For some reason known only to European air traffic controllers, flights to Bulgaria from the UK were scheduled to leave in the early evening and return during the small hours of the night. For the first visit to Duni, the flight was expected to leave Stansted at around 18:00 UK time. To avoid battling round the M25 during a weekday afternoon, the decision was made to travel in good time and to spend a few hours in one of the airport restaurants having a relaxed meal to start the holiday in style.
A leisurely drive around the motorway network north of London and transfer from the on-site parking location led to an arrival at the airport building at around 14:30. On entering the check-in area, it became apparent that the flight had been delayed for 8 hours. The new departure time was set for 02:00 the following day. So much for a relaxed meal and having time to browse the shops. Instead, it would be necessary to find something to maintain interest for almost half a day.
A little unexpectedly, Stansted closes its security area at around 22:30. This led to half of the vast building being shrouded in darkness. It also left all the smokers with nowhere to go for a cigarette. They would be forced to go without a fix until the flight arrived in Bulgaria the following morning.
As darkness descended and the shops closed, the on-site J D Weatherspoon's stayed open and became the focal point for the majority of the remaining passengers. Those who chose to sit elsewhere around the terminal were forced to avoid the floor sweeping vehicles doing their best to make the place look tidy.
At long last, and somewhat closer to 03:00 than the predicted 02:00, the aircraft finally boarded and the three hour flight to Bulgaria was completed. By the time the aircraft was unloaded, all the baggage had been collected, everyone had passed through immigration and been directed to their transport for the transfer to the hotel, dawn was breaking and the sun was beginning to lighten the sky. The hour long transfer was peaceful due to the fact that the six passengers in the minibus were either asleep or very close to it. The biggest laugh came when checking the welcome card to see that the holiday representative at the hotel has a welcome meeting booked for 11:00. On reaching the hotel at 09:30, it was found that the meeting had been moved to that late afternoon. Unsurprisingly, the first thing everyone did on getting to their room was get some sleep asleep.