I've been back in England for nearly three months, and yet it seems like only yesterday I came back. I still haven't managed to see all the people I wanted to see, but I've run out of time. I suppose leaving on a trip like this would feel like leaving my home, but after living in Germany I haven't been back long enough to really feel like this is home again. Part of that comes from not having my own place, I suppose, and I've been moving around quite a bit. I spent a month on a cookery course at The Grange, went back to Germany for nearly a week, attended a couple of medieval battles and travelled around visiting as many people as possible. Oh, and I managed to squeeze in a minor operation as well.
In case your interested, here is the full itinerary:
Friday 5th July: LH3 13:20 - JFK 15:55 (UA905)
Monday 22nd July: EWR 08:00 - ORD 09:21 (UA641)
ORD 10:20 - IAH 12:50 (UA573)
Monday 29th July: IAH 07:30 - SFO 09:26 (UA1817)
Monday 5th August: SFO 08:55 - HNL 11:03 (NZ9285)
Friday 9th August: HNL 00:30 - SYD 07:10 +1 (AC33) The +1 means I actually arrive on Saturday - hooray for the international dateline!
Airports:
LH3 - London Heathrow Terminal 3, UK
JFK - New York JFK International Airport, USA
EWR - New York Newark International Airport, USA
ORD - Chicago O'Hare International Airport, USA
IAH - Houston Intercontinental Airport, USA
SFO - San Francisco, USA
HNL - Honolulu International Airport, Hawaii
SYD - Sydney, Australia
Airlines:
UA - United Airlines
NZ - Air New Zealand
AC - Air Canada
Monday, December 03, 2001
I had a great weekend with Martin and Yeti, although everything went wrong. Firstly Yeti missed the flight because she'd misunderstood Martin's message about when the flight was leaving, so she had to get the next flight. Then Martin's luggage was lost. He was flying from Aberdeen via Heathrow and apparently someone picked up his luggage by mistake in London. I don't quite know how, because it should have been put straight on the plane to Munich. He had to borrow some of my clothes, and he put his contact lenses in a glass in the bathroom with some of my cleaning solution. This was a mistake, because Yeti accidentally used the glass during the night. We don't know whether she poured the contacts down the sink or drank them, but I couldn't find them in the U-bend. She felt a little sick on Saturday, but she drank a lot of cider on Friday night.
The Lep closing ceremony was very moving. At about midnight they dimmed all the lights and just had the candles, and there was a procession through the pub of people holding roses. Heiko made a speech like a funeral dedication, talking about all the good times we'd all had with this friend and how he will be sorely missed. It was in German but I got the gist of it. The pub finally closed its doors at one and we took Martin and Yeti to the Zap. Martin nearly cried when he heard the German version of "I will survive", which is almost exactly the same reaction that David Taylor had when he was over!
We finally made it home at about four o'clock. Martin and Yeti slept in the bedroom and I went on a mattress in the sitting room, because I still have a bit of a cold so am snoring quite badly (well, I suppose, although the neighbours haven't complained yet). Yeti managed to spill red wine over the bed, and we called Jessica in Australia and each had a long chat.
We went into town on Saturday and had some breakfast then walked round the Christmas market. Martin bought a ghastly tree decoration - a brightly coloured computer in Christmas colours. We went home and prepared for the evening ahead, but Yeti and I ended up leaving Martin and going into town. He was still waiting for the courier with his luggage to turn up from the airport so he could change his clothes. We went to the new Lep - very impressive, although it still needs a bit of work. The decoration is all white walls and green pipes, although the white walls make the pub seem a little cold when it's quite. The ventilation is superb which means a much less smoky atmosphere. All in all very acceptable.
We all went for food at Dickermann, and Martin finally turned up in his own clothes in time to have something to eat. We finished off the evening back at the Leprechaun, which had an extension until 3 o'clock. All the Murphy's staff turned up after they'd cleaned the pub, although Donal stayed away. It was his birthday, so maybe he was busy.
We went to Heuport with Andy for breakfast, then went to the Christmas marker again. We were going to drive up to Walhalla but didn't have time in the end. I drove them back to the airport where their flight was delayed by half an hour, but I think it was okay in the end.
Hopefully there should be some photos on the Leprechaun website soon (www.leprechaun.de), so you can see the new pub in all its glory.
The Lep closing ceremony was very moving. At about midnight they dimmed all the lights and just had the candles, and there was a procession through the pub of people holding roses. Heiko made a speech like a funeral dedication, talking about all the good times we'd all had with this friend and how he will be sorely missed. It was in German but I got the gist of it. The pub finally closed its doors at one and we took Martin and Yeti to the Zap. Martin nearly cried when he heard the German version of "I will survive", which is almost exactly the same reaction that David Taylor had when he was over!
We finally made it home at about four o'clock. Martin and Yeti slept in the bedroom and I went on a mattress in the sitting room, because I still have a bit of a cold so am snoring quite badly (well, I suppose, although the neighbours haven't complained yet). Yeti managed to spill red wine over the bed, and we called Jessica in Australia and each had a long chat.
We went into town on Saturday and had some breakfast then walked round the Christmas market. Martin bought a ghastly tree decoration - a brightly coloured computer in Christmas colours. We went home and prepared for the evening ahead, but Yeti and I ended up leaving Martin and going into town. He was still waiting for the courier with his luggage to turn up from the airport so he could change his clothes. We went to the new Lep - very impressive, although it still needs a bit of work. The decoration is all white walls and green pipes, although the white walls make the pub seem a little cold when it's quite. The ventilation is superb which means a much less smoky atmosphere. All in all very acceptable.
We all went for food at Dickermann, and Martin finally turned up in his own clothes in time to have something to eat. We finished off the evening back at the Leprechaun, which had an extension until 3 o'clock. All the Murphy's staff turned up after they'd cleaned the pub, although Donal stayed away. It was his birthday, so maybe he was busy.
We went to Heuport with Andy for breakfast, then went to the Christmas marker again. We were going to drive up to Walhalla but didn't have time in the end. I drove them back to the airport where their flight was delayed by half an hour, but I think it was okay in the end.
Hopefully there should be some photos on the Leprechaun website soon (www.leprechaun.de), so you can see the new pub in all its glory.
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