Phase One Complete!

Paging Passenger Burrito?

We're waiting in the Calgary Airport to board our flight to London Gatwick and spirits are still high! Barring one very sad incident where one chaperone hasn't been able to find her passport, everything has gone pretty smoothly. We bade our sad farewells to parents, siblings, significant others, and (saddest of all) dogs and kitties. It'll be at least a month for most us us before we're back on Canadian soil, which is exciting and terrifying all at once. We arrived in Calgary in time to grab a quick lunch in the food court (Swiss Chalet! Christmas in a cup!) and an all-important latte (though Kim and I had to chug ours because we stupidly got them *before* we went through security -- NO LIQUIDS!)

With all the close calls in London the last few days, people are debating a bit about whether or not we should venture into the City during our 14-hour layover. If the worst should happen, a number of train lines could be shut down and some people could get stranded in the city centre. Still, I think we'll be optimistic and head out during our long London wait -- in groups of four or more, with strict instructions to be back in plenty of time for our check-in. There are a number of travellers with us who've never left North America.

Overheard on the Edmonton to Calgary express:

1) Kim Denis and Bruce Cable -- new item?

2) Steve Wenger's alter ego is the Incredible Sulk -- smaller, bluer, and sadder than his better-known cousin, the Hulk.

3) "Where are the blue scarves? Hey, who has the blue scarves?" (I have them -- they were left in the bathroom back at St. Gabe's but we're gonna let the blue scarf manager stew for a while longer.)

After all our packing frenzy, Air Transat was amazing and just checked our baggage without worrying about the weight restrictions! I guess we swallowed all those extra kilograms of ziplocked tour programs for nothing!