All in all the trip went well.
Heathrow's got a problem, though. They make passengers who exit their plane at terminal 5 who want to board their connecting flight at terminal 5 (with no possibility to buy liquids or weapons) go through security AGAIN! Hundrets of passengers have to wait in line.
At first we didn't even realize what the line was for and passed it. Until the sign started saying 'international transit'. I admit we squeezed in and probably saved an hour by cutting the line. We still queued for an hour and weren't amused.
Halfway there I realized I had my flash drive in my carry-on. So? My USB stick is part of a miniature Swiss army knife, our office's merchandise item. Shoot! Should I put it in the baggie, along with my hand lotion and lip balm? Should I just leave it where it was? Should I put it in Colin's pencil case? Why didn't I think of that when I was packing? Why didn't the guys in Zurich notice it?
It went through fully inspected along with two additional lip balms, all red or pink, so the knife was basically camouflaged, haha!
So the flight was long and uneventful, it never got dark even though our inner clock said it's bedtime.
We arrived around 7pm local time = 4am at home. Immigration in Canada ascompared to the U.S. is totally relaxed and painless. The only form you fill out is for customs, and even though I had to check YES for 'we are bringing dairy products' (what dairy products, the officer asked. 'Cheese' - what kind? 'Raclette') and YES for 'gifts that exceed CAD 60' (what gifts, how much worth? A DVD player, about a hundret, he didn't even ask what currency) he wrote OK with his red marker, and the guys at customs let us through.
Rental car was a bit of a pain. The guy was very motivated. Not at all. Our voucher stated in full English what car, child seat and insurance we booked. It even said 'our customer does not need additional insurance' he wanted to sell some. Just give us the d*** car! Of course they are legally not allowed to help us installing the kids' seat. It's dark, it's late, we were hungry and tired = cranky, the booklet was in French. Not too happy. Hubby brought the wrong thingie to adjust the GPS to the windshield, satellite connection was not catching up, and the GPS thought we were still in the Chicago area where we last used it. Tension rising.
We missed the hotel entrance but ended up in the first Tim Horton's of our trip, so things were looking good again.
The hotel receptionist thanked me for being a loyal gold member - it was nice to hear! Parking was therefore free of charge, I like!
It's almost 6:30am, we slept a couple of hours and are ready for a shower and breakfast!
At first we didn't even realize what the line was for and passed it. Until the sign started saying 'international transit'. I admit we squeezed in and probably saved an hour by cutting the line. We still queued for an hour and weren't amused.
Halfway there I realized I had my flash drive in my carry-on. So? My USB stick is part of a miniature Swiss army knife, our office's merchandise item. Shoot! Should I put it in the baggie, along with my hand lotion and lip balm? Should I just leave it where it was? Should I put it in Colin's pencil case? Why didn't I think of that when I was packing? Why didn't the guys in Zurich notice it?
It went through fully inspected along with two additional lip balms, all red or pink, so the knife was basically camouflaged, haha!
So the flight was long and uneventful, it never got dark even though our inner clock said it's bedtime.
We arrived around 7pm local time = 4am at home. Immigration in Canada ascompared to the U.S. is totally relaxed and painless. The only form you fill out is for customs, and even though I had to check YES for 'we are bringing dairy products' (what dairy products, the officer asked. 'Cheese' - what kind? 'Raclette') and YES for 'gifts that exceed CAD 60' (what gifts, how much worth? A DVD player, about a hundret, he didn't even ask what currency) he wrote OK with his red marker, and the guys at customs let us through.
Rental car was a bit of a pain. The guy was very motivated. Not at all. Our voucher stated in full English what car, child seat and insurance we booked. It even said 'our customer does not need additional insurance' he wanted to sell some. Just give us the d*** car! Of course they are legally not allowed to help us installing the kids' seat. It's dark, it's late, we were hungry and tired = cranky, the booklet was in French. Not too happy. Hubby brought the wrong thingie to adjust the GPS to the windshield, satellite connection was not catching up, and the GPS thought we were still in the Chicago area where we last used it. Tension rising.
We missed the hotel entrance but ended up in the first Tim Horton's of our trip, so things were looking good again.
The hotel receptionist thanked me for being a loyal gold member - it was nice to hear! Parking was therefore free of charge, I like!
It's almost 6:30am, we slept a couple of hours and are ready for a shower and breakfast!
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