[ 12:18 saturday 7 april – gatwick airport south terminal ]

being marooned at gatwick is as close as i ever wish to come to a concentration camp. airports are grim places. british airports are especially joyless. but there’s something uniquely brutal and dehumanising about gatwick.

staff seem to be trained in a chilling gritted-teeth cheerfulness. efforts to sell over-priced crap to trapped passenger are raised to new levels of intrusiveness. the architecture is cramped and offers no hint of redemption.

but despite this, and a two hour delay to my flight, i have a light heart for i am on holiday for the next two weeks. later today i shall arrive on the island of tobago where i’ll find somewhere to stay the night. then tomorrow i’ll fly to barbados and on to st vincent’s, from where i hope to get a ferry to the tiny isle of bequia to visit my friends meg and alan.

the prospect is indecently glorious. even gatwick cannot damp my spirits.

: c :