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Thursday, 7 December 2023

Heathrow, Stansted in the UK and Back to Malaga in Spain.

Transiting through the UK back to Spain.

The plane arrived bang on time into Heathrow after a long but good flight from Singapore, up until this point it had been pleasant and stress free travelling.
The Border force people were on the ball and nice and when we reached the luggage collection area it was very quiet so we stupidly thought it would be a quick but just over 2.5 hours later the bags started to come through, ridiculous.
A view from the bus on the M25
Once I got my bag I headed for the bus station but I knew my bus time had changed and tried to get some information from the ticket desk but the girl there was not in the slightest bit helpful and said she didn't have the time to check as she had tickets to sell.
I went out to the bus arrivals area and asked one of the guys out there for some info and he was much more helpful as was the driver who turned up on the first of the Ipswich buses, he said to just get on his bus as the bus I was scheduled to travel on did not run any more.
As we travelled (Slowly) around the M25 I saw a couple of Red Kites (Milano Real / Milvus milvus) as well as Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Mute Swan (Cisne Vulgar / Cygnus olor), Jackdaw (Grajilla / Corvus monedula), Black-headed (Gaviota Riedora / Larus ridibundus), European Herring (Gaviota Argéntea Europea / Larus argentatus) and Lesser Black-backed Gull (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus), Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocroax carbo), Common Magpie (Urraca / Pica pica), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Carrion Crow (Corneja Negra / Corvus corone) and Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto).
We arrived at Stansted and as I was early I tried to find somewhere to sit and wait for the baggage check to open but there were so few seats I ended up standing for a couple of hours and once I had checked my bag I headed for Security which was by far the worst experience of the trip by far.
The security people were testing new equipment, fair enough I would expect delays but the way two guys were instructing people was just downright rude, aggressive and at times they were just insulting when some of the passengers didn't understand, it will be the last time I use Stansted by choice.
The single bright point at Stansted.
I still had 4 hours to wait until I was boarding so I again tried to find some where to sit, not as easy as you would hope but eventually I did but unlike Singapore and Adelaide airports where almost all the seating had access to a charging point / plug the nearest point was 30meters away and wasn't working anyway!!! on the way out in September 5 of 6 power points in Heathrow were also not working.
Anyway the Ryanair flight left and arrived at Malaga pretty much on time and I was out side waiting for friends Barbara and Derek within 25 minutes of landing, they very kindly picked me up. 
I stayed with them for the night and enjoyed a good sleep after the long journey home to Spain.

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