system before it started.

Went through to arrivals and within 20 mins of landing we were back at the Park Inn to pick up the car and drive down the M4 to home.

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