An Odyssey To Faraway Lands: July 6, 2012

We emerged from the aircraft and walked into Heathrow Airport around 9:00 am. It was clear almost immediately that London was bustling to prepare itself for the Olympics to be held this month and the next.

Due to the mechanical delay in Dallas, American Airline employees motioned for us to join other travelers already congregating just outside the exit ramp.

Patiently, we waited approximately 30 minutes. Finally, a thin woman with a short ebony hair bob approached us. Her name tag read Shelda. She spoke with a chipper, crisp British accent – “we’re sorry your plane was delayed and you missed your transfer flight. We recommend that you stay the night here in London, at our expense, and catch the next flight to Mumbai in the morning.” Shelda looked down at the sheet of paper in her hand. “Let’s see. We’ve been able to confirm the flight for Jackie and Jessica, but unfortunately, we have not been able to confirm the flight for Vinay and Amanda.” Sheepishly, she moved her eyes from the paper to meet ours, “please go see an agent you can look at the status of your rebooking in real time.” The four of us looked at each other and I think we were all excited about the prospecting of delaying another 9 hour flight 24 hours. It would be amazing to have a good night’s rest in London at someone else’s expense.

So we dragged ourselves through the airport to the American Airlines counter. A woman in her mid-forties greeted us nicely. Short, choppy blond hair framed her oval face and clear blue eyes peered down at us through a pair of glasses perched at the tip of her nose. Vinay began to explain the situation to her as we handed her our boarding passes and passports.

The friendly AA employee began to elicit furious tapping noises from the keyboard in front of her.

“Ahh. Yes,” she spoke with a distinctive British accent. “I see that Jackie and Jessica’s have been rebooked for tomorrow’s flight to Delhi at 10:40am, but we don’t yet have confirmation on Vinay and Amanda’s flight.”

A little anxiety found its way, welling up within me.

“We have to fly together,” my husband asserted.

I nudged him on the shoulder. “She just said Delhi. But our flight was supposed to land in Mumbai.”

Vinay looked at me with concern. “I know, I just heard her. I do not want to land in Delhi. That airport is just chaos.”

“Why don’t you wait over there and I will make some calls and try to figure out the best solution,” she gently articulated.

Vinay interrupted her, “did you just say Delhi? We were supposed to land in Mumbai. And then fly to Nagpur.” His voice was very firm.

The AA woman nodded, “yes, but there are no flights to Mumbai in the next few days. They’re all booked. The only possibility is Delhi. But I still don’t even have a confirmed flight for the two of you at all. Please wait over there.” She motioned to the white wall on her right.

We trudged over to the wall and collapsed on the floor as there was an absence of chairs. I listened to one of my audio books while the others found various ways to fill their time. Finally, an hour or two later, the friendly AA employee walked over to us. “Okay!” she smiled brightly at us. I smiled back weakly, even thought I didn’t have the energy or desire to.

She handed Vinay four boarding passes and four bus vouchers. “You have been successfully rebooked for our flight to New Delhi in the morning. Furthermore, Jackie and Jessica’s seats have been upgraded to premium seats and we are working on the other two. Please use these bus vouchers to travel to the Renaissance Hotel at our expense. They have been notified of your arrival and we will pay for your room and meals.”

The four of us looked at each other in excitement. How wonderful a nice bed sounded right about now! We thanked her and meandered our way through the airport to the bus stop. These are pictures from the bus ride there:

The one night we stayed in London was a blast. The hotel was lovely and restful:

We felt strange about being in London and just staying inside the hotel. We had to get out and do something – we were in London (the first time for all of us!) for Pete’s sake.

The four of us asked around and we decided to pay a visit to a local pub. Along the way there, some pictures were taken.

(note – I have no idea what my husband was doing – dancing perhaps?)

We arrived at The Three Magpies about 7 minutes later. Before entering, we took some pictures in front of the establishment.

The next few hours were spent drinking and having some London laughs!

The bar was having a “ladies night,” which was a great time. They had all the ladies line up and shoot pool, and whenever a ball was hit in the pocket (any ball, any pocket), we were awarded with a shot of sour apple vodka. It tasted like a green apple jolly rancher. All three of us pocketed the ball at least once.