Day 17: Going Home!

So, where did I leave off? 
Continuing narration of Saturday's events: after I wrote my blog post last night we decided to make it a whizz bang of an evening by going out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, The Volunteer. We also went ahead and decided to take our trash out. We were just leaving to go out when Galen announced, much to our surprise, that he had just inadvertently locked the key in the flat. We all marveled at how this had never happened before, all these days we'd gone out. It kind of made us thankful for not having that happen before on those days when we were on a tight schedule or had a train to catch. After making some calls, we headed to dinner and ended up having a lovely evening. The Volunteer is one of our favorite eating spots because we love the atmosphere, the people are friendly, and the food is fabulous and reasonably priced. It also may or may not be my favorite place due to the fact that they offer a chocolate trifle with salted caramel topping. Yum? It has a bar on the opposite side of the room, so it was a bit louder and rowdier than usual, bur it was rather fun to be on the "outside looking in" at a bar scene. At least, for easily entertained people watchers like myself. Both Victoria and I can't stand alcohol, and we constantly made jokes about how we go into to a pub and order a tap water and a chicken Caesar salad. :) 

We also went on a last minute run to the sweetie shop. Gotta get your Dairymilk  while you still can! Have I discussed British sweets? I believe I haven't. Allow me to give my dissertation. First of all, you'd be hard pressed to find any high fructose corn syrup or even plain corn syrup in any of their candies. They all use sugar or glucose syrup. The most popular bar here are the Dairymilk bars mentioned above. They eclipse the sale of snickers and m&m's by a huge margin. They come plain or filled with caramel or studded with nuts. Popular also are toffees and fudges, with clotted cream fudge the favorite fudge flavor. They have a variety of starburst-like candies, and some chewy lifesaver knockoffs that aren't too bad either. Now, last but not least, let's talk shortbreads. Yes, they make plain, but the crowning jewel of he British shortbread empire would have to be the Millionaire variety. It consists of a bottom layer of shortbread topped with a thick caramel and topped in milk or dark chocolate. In other words, it is divinity on earth. I am so impressed with it that I may add it to my baking repertoire. It is quite popular and can be found in virtually any store. 

Okay, now that your keyboard or ipad is covered in drool, let's continue. We eventually got back into our flat using a secret method that I am not at liberty to divulge here. :)

We finished packing and went to bed. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 10, so we opted to give ourselves plenty of time to allow for any of the many unforeseen impediments that could come our way. We successfully got through our beloved tube for the last time (goodbye, tube! You were the best!) 

We then boarded the Heathrow express train that would take us to the airport. Our biggest fear for the day was our luggage weight limit. We had no way of checking to see how much our luggage weighed, so we did our best at weight distribution and hoped for the best. Nobody wants to pay £100 for a bag that's too heavy. Victoria's checked case was the heaviest, at least when we compared weights by holding the bags, and so we thought it best to weigh hers first and then redistribute if necessary. We all head our breath as the scale ticked up and up, and were extremely relieved and amazed when her bag registered 22.5 kg- .5 kg off the maximum weight. Our luggage all passed the weight check, much to our relief. After a brief rendition of the Hallelujah chorus sung by yours truly, we proceeded to the border and security check.

They seem to be a bit more thorough here than in the US, as I got flagged for the nearly identical suitcase contents that were approved in the US. So, the lady, who was nice enough, had to go through everything in the case a couple of times, send my camera and laptop through the scanner multiple times. After this was through and they had completed a search of my bags worthy of a criminal  mastermind, I repacked my bag and headed to where Victoria and Galen were waiting. Galen had similar troubles with his bags but got it sorted out nonetheless. We must be dangerous folks, we who carry French Chocolates and tea in their bags. 

We relaxed a bit In the lounge area and got some breakfast before going to our gate and awaiting our plane. Heathrow is really nice, and British innovation is evident here as well as int he rest of the country. For example , they have a giant fenced playground area for the kids I the middle of the terminal. Kids can slide down a bouncy slide or bop a beefeater shaped punching bag if they are feeling punchy. They also stick your baggage claim sticker with a removable sticker on the back of your passport for easy reference. 

We got on our plane just fine and sat next to a really nice guy coming back from an aviation conference in London. Mark lives in Texas, and we ended up chatted with him for a good while before we all either resorted to sleep or stimulation of the electronic kind (movies, iPods, etc.) I journaled some before watching Great Expectations ( the one with Helena Bonham Carter) and The Devil Wears Prada. The latter was okay, and I mainly watched it because Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway co-star in it. Good underlying message though, and very funny. The former was a fairly decent shot at adapting Dickens 'original book, which happens to be a favorite of mine in its own right. The movie missed a few key situations and left out the ever-creepy yet necessary character of Horlick, but taken at face value and viewed as a time killer for airplane travel, it suited me quite well. My favorite television adaptation to date of Great Expectations is the BBC version, the one starring Gillian Anderson. that one goes exactly by the book. 

Anyway, the flight went fine and we all disembarked successfully. Maybe it's because I don't travel much, but I am still amazed that I can walk on one continent in the morning and then be 6789 miles away a mere 7 1/2 hours later. Still blows my mind. 

We got asked pointed questions per usual at border security. The one they surprised us with this time was: "who paid for this trip?" We were able to proudly say that each of us paid our own way, thank you, with our hard earned money. No benefactors here, Mr. Security guy!

Our baggage made it just fine, and we were told that our parents would be waiting at the claim area, but we didn't see them. So, we turned he corner and started walking down a long hall. At the end of the hall, at a great distance, I could just barely make of a group of people, I didn't know who, but they had a lot of little people and were holding colorful balloons. I realized it was our entourage, and with a "That's them!" I told Victoria and Galen, and we walked faster, grinning ear to ear. They all started waving madly at us and jumped up and down. Still grinning, we walked yet quicker, wanting badly to wave madly back at them, but our two rolling suitcases each required both our hands. When we finally got to them, it was hugs and kisses all round, a very happy reunion. I missed them so much! I think the kids all grew, either that, or I got shorter. After talking and catching up for a little while, we moved to the bus that would shuttle us to our respective cars. It was sad saying goodbye to Victoria! She has been such a great companion and planner extraordinaire the whole trip, and she's like a sister to me, as we can read each other's minds to some extent. Not kidding! She's coming to bake next week, so it's not too long before we will see each other again.

I am glad to be back in the states, even though it's sad leaving London, the city I have come to love so much. I am also pleased because I am coming back refreshed and ready to take on the craziness and challenges of life once again. This isn't the end of my blogging, however, as I have grown quite attached to it over the past few weeks, so you may be hearing from me more regularly here. I will also be posting pictures here once I get them all consolidated.

We are spending the night in Charlotte tonight, because, as some of you readers may know, my Dad is heading on a business/ mission trip to the Ukraine tomorrow morning. he will be staying around a week, working with some bee stuff as well as a local mission group, the same one that my Papa worked with when he used to serve there every year. Check out this link to a video telling about what he will be doing there. Prayers would be appreciated for his trip.