In transit - Phase 1

I went to bed last night at 10pm and set the alarm for 4:30am. I woke at 3:30am and that was it, I was awake. So I got up and had time for a cup of coffee and breakfast before the final packing, washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen.

I even had time to take pictures of the sunrise. Something I see very rarely,

not being a morning person.

Nikki arrived right on time and we barrelled down a nearly empty highway to Larnaca. It was too cool to have the top down but still Nikki was great company and a nippy little car. It was a much nicer send off than going by taxi and very kind of her.

At the airport by 7am and into the first line. To pay for the ticket. I was in this one for about an hour.

A totally empty airport, we were the only flight going out.. At 8am they opened this area and we lined up for another hour to get our boarding passes and check our baggage. Always about 6 ft between us and most of us were wearing masks.

Security took no time and then we were at the gate to wait for about an hour and a half. Nothing was open; no restaurants, no bars, no kiosks, no duty free, no play areas, everything tarped or taped off.

This was the only thing offered. Glad I had breakfast.

Close to boarding time and no sign of the plane. Then we all received a text and there was a gate change. Seriously? A whole empty airport to choose from and you sent us from one side of the building to the other.?

It was made even more redundant when it turned out the plane wasn't coming to the gate anyway. We had all stayed an appropriate distance apart in lines and in the waiting area and then we were packed on to a bus and driven to, what I believe was the old Larnaca airport (next door to the new one).

It was like an aircraft parking lot out there but ours was the plane surrounded by vehicles.

Still way closer together than any of us were really comfortable with (it is amazing how you get used to physical distancing and become uncomfortable in a proximity to others that previously felt fine) we went up the stairs and found our seats. As we passed the flight attendants we were handed plastic gloves and masks (if we didn't already have one) and told we had to wear them for the duration of the flight. We could also help ourselves to a bottle of water as there would be no inflight service.  The seats were in groups of 3 so 2 of us sat in that row with an empty seat between us.

Taxiing back to the new airport to take off, we passed a flock of flamingos

and the terminal totally devoid of aircraft.

It was the quietest flight I have ever been on. The empty seats between did not encourage conversation, the masks did not encourage conversation, all of us had been up very early and there was the pervading sense that all was "not normal".This was a "repatriation" or "rescue" flight. We were not heading off on holiday or returning home from holiday, we were going home to quarantine and adjust to the new normal there.

We flew over Nicosia. At the top left of the photo is the Turkish flag created on the hill facing the city. A constant reminder that Turkey now has possession of part of the city and the north of the Island.

Surprise, surprise - London was 8 degrees with low cloud and light rain.

At Heathrow the physical distancing was marked out around the baggage carousels.

The baggage hall at Heathrow is usually pandemonium. It is the 7th busiest airport in the world. Today, we were the only plane in.

What I found amazing was, that, in neither Larnaca, nor Heathrow, was I asked if I had any symptoms nor if I was transiting through to Canada, nor if I had a quarantine plan if I was staying in England. Watching the BBC and reading about all the restrictions I expected some accountability . At Heathrow I never even spoke to a person, going through border control by scanning my passport.

I took a taxi to the hotel, just off the airport property. There are signs all over the place about physical distancing and "stay home", only one person in the elevator at a time.

The restaurant is closed so between 5 and 8 you can go down to the entrance to the kitchen and choose one of two salads, and one of five main courses and take them up to your room. That is a green salad, vegetable curry and basmati rice and a glass of Pinot Noir - 18 pounds.