Yes, we made it home safely. It took me two days to get home, but I'm here and back to work. Can't live in vacation land forever. The trip was essentially uneventful and the long plane ride was actually quieter than the ride over. We just couldn't sleep as it was the middle of the day for us. I had a harder time adjusting to the jet lag coming home than going over. It took me several days to feel like myself again. I had talked to Sam and he said he felt the same way.
I was ready to come home. I was missing my home, bed, and the kids left at home. Sam on the other hand, said he could have stayed longer. That's the beauty of being young, I guess. You can keep going longer. I think I did a pretty good job of keeping up for most of the time. We really didn't get on each others nerves much, other than my suitcase and the one bus ride to Harry Potter, where I was scared we would miss our stop. We had fun and shared an absolutely amazing vacation. Both of us taking memories with us we will cherish forever.
I have been asked what my favorite part of the trip was. It was funny, I had to think about it and would say, the last night in Ireland... no wait the Harry Potter Studio Tour...no wait the castles....no, Wicked...
Well, you get the point, it all was the most amazing trip and it is so hard to pin a favorite moment. I faced my fear of heights on the London Eye, learned history of England and Wales, climbed and walked on castle walls, and saw sights people have dreamed their entire lives of seeing. I am so grateful and blessed to have seen, touched, tasted, and done all I did. Traveling like that is kind of life changing. You leave as a person with expectations of the things you may see and do, and come home as one who has seen and done things they only dreamed of before.
I have certificates stating I am an official Jamison whiskey taster and can pour a mean Guinness. I have key chains from the places we have been. I have pictures of all we saw. But the best part of the trip was experiencing it with my son. No, he's still not my favorite because they all are my favorites for something, but he's grown into a very special man that I am proud to say he's my son.
I can state that my favorite country was Wales. While discussing it with friends, we decided London and Dublin are for the young. There is so much to see and do there. Wales was more laid back and had a slower life. I appreciate the slowing down to smell the roses, so to speak, at this time of my life. I know that all the rushing the young do, is ultimately going to get them to the same place as those of us who like to take it slower and savor the journey. The young might get there quicker, but do they appreciate it as much? It's the journey of getting there that makes life worth while.
I have also tried to express how awesome it is to walk through buildings that are older than this great country of ours. I have talked to my kids about it and they try to understand, but it is impossible. You can talk of the castles with their several feet thick walls made of stone. You can explain how small and circular the stairs in the towers are. You can explain that they are hundreds of feet high. The thing is, unless you have been their to experience them for yourself, it just isn't as impressive.
I hope that you have enjoyed our blog. Even though you weren't there physically with us, many of you we carried in our hearts and minds. I know that you tried to imagine the places we were at, but if you haven't been there, it is hard to do. My wish for each of you is that you get to take this kind of journey yourselves. Maybe not to these places, but to some place you have always wanted to go. If you are as lucky as I have been, maybe it will also be with someone you cherish.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Chapter 14 - Coming Home
Well 5 planes, 4 trains, 1 ferry, and several buses, taxis and private vehicles later, our trip has come to an end. It's hard to believe it has already been a week since we flew home, but, as it always does, time flies. We fit so much into just two weeks, I am not surprised that I had my very first bout of jet lag. It doesn't help that I didn't get to my house until midnight on a Wednesday and had to work in the AM on Thursday, but even with how tired I was for the next few days after returning, I wouldn't trade this trip for anything.
