London Bound - The Here and Back of It All!

So - I pretty enthusiastically announced a couple weeks ago that my family and I are bound for London Town for Christmas 2015! This is pretty much a dream come true for me and has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember...so to temper my enthusiasm* just a wee bit, I thought I'd "count down" the time until we are London bound with a few posts about the adventure ahead.

The first and most crucial step in all of this - booking a flight to the UK! I don't think the whole thing really seemed "real" until my Mom sent the email confirming we had tickets booked to head to London on Christmas Eve...on a British Airways Airbus-A380!

Do y'all know what kind of plane that is?? Do you? I didn't...but the whole "air bus" thing should have clued me in a little bit. You guys, I'm pretty sure we are flying on one of the biggest** passenger planes they make...take a look see...

Are you looking really closely at that picture? If so, you might notice something very important - that plane has more than one level! Yes, you read that correctly - we are flying to the land of the double decker bus on...a double decker plane! This plane has seats that can completely recline...so you can sleep! I'm pretty sure we aren't in those seats though, ha-ha! The Airbus-A380 is classified as a superjumbo jet...because obviously just one synonym for huge wasn't enough.

Apparently it's a very agile plane - it has performed with the Red Arrows...

10 Facts about the Airbus-A380

• The length is equivalent to that of two blue whales laid end to end...and it weighs 590 tons.
• It has enough space to carry approximately 3000 suitcases...and 500 passengers.
• It holds 81,900 gallons of fuel. Whoa.
• It requires more than 3600 liters (the metric system, ooh wee...) of paint to cover the plane.
• Only 20 runways in the world are capable of handling an A380 take-off/landing.
• A third of the plane's weight at takeoff is due to fuel...
• It has the largest wings ever created - 54% larger than a Boeing 747!
• The plane has a staff of 21 flight attendants.
• During takeoff, the wings actually "flap"; the tips flex upwards as much as 13 feet.
• Each seat has an individual video monitor that allows you to watch the progress of the flight from cameras mounted below the cabin and on the airplane's tail.

So - there are only 147 days until we arrive in jolly London town and we will be arriving via what I think I'd like to from here on out refer to affectionately as "the behemoth of the skies". Actually, I really want to call it "that really big a** plane"...but maybe some people would take offense? Either way, we are London bound to celebrate Christmas and ring in the New Year - and we are getting there on the monstrosity known as the British Airways Airbus-A380!*** Wooohooo!

I'm fairly certain this is a joke - but hey, I wish!

*I'm just kidding - there's no tempering my enthusiasm. We are GOING TO LONDON! 

**Let me correct myself. According to the British Airways webpage, the Airbus-A380 is the world's largest passenger aircraft. Whoa.

***So far, I think this is my Dad's favorite aspect of the trip. Not that we are going to London...but how we are getting there. He's just plane nuts. Pun 100% intended.


Has anyone ever flown on one of these bad boys before? I'm not a huge fan of flying but I have to say, I'm intrigued by it all.