Ok. The whirlwind tour of England, which was actually for a week, but seemed more like an hour and 1/2. 🙂
Day 1 – This was a day of travel. The dogs had been dropped at the kennel. The child had been dropped at her father’s, and I headed for the airport 2 hours in advance. I was frazzled. I couldn’t find the airport. The construction around the area had eliminated a few signs indicating the logical route to the airport.
Ok. Who has taken the airport? Oh. There it is!
I parked in far-away parking and rode the shuttle to the airport, checked in my luggage and waited for the plane to leave. Ian and Jane were texting me all along. So exciting. I am leaving the COUNTRY!
Day 2 – Starts at 6am when the plane lands in London, having not slept most of the overnight flight (but tried). I notice the directional traffic differences from the air, the fact that the sun is rising already (it’s midnight my time) and then….. it occurs to me… “OMG! Ian is in the airport, waiting for me!”
I proceded through security after speaking to a very thorough border patrol agent.
My luggage was immediately available. I grabbed it and headed for the restroom, since I’d needed to “go” for the last 45 minutes. LOL Eventually, I found the correct customs line and proceded without incident (or person to talk to) in a matter of seconds.
I spotted the man in the Spider Pig shirt. He was EXACTLY what I expected. He smiled at me and said, “See? I knew you’d be perfect.” We shared a hug and kiss, he grabbed my suitcase and we started walking… smiling at each other. We talked about how bizarre it was that I was actually there, then I grabbed his hand and it was off to find the car.
We took a long country route home. I saw loads of old architecture and deer, as my handsome tour guide began to describe what I was seeing. Part-way through, the jet lag started to hit me. I felt nauseous, especially on the round-a-bouts… many, many round-a-bouts.
We spent some of day 2 going through Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose, looking for various items for my personal chef to cook!
We slept for awhile. We called Jane to say “HELLO!” (as we say it to each other) and we arranged for Day 3, visiting Jane and Fletch.
Day 3: Saturday in the market. We don’t have many (if any) open air markets where I’m from, especially filled with Indian food, fresh fish, clothing, and especially my handsome British tour guide.
After walking through the market, we walked through the shopping mall, looked around at various things, found Butterfinger candybars and returned home. Soon after, we took off to meet Jane and Fletch, where some really bouncy woman met us in the parking lot, very excited to see us, and very much like I imagined.
I’ll leave you with these photos for now. More to post on Day 3 later. 🙂
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| The meat and cheese case in the market |
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| My handsome tour guide 😉 |
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| Lots of interesting/fresh fruits and vegetables |


Excellent stuff! And yeah. Sorry about the roundabout things.
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Hang on…..you can’t just leave us here. We demand MORE.
(pretty please)
Hope you managed to fit in some of the foods that I miss when I’m here in the US for winter…..like sausages and of course fish and chips.
Aren’t roundabouts fun ??!!!!
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Who’s this bouncy woman then? heh ;o)
Next time you have to do the Magic Roundabout in Hemel Hempstead….after you have recovered from jetlag tho! :o)
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I feel at this point I should explain that I am carrying Lisa’s “purse” (trans: *huge* handbag/shoulder bag/4 person survival bivouac).
I do not have a man-bag.
Honest.
Ian – Yes, you did that for safety purposes, didn’t you. You kept dodgy people from taking off with my stuff. I thought it was chivalrous, really. 🙂
Gem – LOL… I’m not sure I remember the name of the bouncy woman. I think it started with a J. Nice woman, though. 🙂
SB – More to come. I have loads to write, and some good news to add from today, as well.
Brennig – I knew those were your idea. 🙂
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btw, my first few photos were not too good because of an unknown smudge on the lens. Clearer pics to follow. 🙂
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The UK is very cool as we found out last year. Enjoying your posts.
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Punctuation: Lol…ref. the ‘purse’, I’m not convinced…I never saw Lisa carrying it and you seemed quite at home with the four person survival bivvy on your shoulder! ;o)
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Alan – This is very true. I fell in love with England. The people are amazingly friendly and the scenery is beautiful.
Gem – But doesn’t it go quite well with his coat? 🙂 I was glad not to have to carry my own bag. You know how often I lose things.
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This is very true. I fell in love with England. The people are amazingly friendly and the scenery is beautiful.
Note that we did not venture into London… 😉
Gemmak – shhh. It matched my coat, what can I say?
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