A new adventure begins.
The 07:07 GWR service to Weymouth departed on time. Only 2 coaches, but at least it was on platform 1 so I didn't need to cross the track by the bridge (no lift available). No catering on the train. Never more than about half full so reasonable social spacing. At Gloucester, where the train changes direction, they attached 2 more coaches. Then onwards to Bristol Temple Meads. Arrived roughly on time.
A short walk to the lift and afterwards to the main exit.
The Airport bus stop used to be just to the left of the exit, but they've moved it about 150 yards away, towards the main road, with no shelter or seats. Fortunately it was not raining.
The airport bus is a limited stop service. A double decker so I had to load my own bag, and nurse it all the way.
25 minutes later we drove past the departures hall, quite some distance and down a hill to the bus stop. Very poor organisation on the part of the airport.
EasyJet has its own departures bag-drop area so I was soon parted from my bag. Only 22kg (I had paid for 23!). As the airport is reasonably compact I opted to walk rather than taking the wheel chair option.
Security scanned my cabin bag, and redirected it for manual checking. After a long wait in a queue the girl who was checking said there was no need to unpack - the machine had diverted it to the wrong queue by mistake.
Bonus - I was not asked to remove my sandals. They just took a swab off them.
Then the mandatory walk round duty free. They make it difficult to avoid in the hope that one will be tempted. I wasn't because I didn't want to carry any extra weight.
I had hoped to visit an ATM to top up my GBP wallet but all ATMs were closed "because of the insolvency of International Currency Exchange". I assume that they were a casualty of Covid-19.
I had a bacon roll (very good) and a couple of bottles of red to give me an excuse not to be masked for the entire flight. Observation of the "wear masks correctly" rule was a bit hit and miss, but at least everybody on the plane had been vaccinated or tested.
Arrival at Hurghada was about 5 minutes early (an earlier announcement by the crew based on a 2 hour time difference was later corrected after I pointed out that Egypt no longer has daylight saving time).
Hurghada airport does have air-bridges, and a wheelchair was waiting for me so I was able to jump the queues at the bank (for a visa) and passport control. My bag was just coming into sight on the carrousel so my assistant kindly grabbed it for me and loaded it onto a trolley.
My driver for the pre-booked hotel transfer was waiting outside the airport exit and took the trolley to his nearby mini-bus. This was overkill for one passenger and one bag. And I don't find these vans very comfortable. But at least he knew where to find my hotel, and I was there by about 19:30.
The ZYA Regina hotel, where I had reserved 2 nights all inclusive, is very near the Marina. The receptionist kindly upgraded me to a beachside luxury room. What he did not tell me was that it was nearly a quarter of a mile from reception. No golf-buggies or wheelchairs here but at least I had a porter for the baggage.
Soup and salad quickly arrived, followed by red wine (not very good) and orange juice. Bread was a bit later, but there were 4 varieties on the plate.
I opted for meat with baked potatoes (having established that chips were not on offer). This was not as hot as I would have liked. But then a bread stuffed with mince arrived - piping hot. The staff informed me that this was a local delicacy and, indeed, it was good.
A plate of 4 assorted cakes was good, as was an espresso.
I tried the patio bar for a while, before retiring fairly early. Fortunately the bed was comfortable and I slept relatively well.