It feels like it’s been a long time coming, but we’re finally off to Jordan for 10 days with great mates, Ralph & Karen. Today is ‘Day Zero’ – our travel day. Our whole itinerary was recently thrown slightly by British Airways who cancelled our original flight, requiring us to travel a day earlier! OK, it wasn’t that big a problem, and in an effort to keep us sweet, there was some good news awaiting us when we arrived at Heathrow to compensate us (more about that later!) 🤔
Our 10-Day Itinerary
Click for more about Jordan
With Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south and Israel to the west, Jordan covers approximately 34,495 sq. miles and is home to c11.4m Arabs who are predominantly Sunni Muslims. The capital city is Amman which also happens to be their largest city. The country gained independence from us in 1946. It is a constitutional monarchy, but where the King (Abdullah II) holds executive and legislative powers.
Jordan’s Summer lasts from May until September and is hot and dry, sometimes exceeding 40 degrees! Their Winter is from November until March, with temperatures typically as cool as 11 degrees. Tourism is considered a cornerstone of the country’s economy.
Our travel day began just before 11am when Janet picked us up, and we headed for Kettering Station. We were soon aboard the 11.17 heading for St Pancras International.
The Elizabeth Line
After grabbing the Circle Line to nearby Farringdon, it was then smooth sailing all the way to Heathrow Airport via the Elizabeth Line. Actually, it was our first trip on the ‘Lizzy Line’… spacious carriages, scrupulously clean, air-conditioned and very smooth/quiet. The only downsides? – the seats were like sitting on a box and there were no loos! 🥴. On the plus side, it only took just over an hour to get to Heathrow. 👍
Heathrow Terminal 5
After checking our bags in, we headed for Security. For the first time EVER, no issues at all, with my ‘technology bag’ meaning we were through in a flash and heading for the BA Lounge to meet up with Ralph & Karen. And the BEST NEWS OF ALL? For reasons that we can’t quite fathom, all four of us had been upgraded to BUSINESS CLASS for our journey out! 👍. A great start to our holiday!!!! 😁. Of course that meant access to BA’s Business Lounge where we had to endure wall-to-wall food and drink including bottomless glasses of Champagne! Yes, I know, ‘poor loves!’ 😁.
All aboard then for the 6.15pm flight – next stop Amman! The flight time of 4 hours, 25 minutes dragged a little, but the service from BA ticked all the boxes (even if the food was a bit of a disappointment!) and we eventually touched down in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The ‘+2 hour’ time difference made it feel much later though! 🥴. Just to test us further, even though our FIRST bags were soon on the belt, our SECOND ones waited until almost the end to make an appearance! At just before 2am in the morning, how we laughed!!! 🥴. Helpfully, TrailFinders had laid on a local representative to help us through the process of completing the Visa that we needed for our stay here. With his help, a few rubber stamps later, we had officially arrived! 👍
The Intercontinental Hotel, Amman
Our bed for the next few nights is the Intercontinental Hotel and once we grabbed a taxi from the airport and were soon on our way. The roads were amazingly busy for the time of day night, but 40 minutes later, we had arrived and were heading for Reception. Yummy! This looks nice! 👍
Once inside, after a brief spell of playing ‘spot the staff’ we were checked-in. It was too late to make any formal plans for breakfast, and we were all very tired. I recall us agreeing to call each other for breakfast, but the rest was a sleepy blur! 😵💫
2.33am: Even though we’d had a relaxed start to the day, we were now all looking forward to our beds!
The Hotel seemed to have put us on opposite sides of the building, so we said our goodnights and headed for a good (but short) night’s sleep. Tomorrow will be less eventful. It’s a ‘spare day’ – as I mentioned earlier – brought about by BA bringing forward our flight! Well, the weather certainly looks like it’s an improvement on Kettering! 👍😊
I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!
I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!
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