Day 8: Saturday, November 10, 2001

We were very concerned that we make it to the Gatwick Airport with plenty of time to check our luggage in, etc. We checked out the night before. We handed in our room key Saturday morning as we were leaving the inn. We walked to Victoria Station and bought our tickets for the Gatwick Express. When the train arrived, we boarded it. Soon we were at Gatwick Airport. We went through security and ended up in a central waiting area. There were stores and restaurants all around this area. We thought that there might be small restaurants between this central area and our gate, so we left the area and started for the gate. When we saw the first gate, we realized that we made a mistake. People were standing in line and sitting on their carry-ons, so we realized that we should have stayed in the central waiting area. We tried to go back through the door we came through, but a woman directed us down a hall. It ended up that we had to go through a security check. This time I was prepared. I took out my wallet, my keys, my change, and I took off my belt. I was able to go through without setting anything off. Then we ate breakfast at one of the restaurants and waited for our flight. After reading for about an hour, I realized that I had left my hat somewhere. I found it near the table where we had eaten breakfast. It was a miracle. Gatwick Airport does not announce which gate your plane will leave from until it is actually situated at the gate. As soon as our gate was announced, we made our way to it. It turned out that there was a large sitting area. We sat down to wait for them to call our row.

Flight to Philadelphia. The plane was about half as full as the flight from Philadelphia. This was great, because we were able to move to seats in our row which would not be bothered by anyone in the row ahead of us. The same movies were available as on the flight out of Philadelphia, and since I had seen them all I just read a book.

Trip home on Septa. We took a SEPTA train out of the airport to 30th street station. From there we took another train to the Oreland station and walked home. I gathered up all the film and took it in. It was ready the next day.

Overall, it was a very good trip.