That’s Gaelic (pronounced “Gallic” in Scotland).

When we finally landed at London’s Heathrow Airport, our mission was to find the restroom and then find our gate, a herculean task, apparently. Because we were six hours early, it wasn’t posted on the flight screens yet. When it was finally posted, we had to hop on an airport bus to be transported to Terminal 5, seemingly halfway around the facility.

We had to go through security, and when we got to the head of the line, Trisha was directed by a TSA agent to go to a different line than the one I was in. We got separated. I waited and waited for her after I made it through, and finally started texting her. We found each other again downstairs on another level, as I had decided to head to our gate area, the A gates. Thank God for T-Mobile and Verizon.

All that had already eaten up about two hours, so there was no way we were going to leave the airport and risk missing our flight, even though it would have been fun to see some of London. After asking if there was an earlier flight to Edinburgh–which there was, but it was full–we found a restaurant serving fish and chips, had lunch, browsed some stores, bought coffee, and found out that we were already at our gate. We sat, enjoyed our coffee and waited for the boarding call. That six-hour layover worked out just fine.

When we boarded our British Airways plane, there was no jetway–we had to climb stairs from the tarmac to the plane’s door. That was fun with my carryon suitcase! At least Trisha was sitting next to me this time and could help me get it into the overhead bin.

There was no entertainment on board, but it was a short flight, so I rested my eyes for a while and then read a book on my phone’s Kindle app. The flight attendants gave us a bottle of water and a small package of shortbread cookies for refreshment.

Finally, Scotland! We disembarked, me fearfully carrying my bag downstairs from the plane, and then climbing three flights of stairs to baggage claim! Trisha had checked her large suitcase. Then it was outside to hail a taxi.

We had made it! We were there!

Stay tuned for the crazy taxi driver and koala bears at the zoo. The fun had just begun!

XOXO