Earlier in the year, we had talked about the possibility of flying to the UK early in April, so that we could see Richard's mother on her birthday. She's living in a very nice care home now, in Sussex and they make quite a thing of birthdays.
We then pondered going first to Carlisle, to spend Easter with our older son and his family. We checked with them that they weren't going anywhere else, and we started idly looking for flights.
Then I spotted flights from Larnaka to Glasgow on March 31st at just 27 pounds per person. It was with EasyJet: a budget airline that we have used many times, and which we generally like. That price doesn't include any luggage, of course, other than an under-seat bag. We tend to upgrade to what they call 'easy boarding' which gives us an overhead carry-on as well, but even so - the price was excellent.
We know from experience that prices vary all the time, and can be extremely high over the Easter period, so we booked at once. Then we filled in the details - a rental car, accommodation when not staying with the family etc - and finally booked a flight back on April 15th.
We were all packed and ready at least half an hour before our friend Sheila came to pick us up to take us to the airport on March 31st.
The flight wasn't until after 9.30pm, which is when I usually like to be getting ready for bed. So I was delighted to realise that it was an almost-empty flight. This meant that once we had taken off, we could have three seats each, and lie down to rest. I didn't get a lot of sleep, but I think at least a couple of hours. So when we arrived at Glasgow in the early hours, I wasn't as tired as I might have been.
We stayed in the nearby Premier Inn, then, in the morning, got an Uber to Glasgow city centre to collect the car we had booked. The young man in the office was friendly and helpful, and the car was in the nearby multi-storey car park. And we arrived at our son's home around one o'clock, good timing for lunch.
It was wonderful to spend nine days with the family, hanging out, playing games, going for walks. We had a couple of meals out, and one day we went to the Watchtree nature reserve, where the children had rented vehicles - not exactly go-karts, but similar:
Meanwhile, we had an enjoyable stroll around the perimeter. It's not just Cyprus that has an abundance of yellow plants in the spring:
But all good things come to an end; on April 10th we embarked on the long journey south, stopping for a couple of hours to visit my brother and his wife who live around half way along the route. We had lunch, and a walk around their village, as well as a look at my brother's church. I really liked the Easter garden display inside:
Our 'home' for the next five nights was the Premier Inn right outside Gatwick Airport. It was extremely convenient, just five minutes' walk from the monorail that took us to the other terminal (where the railway station is). We took our car back, as we knew we wouldn't need it in and around the London area where trains and other public transport are so good.
The little party at the care home was well organised, with decorations, sandwiches and a cake. Richard's brother and his wife joined us too, as did our younger son and his wife. On the Sunday we visited Richard's mother's church, and caught up with some people Richard has known for decades, then went into London to spend the afternoon with our younger son and his wife.
And on the last day, we did a tourist trip to London, starting in Westminster where we saw that Big Ben was displaying two different times:
We looked at statues, we did a short river 'cruise' along the Thames, we saw lots of famous sites:
Then we met our younger son for a meal, and his wife joined us for 'Mamma Mia' at one of the London theatres.
It was extremely well-done, though unfortunately some of the music was WAY too loud for me, particularly the finale. I wasn't the only person with my hands over my ears. But despite that it was a wonderful experience, even thought it was past midnight by the time we got back to the Premier Inn. I noted that we had walked more than 10km that day.
All in all, it was a very good break. An unexpected bonus is that the sun shone almost every day...while we read that Cyprus was covered in dust for a couple of days, and experienced heavy rain and hail.
The following morning, we sorted our room and packed in a leisurely way, then made our way to the airport around noon, after checking out of the Premier Inn. Our flight was almost on time and we were home by about 9.30pm.
Lady Jane was delighted to see us, and refused to be shut in the kitchen/dining room area where she usually sleeps.
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