Alarm @ 5.00am, showered, packing finished and down for breakfast Earl Grey tea as usual with a mixture of watermelon and orange fruit juice; there was a wide selection of fresh fruit and plenty of yoghurt plus curd to choose from . Alison had a small raisin pancake whereas Pete had a small piece of waffle as well as the pancake .
Having got back to our room, we phoned tp get our luggage taken down for transfer into car. Once back at reception we were met by Inder at 6.50 am for departure at 7.00am. It was really good to see him again and we talked non stop all the way to the airport. The driver was excellent and looked forward to seeing us again next time.
Delhi airport has high security, so only passengers with confirmed flights are allowed into the terminal. This means that we had to have some written confirmation as well as our passports to be checked at the gate. The Audley rep takes us to the front entrance and then another “24 hour” Audley agent takes over inside.
Inder saw us to the front of the airport entrance where we had to show our passports and flight confirmation; once through the 24hr agent took over, we followed him to the check in desk where we were greeted by a very chatty BA staff; suitcases slightly heavier that outward trip but not as heavy as alison thought they would be. Said our farewells at security and yet again it is the separation, ladies in a cubicle men just go through without any hassle. One has to remember to go back to collect your things as the ladies cubicle is way to the side.We were just about to walk off when we realized that the backpack was still waiting to be picked up. Off through the duty free and of course Svarowski, where the Taj Mahal was about 175 pounds ,cheaper at home.
We went and found the ITC green lounge where we had a couple of hours to kill before our 20 minute walk to gate 9. We had our first apple juice in 3 weeks. Have just picked up a message from Charlie who we are meeting at Kings Cross tonight.
On way to gate we spent the last of our Indian money rather than get a poor rate of exchange. We arrived at the gate just as first class were being called, so we were soon on the plane.
Looking outside, we could barely see the runway through the thick post Diwali smog of Delhi.
Greeted with an orange juice and menu after putting all hand luggage in the overhead locker ; we are sitting next to a lady from Los Angeles, who is connecting to another long flight at Heathrow.
It is 6.00 am English time and they are taking lunch orders and tell us we are due in a few minutes early at 15.10. A glass of lunchtime ( or is it breakfast) champagne arrives. Alison’s low fat meal is water melon and pineapple with sweet corn and diced peppers to start, followed by chicken with spinach and chickpea; Pete had moong pakora ( red cabbage cup sweet potato tiki and cream cheese quenelle, but without the promised chutney) followed by a chicken palak masala with rice and pickles.
There was champagne top up rather than wine, and we had a triple bread roll, one of which was chocolate. We connected so the wifi for a short while to catch up on emails and try to update the blog, but the speed was insufficient and it failed to update.
Meanwhile Alison was listening to Beethoven piano concertos and Pete Beethoven symphonies, whilst we did various puzzles to while away the time.
At 13:30 English time it was time for afternoon tea, but there was no low fat option , so alison passed on the cheese croquettes with the chicken wrap and the rather creamy cake to follow. Chablis rather than champagne!
We have put on some extra layers to prepare for our arrival in London where the temperature is about 15 degrees lower that Delhi.
We landed early and were at stand at our expected landing time; alison went through the epassport gate, but it failed to read Pete’s old passport. we didn’t have to wait long for our luggage, and soon caught up with the Airportr chap, whose text message saying he was waiting for us arrived after we had left him.
Visited the ATM , sent a WhatsApp to Charlie and Topped up the Oyster cards, before going down the lift to the underground station. About 5 minutes to wait and just over an hour to kings cross station , where we went upstairs to Giraffe for a hit chocolate ( alison was feeling the 11 degrees of cold) and waited for Charlie.
He arrived after a few minutes and we headed for La Regina and a total change of cuisine … pasta! Charlie headed off to meet some friends and we followed with dessert and coffee before heading back to platform A at St. Pancras for the Thameslink, just in time for the 8:00 to Brighton via Gatwick. It was shown as the first train to arrive, but at 8:00 the 8:02 to somewhere else slid in unannounced. Not sure how many people got on the wrong train! We left at 8:02 and arrived at Gatwick about an hour later.
We picked picked up our key from the concierge, as we had checked in online, and told him that our luggage should arrive by 7:00 tomorrow. Straight to our room, checked in for Aurigny online and then off to bed . No bottled water in our room for the first time, so we had to use tap water.