The flights home were much better than the flights out. It seems the universe wanted to give me a break for the return flights because I don't think there was a single screaming child right next to me. Don't get me wrong, there were screaming children on the plane, just none that were sitting very close to me. I was able to tune them out by watching three movies on the flight from Dublin. Before we get to that flight, we did wake up in London and have to make it to Dublin. We got to the airport with plenty of time, and Heathrow airport isn't horrible. The only weird part is that they don't post your gate until it's almost time to board, and then the times for when the gate is available changes, which is what happened with our flight. The time changed to after our flight was supposed to take off for when our gate would be posted. That was the first sign that our flight may have been delayed. Keeping in mind that we had to fly to Dublin, collect our bags, change terminals, go back through the check in, and back through security, and then go through customs; this delay made me a little uneasy to say the least. A gate finally appeared for us to go and wait at, until an update could be given to us on the status of our flight. We made it to the gate, and it just so happened to be the same gate that a celebrity was at. Now don't get too excited, because I say celebrity loosely. I don't even know the kids name; but it was the boy from We're the Millers with Jennifer Aniston, the one where in the movie he played a nerdy kid that just turned 18. I would have been more motivated to go over and talk to him if it had been Jennifer Aniston.
Anyway, we got word that the flight would be delayed 30 minutes and that it would be flying into a gate on the other side of the airport than where we were told to wait. So we got our things together, and walked over. I kept in the back of my mind the whole time what we still had to do once we got to Dublin, and knew that we only had a few hours to do it. Our flight arrived and we made it to Dublin just a few minutes late of our scheduled arrival time, the pilot apparently sped (I guess they don't have speed limits in the air, and if they do our pilot may have just ignored them, I mean, it's not like there are police planes pulling pilots over for speeding). Trying to hurry to collect our bags so we could go through security again, we found out upon arriving in our Aer Lingus terminal that there really weren't a lot of people wanting to fly that day. There were no lines at all, and we checked in our bags, went through security, and still had plenty of time to stop off for one last pint before leaving the country.
After the pint, we went through customs, which was a joke (they asked me like two questions and then sent me on my way), and then waited in a room at our gate for another hour until our flight was ready to board. There really wasn't much to do in the room, it was rather boring; and it didn't help that I really didn't want to go home. I know my mother was home sick and ready to go, but I could have stayed another month, or year. So we got on our flight home, and as I said I watched 3 movies (12 Years A Slave, The Book Thief, & August, Osage County) which weren't the most uplifting movies, and by the time they were done, we were preparing for landing.
In Chicago, we had to go through the same process as on the way to Dublin. We had to leave the terminal, take a shuttle to the correct terminal and then go back through security (there should be a more efficient way of doing this). Our tickets didn't work when we got to the front of the security line, so we had to go back to the ticket agents (who were struggling with their printers) get our tickets re-printed, and then head back to the security line. Again, I thought for sure we were going to be late for our flight. Luckily, the others from our flight were having the same problem with their tickets, so all of us as a group were able to cut the rest of the security line our second time through. After security, we had a tiny bit of time for some food, and what better place to welcome us back to America than... McDonalds. We ate and then found out our flight from Chicago to Minneapolis was also delayed because they were waiting on other passengers on a different inbound flight. So after another 20 ish minute delay, we boarded our flight. It was at this point that I was getting extremely tired, and I still had a 2 hour drive ahead of me to get home. So needless to say, I don't remember the last flight all that well, I may have dozed off before take off and woke up at landing time.
We both collected our bags at the airport, walked to the shuttle area and said our goodbyes. It was the end of our vacation, and, like the end of most vacations, we were both exhausted and just wanting to be home. It was a quick goodbye, and my shuttle was there to take me to my car. The drive home was dangerous to say the least, and as I said I was very tired so I can't really remember most of it (I don't think I was asleep as much as I was just not able to focus). Like I said, it was dangerous. I made it home and immediately passed out on my bed, just to wake up every few hours until at last I had to get ready for work.
In the end, it was an amazing vacation (I know I keep saying that, but it's true) and I really didn't want it to end. My first taste of Europe was a success and it left me wanted to see and experience more. Now all I have to do is decide where I want to go next, and then start planning that grand adventure. Until then...
