World Tour of America #6: Return to England
I meant to post this earlier but I was too tired. Now I can't sleep so I suppose it's as good a time as any to do it.
I am now back in England. You may have gathered this already, I'm not sure, so consider this confirmation. My flight back was from Boston at 5.30pm on Wednesday and then change at Philly to arrive back at Manchester at 8.45 Thursday morning. nflutist very nicely gave us a lift to the airport but somehow managed to get us there in about half an hour so it was barely 2pm when I was checking in! The lady there asked if I wanted an earlier flight which I didn't until she said that it didn't look like I had a lot of time to change in Philly so I thought maybe an earlier flight would be a good idea. Of course then my flight got into Philly really early and I had over 2 hours to waste before boarding started. My US phone came in handy here as ftmichael was able to call me, although neither of us realised that it would eat into the credit there. 20 minutes later, I was completely out of credit and unable to tell him what had happened. I spent a rather stressed 15 minutes trying to find somewhere in the airport that sold top-up cards but nowhere did. I mean, WTF? In desperation, I asked one of the US Airways staff on the check in desk who couldn't think of anywhere I could get one from and when I said I only wanted to call Boston, very nicely let me use his own mobile! Michael was then able to get online and add more credit but seriously, I can't believe nowhere in the entire airport sold top-up cards. Ridiculous.
The flight from Philly was okay in that there was no major turbulence or delays. For some reason, they didn't turn down the cabin lights till 11.30pm US time which made it 4.30am UK time. Considering that was 4 hours before we were due to land, it didn't give a lot of time for sleeping. I couldn't get to sleep anyway, I was too hot and too uncomfortable and probably too aware of the fact that the lights would be going back on soon. Sure enough, bang on 7am UK time, the lights went back on and breakfast was served. An hour later, we landed at Manchester! I was greeted with pouring rain and 4° weather, so how was that for a nice welcome home? I didn't have to wait too long for a train either which was extraordinary. A short bus ride after that, followed by a trek in the increasingly heavy rain and I was back at home by about 11.
So, that's another trip over with. I hate how it all feels like a dream already. I feel like I'm in some weird kind of limbo; my room feels both familiar and completely strange at the same time. It's really unpleasant, being so disorientated by your own bedroom. I feel so lost and alone right now and I want nothing more than to wake up back in Boston. Roll on May.
I am now back in England. You may have gathered this already, I'm not sure, so consider this confirmation. My flight back was from Boston at 5.30pm on Wednesday and then change at Philly to arrive back at Manchester at 8.45 Thursday morning. nflutist very nicely gave us a lift to the airport but somehow managed to get us there in about half an hour so it was barely 2pm when I was checking in! The lady there asked if I wanted an earlier flight which I didn't until she said that it didn't look like I had a lot of time to change in Philly so I thought maybe an earlier flight would be a good idea. Of course then my flight got into Philly really early and I had over 2 hours to waste before boarding started. My US phone came in handy here as ftmichael was able to call me, although neither of us realised that it would eat into the credit there. 20 minutes later, I was completely out of credit and unable to tell him what had happened. I spent a rather stressed 15 minutes trying to find somewhere in the airport that sold top-up cards but nowhere did. I mean, WTF? In desperation, I asked one of the US Airways staff on the check in desk who couldn't think of anywhere I could get one from and when I said I only wanted to call Boston, very nicely let me use his own mobile! Michael was then able to get online and add more credit but seriously, I can't believe nowhere in the entire airport sold top-up cards. Ridiculous.
The flight from Philly was okay in that there was no major turbulence or delays. For some reason, they didn't turn down the cabin lights till 11.30pm US time which made it 4.30am UK time. Considering that was 4 hours before we were due to land, it didn't give a lot of time for sleeping. I couldn't get to sleep anyway, I was too hot and too uncomfortable and probably too aware of the fact that the lights would be going back on soon. Sure enough, bang on 7am UK time, the lights went back on and breakfast was served. An hour later, we landed at Manchester! I was greeted with pouring rain and 4° weather, so how was that for a nice welcome home? I didn't have to wait too long for a train either which was extraordinary. A short bus ride after that, followed by a trek in the increasingly heavy rain and I was back at home by about 11.
So, that's another trip over with. I hate how it all feels like a dream already. I feel like I'm in some weird kind of limbo; my room feels both familiar and completely strange at the same time. It's really unpleasant, being so disorientated by your own bedroom. I feel so lost and alone right now and I want nothing more than to wake up back in Boston. Roll on May.