Ciao,
March 6 – Connecting Flights in London / Arriving in Rome
To have been to London Heathrow Airport is to understand this part of our journey to Rome.
We disembarked our plane at London Heathrow Airport in Terminal 3 and had to make our way to Terminal 5. We followed the signs, turning several corners, heading down long corridors, and turning more corners. The fast-pasted walk had lasted more than ten minutes when we reached an escalator, going down. In my naivety, I assumed we were now in Terminal 5. Instead, the escalator took us to a bus station. I realized that a ten-minute bus ride would finally take us to Terminal 5. When we left the bus, I thought we would soon find our gate and get ready to board the plane. I didn’t realize that the journey was beginning. We had to follow more signs directing us to Terminal 5.
Riding the Bus to Change Terminals at Heathrow Airport
We past the British Airways customer service desk and finally arrived at the point where we had to go through security. We had to scan our passports and boarding passes to access the next part of our journey. However, my boarding pass was not accepted on the scanner. I was told to return to the customer service counter for further assistance. Thankfully that was just a few steps away, although we had to wait another ten minutes. The agent examined my boarding pass and was unsure why it didn’t work, but she issued us new ones and said there shouldn’t be any problems. I asked her about our departure gate. She said that we would be able to find that out when we went through the checkpoint.
We went back to the checkpoint and were able to scan the passports and the new boarding passes, and they worked without any issue. A large group of people was huddled near an escalator going up. At the top of the escalator, I thought we would find the screen telling us our gate number. Little did I know that at the top of the escalator was where the line began to go through the actual security checkpoint. If you travel not that much, please remember to fill one plastic bag with liquids you think you will need on the plane. To our surprise, the airport had plastic bags available for people who didn’t bring one. If you bring your plastic bag with you, it’s effortless to pull out and put it back in, and you will not have to worry about your lotions and perfumes being thrown away. We had to work our way to the security agents and X-ray machines. We had to take off our coats and remove our electronics and plastic bags of liquids out of the backpacks. After that, we each had to walk through the security while keeping an eye like a hawk on all our belongings going through the conveyor. After we went through security, we gathered up everything, found a seat to make sure we checked we had everything and then proceeded to find our gate. The time was now 9:45 am.
We found the screen that had gate information. Our flight was listed, but the gate was not. It indicated that the gate would be announced at 9:50 am. We waited five minutes, but still no gate information. It wasn’t until 10 am that the gate was announced with a departure at 10:40 am—more on that a little later.
Having a little time before we needed to board the plane, we stopped in Harrod’s, next to the security checkpoint and departure gate screens. My wife and I have seen the iconic London store on many television shows and had hoped that we would get an opportunity to go into the actual store one day. We didn’t expect to see at the London airport. We picked up a few things, including English tea and a journal. Now off to our gate.
Harrods Department Store at Heathrow Airport
Our flight was assigned to Gate A10. According to the sign, the gate was just to the right of Harrod’s. We walked down the terminal, following the sign for A10. The next sign directed us to the right and then down an escalator. As we reached the lower level, I realized Gate A10 was divided into five additional gates, so our actual gate was A10C. We sat down in the designated area for A10C. Checking out our surroundings, I looked around for where our plane was but didn’t see it. I didn’t think anything about it as we waited for our boarding time. At 10:30 am, the gate agent began to call people to start boarding the plane, but no plane was nearby. She announced that the first group of people would be able to board the bus to get on the plane. A little confused, I didn’t say anything. When our group was called, I realized that a bus would take us from the gate to the plane. We departed the bus and then walked up the steps into the airplane. You can say it was the old-fashioned way of getting on a plane.
We didn’t realize until writing this post that the flight’s departure time that been changed from 9:40 to 10:40 am, and actually, the plane did not leave until after 11:00 am. The additional time was needed to change terminals and go through the security checkpoints. We had to fill out a declaration form for the Italy government that we were coming into their country COVID-free and that we tested negative within the last 72 hours. The flight crew collected the declaration and said they would take care of it for us. Our final flight took just over two hours and went by fairly quickly. We arrived in Rome just after 1:00 pm, ahead of our scheduled arrival time.
Once we departed the plane, we trekked to the baggage claim area to retrieve our suitcases. With three connecting flights and departure time changes, I prayed that our bags would arrive safely. Our journey from the airport to the baggage area took a while, so we didn’t have to wait long when we arrived at the baggage area.
We retrieved our suitcases and made our way through the customs checkpoint. We met our tour group representative around 1:45 pm. Our bus would leave for the hotel at 3:30 pm, so we had time to grab a bit to eat and relax before our true journey would begin.
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