London

We were up early and after a light breakfast wandered down to our departure lounge and boarded the plane. We were flying in one of the Boeing 777s, which is a really nice plane. The entertainment centre is truly astonishing; hundreds of films, TV shows and games and, finally, a screen large enough to see them on. In addition, there is a power point in the armrest so that if you want to use a computer you can do so without resorting to using the batteries. The seats, although still cramped now don't just tilt back, the seat slides forward which makes them far more comfortable.

We were in the three seat middle section with one empty seat so had room in which to spread out. As usual, the flight was long and tedious, but we arrived in better shape than we had anticipated, suffering only minor jetlag. Heathrow Airport is as awful as ever. Or maybe it just seems that way after Changi. No, it is awful! It looked as if nobody had bothered to clean the terminal since it was built; most of the escalators didn't work and the moving walkways didn't move! This, of course, meant that you had to lug your baggage up stairs and down.

The arrivals area, where you clear immigration, was packed and queues extended well beyond the signs which said "From this Point it May Take 45 Minutes to Clear Immigration." It certainly looked as if it would take at least that long if not more than an hour. Since I am not British or from an EU country, I normally queue in the non-citizens line but this time I went with Virginia and was cleared in the Residents and EU citizens section. That only took about fifteen minutes. The rest of the process was quite fast. We got our bags and went through Customs on the green "Nothing to Declare" line.

Interestingly, Heathrow is apparently considered the worst international airport for queues and Changi the best. Heathrow is also seen as the airport in which you are most likely to have your luggage damaged but is reported as being friendly and the strongest on security. While we found it reasonably friendly, we thought that the security and friendliness at Changi were at least as high, if not higher. I suspect that the "security" issue is a rationale for the long queues, but if my ageing memory isn't failing me, they were just as long in the 1960s when I first visited England.

Probably the best thing about Heathrow, is how you leave it. You can catch the Heathrow Express which takes you to Paddington Station in just about fifteen minutes at a cost of 20 pounds, but it is worth every penny when you have just arrived. The trains are clean and efficient and, for us, the ideal way to get into the city since our hotel is only a five minute walk from the station.

After checking in, we went for a walk around the neighbourhood, and made an early night of it. Tomorrow our holiday really begins.