Well, we made it, and as I write I have now become an Italian.
My hotel last night was the Premier Inn at terminal five. I’m usually rather fond of Premier Inns but they seem to be struggling a bit at the moment (who isn’t?). I went down to the bar in the hotel to have a drink before bed. The slightly embarrassed looking Barman told me that draft beer was not available only bottled, and that there were no spirits available of any kind, apparently because of the virus.
No… Me neither.
Ever anxious to avoid a brush with death I gave up and went back to my room for a cup of tea.
Heathrow was surprisingly busy given our early start, but then I suppose it was a Saturday morning and the kids have just gone back to school, so all the adults are ready for their own holidays now. Our progress through the airport was pretty efficient and British Airways got us out on time and landing early. We had a surprisingly short flight time to Brindisi of only 2 1/2 hours. One of the advantages of there not being too many aircraft in the sky is that you tend to get more direct routings, inflight and there is less congestion taxiing out for departure. An announcement was made on board to the effect that “British Airways has been working with our service partners to provide safe catering for our passengers”. Since the catering turned out to be a bag of crisps and a biscuit I have to assume that the meeting about working together was rather short. 😁
Our bus journey to the hotel was also very straightforward and we arrived late afternoon where we were greeted by late afternoon sunshine.
The rest of the day was spent unpacking and then prepping up for dinner. The Tour is ‘All Inclusive’ so wine is included with dinner, and complimentary drinks in the early evening. Everyone turned up for a sundowner, so I thought a photo of the sun setting would be appropriate.
Tomorrow morning we have a morning excursion to Nardò and then back for lunch and a nap. The afternoons are hot.
TimOnTheTrain 