London

Bleary eyed and .......

............bushy tailed !!!

We disembarked at Heathrow at 5am...... not as bad as it sounds as we had been traveling for around 13 hours and I had managed to squeeze in a 10hr kip.....(for those who find it difficult to sleep on planes, I have a foolproof way to beat it...you only have to ask).

We are pretty streamlined these days about leaving planes, and airports, reasonably effortlessly.  Let me share, however, that this state has not been achieved without some angst and frustration, followed by the silent treatment. After much "teaching" I now know to :-

• Fill out immigration forms straight away, pass them over to be checked (unfortunately form filling is NOT my strong point!) and.... corrected!
• To have water bottle, current book, munchies and other paraphenalia packed into the backpack BEFORE landing...oops and passports and above-mentioned form
• To have purchased nothing which requires declaration at Customs- depending on the reader, one can either capitalise "purchased nothing" or "requires declaration" :) 
• and lastly, but most importantly, to go to the Loo when the announcement about descent has been made....this results in a quick, fast race to the baggage carousel !

A train ride from Heathrow ( underground and heated) to the local bus station (above ground and so not heated!) we knew we had well and truly arrived in London.  I could not believe the cold...the solid mass south of my waist was numb, the other large extemities, my ears, were blue and the dripping nose had transformed into a glacier....all this before 7.30am...Joy joy, happy, happy.
Naturally, arriving at the flat which housed a recently woken family of four, put discomfort on the backburner.
Finally, real life hugs etc all the way round...Maddie had a recent visit, or maybe two, from the tooth fairy, and was looking as a six year old should, a little gappy; Matt and Nic haven't changed, you would expect a wrinkle or two, now that they're 30, but no still look as young as ever, no stresses there! and of course the bambino, Luca, is absolutely gorgeous....happy, bonny and sooo cute

  I have restrained myself here....only one of each