Figaro's Festive Frolics - part one
The Players:
Mikki - dlpmikki on these boards
Andrew, her dh
Me - Figaro and my cousins Floppy Figaro and stunt kitten Figaro beanie
Tuesday 18th November
Our big travel experiment this time is to use the train to London Gatwick airport. The humans have to cram everything into just 2 cases to check in and 2 cabin bags – all 4 of which have wheels. Of course, the two bags to be checked are quite large and they also have the contents of their “owner’s locker” box waiting for them. Quite a lot of the weight is taken up by Christmas cards to either post in the USA or give to people we expect to meet. There are 3 of us toy Figaros going: Floppy, who is big and soft and Mikki likes to cuddle; Travelling Beanie, who is the “stunt kitten” because he can get into places I can’t; and me, No 1. Sometimes, one or both of the others have to go in the checked cases, but not today: there is no room!
The train journey is remarkably smooth and uneventful. The first train takes us to Kings Cross station in London and it is a short walk to St Pancras for a direct one to the airport. For anyone who doesn’t know, St Pancras is a beautiful old Victorian station with a grand arched roof that has recently been completely modernised. It now handles, national trains running both north and south plus the international terminal for high speed trains to Europe. One plus of the modernisation is that there are plenty of lifts (elevators) for people like us with luggage.
We check in to the Hilton hotel at Gatwick – which is just by the terminal. We are offered an upgrade of room for £50. Holiday spirit has obviously set in so we accept. We are promised a larger room in a new wing that is very quiet and gives access to the Executive Lounge.
I don’t know how much bigger the room was (it had a very smart bathroom with bath and separate shower – but who needs that?), but the humans enjoyed all the other benefits. There was no sound at all from outside. It was quite a walk to the new wing from Reception (reminded us of a few Disney hotels) but the room was very close to the Executive Lounge – which was serving complementary snacks and drinks. Mikki calculated that even if they had searched for somewhere on the airport cheaper than the hotel, they would have paid as much or more to eat and drink than the cost of the upgrade – and that was before tomorrow’s complimentary breakfast.
So far, jolly good. Good Night. Prrrr.
Wednesday 19th November
Over continental breakfast, Mikki uses another benefit of the Hilton Executive lounge – internet access. She checks Virgin Atlantic’s web site and finds our flight is delayed to 3.00pm (2½ hours). So, no rush to check out of the hotel.
The flight is uneventful. Although we have 3 Figaros in the cabin bag, I am the only one to get out. The ‘plane is far from full. Mikki has brought a small back cushion and sleeps a bit more than usual. She also watches two movies.
We take Magical Express from the airport. We have scarcely any wait either to get on a bus or the bus to set out. We are also the first stop – well, Old Key West is quite close to the entrance to WDW as you come from the airport. We have checked in to our room within 2 hours of the ‘plane touching the ground (and 10 minutes of that was taken with the ‘plane taxiing to its gate).
It is cold – for Florida. The Bell Services desk has a patio heater and most of the bellmen are wrapped up in hooded coats and gloves. It is also nearly 2.00am by the clocks we woke up to. We all go to bed.
Thursday 20th November
We are only here at OKW until Saturday (we will come back) so first things first: breakfast at Olivia’s. The humans both have Homestyle Hash. They flatter the server it is as good as when it was Ocie’s – and I am too polite a cat to contradict them on the Internet.
Everyone is still tired – and it is still cold – so we forego parks for the day and go Downtown. Mikki buys trading pins and we get a carry out lunch from Puck Express. Back at OKW, Andrew collapses and falls asleep (he didn’t sleep at all on the ‘plane). Mikki does some much needed sorting out while Andrew rests.
We go to pick up our hire car – aiming to do so about 5.00pm so it is the right time to take it back to the airport at the end of our stay. We have a compact car – a Kia. We take it to stock up on basic supplies – normally milk, orange juice etc. but as we are just about to move apartments it is just a couple of bottles of wine and some toothpaste. We also stop at Panera Bread to pick up sandwiches for tonight. Another stop is Premium Outlets – where Mikki gets confused when she doesn’t recognise where she walks into the mall. They have opened an extension since we were last there. Of course our target here is the Character Outlet.
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Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by dlpmikki
Shirley told me that St. Pancras was beautiful, she took the train over to Paris last month. 
Hopefully we will get to see you in the next couple weeks. Glad that you arrived safe and sound.
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