The traffic on the M1 and M25 was very busy but we made it down to Gatwick by 1.30pm, a bit too early to check into the Premier Inn. We decided to check out where the parking for our car was, an industrial estate not far from the airport.We found it with not too much bother and headed back to the short stay parking, which was very nearly full! We eventually found a space on the top floor and took all our luggage to the hotel to check in. As you can imagine both the airport and the hotel were extremely busy.
We collected our keys and discovered that Keith and I were in room 606 whilst the children were way up on the ninth floor! Not an ideal situation! We dumped our bags and headed down to Costa where Soph and Mike had toasted sandwiches and I had a much needed cup of tea! We also booked a table for the evening.
Mike went back to the room while Soph, Keith and I walked over to the North terminal to find out where the Virgin Twilight check in was and thankfully it was easy to find. No shuttle to the South terminal this time!
It was time for Keith and I to go and park the car so we left the children and went to pay for the short stay parking - £12 for just over an hour. Unfortunately, the payment machine was playing up and ate our ticket but we somehow managed to retrieve it, pay the amount and flee! The whole place was chaos!
We drove back to the industrial estate, found our parking spot easily and went to wait for the taxi I'd booked yesterday. It was due to arrive at 4pm so we had a little wait and watched endless cars come and go, the majority of which were being parked while their owners were on holiday. The weather was still gorgeous with beautiful skies and we saw planes taking off regularly. Tomorrow it will be us!
The taxi collected us and we had a very easy ride back to the Premier Inn where we re-united with the children and discussed plans for the evening. We then went over to the airport and checked in our luggage and this was very easy and hassle-free, thank goodness! We discovered we were in seats 35 A, B and C and 34 C.It was great to get rid of all our bulky suitcases and once back at the hotel we watched Pointless for a while before Keith and Mike went down to the bar for a drink. Sophie and I showered and joined them at 6pm.
The bar and restaurant were heaving but luckily the men had found a table by the window so we could watch the comings and goings as people arrived for their flights. Sophie and I shared a bottle of Italian Pinot Grigio while Keith and Mike had beers.
We had a lovely meal - we started with garlic flatbreads (with cheese and without) followed by chicken escalope for me, haddock and chips for Keith and burgers for Sophie and Mike. I even had a Gin and tonic!
It was now almost 9pm so we decided to call it a day and head back to our rooms to get an early night. Tomorrow will be a very long day!
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