LONDON! Day 12: Going Home

The last London post! I don't know if you're getting sick of hearing about London yet but I am looking forward to posting about something else for a change.

First, I have to show you this picture:

Hehehehehe...The Man thinks the European exit signs are funny so I convinced him to pose like one for the camera. Makes me giggle just looking at it! And one other thing I thought was funny...London Survival Tip #10: When crossing a street, look down first! All the crosswalks are painted with markings telling you which way to look for traffic. I guess they are used to foreign tourists looking left when traffic is coming from the right!

Our flight left in the morning so we didn't have much time to do anything. Didn't even get breakfast because the hotel cafe wasn't open yet. I had to face the daunting taxi ride on an empty stomach. The streets were nearly empty that morning so I wasn't fearing for my life as we zipped along to the train station. I said my silent goodbyes to the streets of London.

We rode the Gatwick Express train to the airport and I have to admit, I teared up a little. The experience had just been so wonderful! I was sad to see it come to an end. One last time watching all the green fields and the tightly packed townhouse. Last time to watch a big double decker bus crawl lazily down the street. Last time someone would smile when I started to talk because I was the one with the accent. Last time, last time.

Security at the airport was an amazingly long line! We were a little nervous...until we found out we were in the wrong line. That was the line for New York and we were going to Ohio. Phew! Got in the right line and the Man felt it necessary to once again remind me not to crack any jokes, just answer their questions and don't tell them any stories. He knows me so well. After we made it through, we had breakfast at the airport (they didn't have hot chocolate...looked startled that I would want that for breakfast instead of a good beer). We then proceeded to spend the rest of our change of getting more chocolates. This is me we're talking about, after all. And these were duty-free Belgium chocolates! Very yummy!

I don't remember much about the flight home. There weren't any extraordinarily annoying people on the flight. The Man warned me about the grumpy US Customs agents but our guy was rather cheerful. Our baggage arrived safely and I only got a little queasy on the airplane. Both of us were thoroughly exhausted and I keep dozing off on the drive home.

Arriving home, the house was quiet. And the kitchen was painted green! Since the Man never reads my blog, I can admit to you that I knew may parents were going to paint. :) I really like the color; the Man has no comment. Boys. We were completely exhausted but still managed to kiss the kids goodnight (finally got those hugs I'd been missing), show most of our pictures to the Crazy Grandparents, open a box of chocolates and relive the entire vacation. After having been there, I can understand why some people go to visit and then never go home.

But me? I was glad to be home!