Day 21 - home again, home again, jiggity jig

[salixbabylon]

OK, so the Boeing 747-400 - who gets to sit in the upper cabin and why? Is that where they hide the famous people?

Sorry I haven't updated in a while; we were mostly without internet after the 26th.

We had a really nice, relaxing, mellow Christmas with dissonant_dream and her family. Good food, dogs, way too much wine, and a long walk in the cold, squishing through the mud in borrowed Wellies. Who knew the holiday could be to enjoyable with the simple subtraction of both of our families and all sense of obligation to follow tradition? Some lovely Lush pressies and books made the day complete.

We left on Boxing Day to see our friend in Cheshire, which was so fucking cold! She took us on a walk to see Lewis Carroll's birthplace. These days that's mostly just a few plaques, a brickwork floor-plan, and a well with the Door-Mouse on the iron grate. Still, it provided some nice symmetry with the book I picked up at the Library.

We then had the world's longest train ride back to London. Basically, we're just crushingly exhausted. Three weeks was great, but I could have done with a few more jammie days and less time on trains.

Things I will miss:

1. Unbelievably cheap delicious cheese and crumpets
2. Efficient public transit - tube and trains
3. Wearing my coat and scarf and hat and gloves
4. Tea, everywhere, properly hot and with milk
5. Radiators = fun
6. Gorgeous architecture all over
7. #1 and #2 pound coins
8. People-watching on the tube
9. Free museums
10. The skeleton key to the flat being an actual useful *key*
11. McVitte's oat flapjacks
12. Walking everywhere
13. All the British accents - and Scottish, Irish, and Welsh too

Things I will NOT miss:

1. Lack of paper seat covers in public toilets
2. Hot and cold water taps being separate
3. Not having sweet, sweet internet 24/7
4. Sewing my coat buttons on once a week
5. Not having my dog, kitchen, clean laundry, and cheap fresh fruit and veggies
6. Not seeing grass or trees without serious effort
7. That weird nagging feeling that I'm not where I belong/ time and space dislocation.
8. Scary condiments - HP sauce and Branston pickle

Pictures coming soon...

Comments

[londinensa.livejournal.com]

Scary condiments - HP sauce and Branston pickle

Bwuahahahaha! The pickle isn't that bad ;p

Glad you had a great time & made it home safely ;)

[jackieville.livejournal.com]

It's always good to be home! *squishes*

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Surely, as a member of this fandom, you were obligated to at least try HP sauce ;-)

Glad you had a fantastic time, even with insufficient jammie days XXX!

[rifleman-s.livejournal.com]

Scary condiments . . . " *giggle*

Well, it seems you got the best of both worlds - some nice times and some homesickness, but at least you have some really good memories of the UK!

Looking forward to the pictures, once you've re-discovered the "where you belong" place!!

Happy New Year!

[willowwing.livejournal.com]

Missed you sooooo much!

[astrojen.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you both had a fantastic time and it was Christmas with a difference for you. Can't wait to see pics and hear more about your trip.

Jen ;->

[griffndor.livejournal.com]

Welcome Back! :)

[soar38.livejournal.com]

Things I will NOT miss:

1. Lack of paper seat covers in public toilets

You should NOT make me laugh in my condition. ;-p

I never do anything other than squat in public toilets. There's no way my skin is making contact, nu-huh.

[seanlily.livejournal.com]

Welcome back, glad you had a great time! Accents and tea are the absolute bestest!

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

Perhaps not - the only thing I've had it on was a gross cheese-and-pickle sandwich on the airline. :P

I had a fab time - sorry we didn't hook up again but I'm so thrilled we got together. *bighugs* :)

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

It is. It's just missing the dog now, and then I can truly relax. There's no plac elike home, no matter how lovely Oz is. ;)

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

I smelled it. It wasn't soemhting I wanted to dip my fries in. Maybe next time I'll be more bold. ;)

And I will have jammie days in abundance, now that I'm home. It was great to see so much and so many people. *hugs*

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

It was a lovely trip. Long enough to be ready to come home, but without too much homesickness or didn't-get-enough either way. :)

*smooch* Maybe 2009 be awesome!

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

*clings* MIssed you too, sweetness. I have so much email to read! :)

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

:) *hug*

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

*smooch* It was really nice to see how pleasant Christmas could be. As well as discovering how much of the stress comes from me and my ideas of how it *should* be. I resolve to try and lighten up more. :)

Pics soon!

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

Oops, sorry to trigger a coughing fit. :(

I'm just so used to the paper seat liners... and I never saw one anywhere in the UK. it's the little things that grab your attention. :)

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

I will miss them both. And all the other little things too. Good to be home, though, back in my life again. :)

[untelling.livejournal.com]

Things you learn on a cross-country trip in a semi truck:

1) Truck stops have really clean bathrooms compared to most places.
2) Clorox wipes or Wet Ones are great friends in the absence of toilet seat covers.

[dissonant-dream.livejournal.com]

*hugs* I'm glad you got home safely. :) (So much more to say, way too dopey to make proper sense, sorry *g*)

[soar38.livejournal.com]

I think the only reason I've practiced to get such good bladder control, or controlling what I drink when I'm out, is so I DON'T have to use public toilets.

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

Oooh, those are good ideas. I'll tuck some of those into my travel bag for next time. :) Thanks!