Monday, January 07, 2008

London Jan. 4: The journey to Gatwick

I got up at about 7a and got ready to depart. I had some breakfast and eventually got on my way at 8:05a a little behind my 8a intended departure time.

I walked to the tube station where I boarded a train headed for Kings Cross St. Pancreas station where I would take the Victoria line southbound. At Kings Cross the place was a zoo! I don't think I've seen that many people on the Underground ever! I even missed the first train as a result of the chaos. The next train was equally full. I walked towards the front of the train so that I could get on and even then it was difficult.

The train was full for the entire ride to Victoria.

London Victoria Station, London Victoria

Once there, I headed for the trains to Gatwick. There was a Gatwick Express train at 9:00a and a Southern train at 9:02a. It was currently 8:46a.

I chose to take the Southern train at 9:02a and bought the 10.95 GBP ticket using the Quick Ticket kiosk and my credit card. I did not know how long it would take, but I figured at most it would be 45 minutes so I was still O.K. for time.

I got on the train which was making four stops before Gatwick and made myself comfortable. There was only one other guy in the car when I came in and by now there were about 8 or 9 others. We pulled out promptly at 9:02a. at the first stop, the train filled up a bit. I continued to do some updates on the computer until we were close to the station at Gatwick.

London-Gatwick International, London England (LGW)

I arrived in Gatwick at 9:39a only nine minutes behind the Gatwick Express and I paid less, so that was a steal I think.

I headed for the North Terminal using the transit which arrived within a minute f my arriving at the stop.

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Check-in for CO5 was a breeze using the kiosk. I was originally assigned a window seat, but I changed it to an aisle that had the middle open using the kiosk.

The airport was very empty, which is usually not the case when I take the 9:30a flight. i got through security in no time and without any issues. I didn't even have to take my shoes off either.

I headed straight for the airport Lounge as I had quite a bit I wanted to do and needed as much time as possible.

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