You Had a Bad Day...

…you’re taking one down.  Well, we did have a bad day.  A really bad day.

Thursday, Courtney and I were supposed to leave for Scotland to meet her family! We had never left on a Thursday before, but I at least, wasn't too concerned.

We had a bus booked from Baker Street at 5:30.  Our gate closed at 7:20.  It’s usually a 1 hour and 15 minute bus ride.  We thought this was plenty of time.  It is, at 3 am.  When no one is on the road.  Not so much during rush hour. 

We pulled into the airport at 7:18.  We ran to the check-in counter, we were waived on.  We ran to security, waived on again.  We waited what seemed like hours in the line for security.  It was more like 7 minutes.  

Our flight left at 7:50.  It was probably 7:35 and we were running around like crazy people trying to make it there.  We checked the board for the gate.  All it said was “gate closed.”  Cue, heart drop.  We missed our flight.  Traumatizing moment. 

We didn't even know where to go.  We asked around and found out that we had to use a phone to call customer service.  Did that.  After some confusion and many questions as to whether we had bought any duty free items, UHM NO. Girls in crisis here.  We were escorted back through security. 

We went directly to the EasyJet desk.  They told us that there was another flight to Edinburgh.  The next day.  At 3:30 p.m. Yeah, not going to work.  We walked towards through the airport in tears.  We found some computers.  We paid a pound for 10 minutes like 5 times trying to figure out how to get there.  After some tense calls to the parents, we booked another flight for 8:00 the next morning.  From Luton. An airport 1 hour and 45 minutes away.

After some help from a kind National Express lady, we decided to stay in the airport until midnight and then take the bus to Luton.  We ate, colored, did wordsearches, played cards.  No sleeping.  We made it to Luton around 2:30. 

For some reason, there were an inordinate amount of people sleeping in that airport.  There weren’t two chairs together anywhere.  People were sleeping on the floor.  We weren’t that desperate.  Yet.  Eventually, we found a chair and 3 ottomans at a Starbucks.  Courtney took the chair and I took the three ottomans.  

The ottomans and I didn’t get along.  I didn’t sleep at all.  About 3 hours into the adventure, Courtney decided to move further away from the doors that were letting freezing cold air in.  I took over the chair and finally slept for about 2 hours and woke up an ice cube.    

We eventually got up, had breakfast, and headed to our gate.  We were not about to miss the flight this time.  What we discovered made us want to be sick.  The plane didn’t actually board until the time stated as the departure time.  We stood in a queue for 30 minutes.  If they would have kept the gate posted at Stansted, we could have made it.  Yeah, bad day.

We touched down in Scotland around 9:30, took a taxi to the hotel, checked in, freshened up, and headed out for our big day!

Since we had such limited time, all we really got to see in Edinburgh was the castle.  It was gorgeous, but it was so so cold up on the hilltop.  After we finished at the castle, we walked around shopping and eventually Courtney and I went looking for the Disney Store.  It had closed.  Disappointment.  After a quick stop at the Hardrock Café, we went to the Elephant House.  

Edinburgh Castle!

Amazing views!

The Elephant House is where J.K. Rowling wrote some of the Harry Potter books!  There are photos of her writing there and in the bathrooms, there are fan messages dedicated to her all over the walls.  I wanted to write one from Courtney and me, but I forgot my pen! Oh well, another trip.  

Dedications!

My favorite!

The next morning, I left for the airport around 5 a.m. to catch my flight back to London.  The rest of the gang was taking a train later in the day.  But I had to go meet my parents!!