The flights home were much better than the flights out. It seems the universe wanted to give me a break for the return flights because I don't think there was a single screaming child right next to me. Don't get me wrong, there were screaming children on the plane, just none that were sitting very close to me. I was able to tune them out by watching three movies on the flight from Dublin. Before we get to that flight, we did wake up in London and have to make it to Dublin. We got to the airport with plenty of time, and Heathrow airport isn't horrible. The only weird part is that they don't post your gate until it's almost time to board, and then the times for when the gate is available changes, which is what happened with our flight. The time changed to after our flight was supposed to take off for when our gate would be posted. That was the first sign that our flight may have been delayed. Keeping in mind that we had to fly to Dublin, collect our bags, change terminals, go back through the check in, and back through security, and then go through customs; this delay made me a little uneasy to say the least. A gate finally appeared for us to go and wait at, until an update could be given to us on the status of our flight. We made it to the gate, and it just so happened to be the same gate that a celebrity was at. Now don't get too excited, because I say celebrity loosely. I don't even know the kids name; but it was the boy from We're the Millers with Jennifer Aniston, the one where in the movie he played a nerdy kid that just turned 18. I would have been more motivated to go over and talk to him if it had been Jennifer Aniston.
Anyway, we got word that the flight would be delayed 30 minutes and that it would be flying into a gate on the other side of the airport than where we were told to wait. So we got our things together, and walked over. I kept in the back of my mind the whole time what we still had to do once we got to Dublin, and knew that we only had a few hours to do it. Our flight arrived and we made it to Dublin just a few minutes late of our scheduled arrival time, the pilot apparently sped (I guess they don't have speed limits in the air, and if they do our pilot may have just ignored them, I mean, it's not like there are police planes pulling pilots over for speeding). Trying to hurry to collect our bags so we could go through security again, we found out upon arriving in our Aer Lingus terminal that there really weren't a lot of people wanting to fly that day. There were no lines at all, and we checked in our bags, went through security, and still had plenty of time to stop off for one last pint before leaving the country.
After the pint, we went through customs, which was a joke (they asked me like two questions and then sent me on my way), and then waited in a room at our gate for another hour until our flight was ready to board. There really wasn't much to do in the room, it was rather boring; and it didn't help that I really didn't want to go home. I know my mother was home sick and ready to go, but I could have stayed another month, or year. So we got on our flight home, and as I said I watched 3 movies (12 Years A Slave, The Book Thief, & August, Osage County) which weren't the most uplifting movies, and by the time they were done, we were preparing for landing.
In Chicago, we had to go through the same process as on the way to Dublin. We had to leave the terminal, take a shuttle to the correct terminal and then go back through security (there should be a more efficient way of doing this). Our tickets didn't work when we got to the front of the security line, so we had to go back to the ticket agents (who were struggling with their printers) get our tickets re-printed, and then head back to the security line. Again, I thought for sure we were going to be late for our flight. Luckily, the others from our flight were having the same problem with their tickets, so all of us as a group were able to cut the rest of the security line our second time through. After security, we had a tiny bit of time for some food, and what better place to welcome us back to America than... McDonalds. We ate and then found out our flight from Chicago to Minneapolis was also delayed because they were waiting on other passengers on a different inbound flight. So after another 20 ish minute delay, we boarded our flight. It was at this point that I was getting extremely tired, and I still had a 2 hour drive ahead of me to get home. So needless to say, I don't remember the last flight all that well, I may have dozed off before take off and woke up at landing time.
We both collected our bags at the airport, walked to the shuttle area and said our goodbyes. It was the end of our vacation, and, like the end of most vacations, we were both exhausted and just wanting to be home. It was a quick goodbye, and my shuttle was there to take me to my car. The drive home was dangerous to say the least, and as I said I was very tired so I can't really remember most of it (I don't think I was asleep as much as I was just not able to focus). Like I said, it was dangerous. I made it home and immediately passed out on my bed, just to wake up every few hours until at last I had to get ready for work.
In the end, it was an amazing vacation (I know I keep saying that, but it's true) and I really didn't want it to end. My first taste of Europe was a success and it left me wanted to see and experience more. Now all I have to do is decide where I want to go next, and then start planning that grand adventure. Until then...
The Last of the Pictures
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