A few details that didn't make the daily posts.
My journey itself; I arrived over three hours early for my flight over, which was a good thing because I needed time to repack my checked suitcase when I learned that it could weigh up to 25kgs whereas my carry on that weighed in at 13kgs could only weigh 6kgs if I was going to be able to take it on the plane. So some rearranging was in order, and I ended up with basically an empty carry on and a jam packed checked bag. I flew Air Transat and aside from the luggage issues I have no complaints. I got my desired aisle seat and an empty one beside me so me and my seat companion had room to stow our purses. She was a nice older woman originally from Scotland, traveling home to England to visit her sister. She hadn't been back in five years (same as me), and earlier this year she'd had knee surgery which resulted in a terrible infection that almost took her life. Her children were called by the doctor to get to the hospital asap because they didn't think she was going to make it. But she did, and there she was with me on the plane. We chatted a bit, I slept, and then I helped her to make some wise duty free purchases for her grandchildren. Flight was otherwise uneventful and I arrived at Gatwick, waited at the wrong turnstile for my luggage (wondered why everyone was in linen pants sporting dark suntans), and then eventually got sorted out and was greeted by my sister for our journey to Chateau Fisher.
The rest is in my daily blogs as you know. I did make a few observations about the British in general on this trip. Some I recall from past trips and some is new.
1. They like their recycling, and yet they don't have compulsory deposits on pop cans, beer cans, juice cartons etc like we do in Canada.
2. They even have shoe recycling bins!
3. They LOVE to hug and kiss! Seriously, people I have never met before, who are not my relatives, wanted to hug and kiss me. I know I'm quite irresistible, but really people, back off!
4. Despite #3, they are very pushy when in crowds...one little kid actually put his hand on my back and pushed me out of the way!
5. They don't appear to realize that they are hosting the Olympic games in a couple of months.
6. They are very festive when it comes to the Queen's Jubilee.
7. They are a bit obsessed with something called 'bunting'. It's like a streamer of flags put up for various occasions.
8. Despite their love of recycling, they seem to do a lot of 'over-packaging', like radishes, and green onions for example, wrapped in crinkly plastic.
10. They talk of having an obesity problem and yet grocery store clerks have CHAIRS and sit down on the job. Just a thought, maybe take away the chairs and they will burn more calories.
11. They don't seem to like orange cheese.
12. They have at least 700 varieties of potato chips (which they call crisps) and yet only about 7 varieties of pop (which they call fizzy drinks).
13. Their transit system is great, and they found it laughable that we operate on an 'honour system' here in Vancouver and surprisingly our transit system is seriously in debt.
14. Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way and motorists take this very seriously. And yet, seemingly in contradiction to this, there are signs painted on the street reminding pedestrians to "LOOK LEFT"...I guess they want you to see the car that is about to run you over.
17. FROOT LOOPS costs the equivalent of approximately $12 Canadian. Insanity.
18. On the table at Starbucks where you add your cream and sugar, your choices are semi-skim milk and skim milk. No whole milk, no half and half, and no creamer. The British seem to be angry at fat.
19. The taps are on the opposite sides and turn off and on the opposite way. Very confusing.
20. The rest stops on the highway are AMAZING. Seriously! They have several shops, food stalls, washrooms and places to buy books and magazines. Like little mini-malls.
21. A latte is NOT a latte despite being at a universal chain coffee place. Starbucks tall lattes in England have two shots of espresso in them. This should be printed in guide books and on travel advisories.
23. British people have very messy desks and offices. Just sayin'.
24. Their houses are small but their Starbucks are HUGE. Really, bigger than any Starbucks I've ever been to.
25. There seems to be an obsession with door stoppers. They are available everywhere. I have never seen one for sale in Canada, and yet doors here are not randomly slamming shut.
27. A nail salon is a universal thing! Same tabletops, same nail polish, same exact signage. Seems like this would be a good place to hold international events so that everyone would feel that they had home court advantage.
Wow that was a longer list than I'd anticipated and I didn't even touch on everything.
Anyways, so my journey home was similar to my journey there. Got to the airport, was told that my carry on bag was too heavy and that my check in bag was basically too light. Did some swapping around. Lugged it on through. Got carried away in duty free, the largest item being a pillow with a royal emblem design. Stuffed it in my carry on and then got stopped just as I was about to board and had to take it out of my carry on along with my new purse, books, and other sundry items. Flight was fuller than the way over but it was a newer plane so there were free movies on screens on the seat backs and a good selection of music and tv shows. I managed to survive the nine plus hours and less than ideal airplane food. Arrived home to find Vancouver as I'd left it, slightly overcast and threatening rain.
And there you have it, my wonderful FFE, I had a great time visiting my Sis and family and friends and dogs and colleagues. Thank you to all who were part of my experience, and thank you especially to Martz for letting me use his laptop every single night to write my blog.
I plan to continue to write more often, as long as life continues to give me material.
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