Xl.com you stink!

The Warri Pier - Dickenson Bay, Antigua
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Our journey almost never starts.  I turn on the tv the week before we are due to leave to find the airline we have booked (XL.com) with has gone bust.  I booked direct, but luckily for me I paid via credit card, so I should be able to get my money back.  I'm in shock for a few hours, and I ring up to cancel the hotel booking.  Steve and I agree Antigua wasn't meant to be and we will try to go away later in the year. But then I think about the missed opportunity for the kids, and how desperately Steve needs a break from the business.

I browse the websites, and find a flight on BA for around 400 quid more.  We decide to go. It's a relief, I think we all need a break from the day to day life off england.

The airplane journey was interesting to say the least. They got us on the plane then informed us of a technical fault, and held us for 1.5 hours without moving an inch. You can imagine that's pretty hard to hold a 20-month old tired child for that time, especially when you have him in a seatbelt!  It wasn't much fun, and I think the passengers were fairly fed up with Lloyd byt the time we took off - as were we tbh.  But it wasnt really his fault - it's a big ask.

Lloyd is a bit of a mad character, even at 20 months.  Needless to say entertaining him was very hard work.  We got him off to sleep eventually, but at home he usually won't sleep on us, so that was a struggle.  Luckily he slept when everyone else did on the plane, and the tantrums in between weren't too frequent.  Matthew, as usual, was as good as gold, apart from kicking the seat in front a few too many times for the man to bear!  I think Matthew pretty much had to amuse himself though as Lloyd was a full time job for both his parents!

We arrive in Antigua to hot sunshine and a long queue into immigration. The kids enjoyed jumping all over the chairs and jumping across the "red" line.  Matthew was pretty tired by this stage and I had to give him a full reprimand just as we were trying to persuade customs to let us in their country - which was interesting!  We were the last to leave the baggage area, it was a long day.

We had a driver booked for the trip to the hotel.  Steve inadvertently gave him 20 dollars tip - which I am sure is quite a lot of money, too much money for a tip!  He was a good chap though, friendly enough. He informed us of the different housing types in Antigua as we were driving through - "these are for middle-class folks", and "these are for the lower-class folks" types of statements.  It struck me how english it was to talk in terms of classes.

Our first impressions of Antigua were of a bit of a building site - lots of works everywhere, but clearly naturally beautiful.  And a place of contrasts - in terms of housing and wealth. This first impression of contrasts was something that would show through again later in the week.