Flew in from Miami Beach BOAC...actually SFO-LHR-NCL with BA.
Yes, we're back in the UK for Hannah's Granny's funeral. Granny Poole packed a lot into her 95 years, and had recently moved back to her beloved Scotland, so while it's a sad she certainly had a good innings - one that included five great-grandchildren! I can only hope that Hannah and I do as well.
Earlier today (or yesterday, possibly - somewhere mid-Atlantic the night disappeared) we found ourselves on the BART, tracing the familiar route to the airport. We checked bags crammed full of American junk food at the British Airways desk (failing, of course, to get an upgrade) and made our way to international departures. The plane was one of those huge 747s with an upstairs, and the distinction (apartheid?) was cruel when, part-way down the bridge to board, those lucky enough to fly first/business were syphoned off to their own airplane entrance! As Hannah so wisely said: never turn right.
The flight was uneventful. The entertainment system broke down, we could eat pasta or chicken, we drank G&Ts and slept. There was some turbulence over the North Atlantic. Soon we were in Heathrow Terminal Five and ate at Wagamama (the place of our last meal on English soil, back in August 2008) and then on another BA flight to Newcastle, where immigration was as strict as ever (i.e. invisible).
The final pieces of the puzzle fell into place when we collected both Katherine and a hire car and set off in a North-Westerly direction for Scotland and the rest of the family.
Our carriage awaits. Goodbye sunny California.
Thank you.
Why we fly British Airways.
The entertainment system.
On the tarmac in London. Surprisingly warm!
Civilisation.
More civilisation (and more expensive than in the US!)
A hard day's night.
Journey's end.
