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Long day of travelling to get to our holiday destination, but the kids remained remarkably well-behaved (in the most part). Unsurprisingly Ernie was full of wonder and excitement about the high-tech world of the airport. He ducked under the barrier as I scanned his boarding pass, causing the alarm to go off and the gates to lock (not much good when he was already on the other side - this was the family entrance and it must happen ALL THE TIME. Make gates that go to the floor you monsters). He naturally also wanted to go on the conveyor belt that took the luggage to the plane, arguing, reasonably that that would be a much easier way to get one and then asked if he could ride round the baggage retrieval system at the destination. It’s all right, he told us, he’d come back. He’d clearly been listening when Catie took them through what was going to happen on the day. Phoebe’s only concern about baggage retrieval was that if we didn’t spot our bags then you wouldn’t be able to get them, but her mum explained that the conveyor belt was on a loop. Ernie hadn’t missed a thing.
I was a little bit nervous about the flight (the kids seemed pretty fine) mainly because I contemplated what it must be like to know you’re losing your entire family as the plane explodes in an inferno. Or attempted to contemplate it anyway - it’s basically impossible to imagine and I hope I never find out. At least when I was single I was only worried about my own death and then only very lightly. Caring about other people is a real bind.
Luckily our plane remained unexploded and the more dangerous drives to the airport and then to the hotel went fine as well.
It was weird how unfamiliar plane travel felt and also how things have moved on. In the old days on a four hour flight there would probably be some kind of entertainment system - even if it was just a screen that you all had to watch- but that’s all redundant now that everyone has a device which they can download anything they want to on to, and not have it edited for an aeroplane audience. Also, I sort of expected a meal or a sandwich (it was a BA flight and that used to mean an element of class) and we hadn’t brought much of anything with us, but all we got (for free) was a glass of water and a small pack of pretzels. To be honest I’d much prefer to bring my own food - there’s so much choice at an airport now, why would you eat the horrible airline food? Only because you are mean and think you’ve paid for it already. Guilty as charged.
It meant we’d only really had breakfast and a snack when we arrived at the hotel at 9.10pm local time (7.10pm UK time though) and had to get checked and into our rooms. We hadn’t seen much of the hotel but it had White Lotus vibes (hopefully without the murders, but don’t mind if there are some escorts running round - might even give them permission to use my room for charges) and there was a woman playing the harp in the restaurant. It was all a bit too posh for the kids and it took ages to get our food (which was extremely nice) and Ernie fell asleep in his chair.
It had been an intense day, but was proud that the kids were well behaved (apart from Ernie) and didn’t get freaked out by the weirdness of international travel (like their dad). No idea what Cyprus or our hotel look like as it was dark by the time we got here, but looking forward to finding out in the morning. And to taking it easy, eating too much and putting the kids into kids club!
