Day 19 - End of Tour

We breakfast early, around 7am and decide to do another Isle of Skye pack for our one night in London at the Bayswater. In other words, take clothing and sleepwear for one night in our backpack, so as not to have to open suitcases. We are ready for the 8.15am transfer to the airport with our driver Paul and the jolly old Trafalgar coach. Bit sad saying goodbye to the others but.... cést la vie.
We check in early for our 11.05am flight to Gatwick Airport, London, and then wait around before boarding. We discover on boarding that we have Business Class seats and are pleasantly surprised and a bit mystified - 4D and 4F. One young Asian woman sits nearby across the aisle and is asked by the air steward to show her ticket as that seat is not hers, so he says. There are only 20 Business Class seats with a spare seat between with an extra tray on it. She is told with some authority that this is Business Class and at first she says she can't find her boarding pass or her passport. All sounds a bit suspicious. Later, as we think about it, it appears she is a scammer just trying her luck. No doubt staff know which seats are vacant for the trip and she was in one of them. Tony and I watched on - feeling we too were usurpers, as we didn't expect to be at the front of the plane, but our tickets stated otherwise. We had a Club Europe stamp on our boarding passes and as Tony said, the check-in lady must have been impressed with us so gave us the upgrade! The flight attendant went overboard to find me gf food which I had not requested, but Tony mentioned this was the reason I was not eating the pasta. It was a heavenly flight being attended to in Business Class. We were not offered champagne for the short flight, but wine and a meal. I ate this delicious chicken with a little salad.
At the Baggage claim, our Asian friend was making herself known again. We boarded a bus from the tarmac to the terminal and she was seen and heard arguing loudly on the phone in English, repeating, "Well, you've got me into a lot of trouble. Now what will I do?" She was fishing for someone nearby to 'come to her aid' but we, the many onlookers, were too wise for this kind of shenanigan.
We stay another night at our London Bolthole, the Bayswater Inn, and enjoy the surrounding neighbourhood of shops, traffic, tourists and locals chatting in the streets or commuting to their offices.
After breakfast the next day, we set out with our suitcases for Paddington Station. I'm handling my suitcase more adeptly now, keeping it on four wheels most of the way and therefore avoiding pulling the weight of it. So much easier.
A bit of a hassle boarding the express to the airport as the doors start closing when Tony is half in and he was not going to let go of his luggage and stands there trying to force the doors open again! I thought this strategy was not going to work and was swearing a little and perspiring. I had images of him being squashed to pulp or at least being cut in two. This was supposed to be an expensive but easy trip to the airport! 22pound each way for one. Luckily another passenger pushed the door button and saved us both. We hadn't learned that trick. You have to be fit (or using a wheelchair) to get yourself around an airport. A long way from the Heathrow Express to Terminal

2 including two lifts and several horizontal escalators. Definitely it takes a good 12 to 15 minutes and when you are moving briskly, as most passengers do, it's a good workout for the morning.
Then into Customs and out with all the items to put in the tray - watch, iPad, camera, coat, handbag with purses etc. This time I do not need to be frisked all over as before. Tony forgets his passport in his shirt pocket and we think that's what sets off the alarm, the little blue chip in it. He has to take off his belt this time too.
We wait for a while and buy a cappuccino and hot chocolate (for him) in an airport cafe before heading downstairs to find our boarding gate for Agean Airlines.
The first flight to Athens is about three hours duration and we aren't sure if we have to purchase drink and food onboard but have our euros ready. Happily the drinks come first, then a hot meal later - delicious chicken and rice - with more wine and beer served, so that filled in the time.
We were concerned that our next flight to Heraklion was in thirty minutes time and how were we going to make it. But our bags were booked ahead so surely they knew to wait for us. Athens is a huge airport and we, along with several others from our flight, had to sprint for miles, it seemed, searching as we went, for the correct and fastest route to our new boarding gate. We had to file through another Customs. One young woman tried to bypass this, but she was ordered back into the line. Phew! We did make it, only to discover that our plane was running at a later time.