[no running for a week!]
We just returned last night from a week in the UK, in the London area. The ostensible reason for our visit was my wife’s participation in the Virgin Money London Marathon (Virgin Money is a bank I gather).
We flew out of Birmingham, AL on Tuesday the 18th, arriving in London mid-morning on Wednesday. And we came back yesterday the 27th. Our car in long-term parking at the Birmingham airport was charged for 10 days.
I have a few pictures from our trip and I hope to post some of them.
I was struck again by people’s generosity, and the extent my wife’s circle. We were generously treated to meals and housing and all sorts of hospitality by running acquaintances which she has met online. She had a lot of fun meeting these people in person.
She has won these friends by being encouraging and helpful in half a dozen or more internet venues related to running and fitness.
So it was nice to see her work and encouragement returning such pleasure to her. And I enjoyed being along and seeing new things and new people.
International travel is kind of an ordeal. On the way out I was wedged into my seat for 8+ hours. This is just a “normal” airplane seat with the welcome addition of a little TV screen where you can select from various current and classic movies, television shows, music, etc. On the way back we were in a monstrous Airbus A380 which was about half full. We flew a couple of hours in a full row and then found ourselves a bit more elbow room in an unoccupied row (still “normal” seats though). Outbound we went from Birmingham to Dallas to London; return was London, Miami, Birmingham.. and two hours of pry-your-eyes-open driving to get to the house.
But we made it where we needed to go and all turned out well.
Now we are back in the land of scrub-your-own-bathtub (where you can be you, but you have to clean up after yourself) and muggy weather. I’ll have to talk later about the weather.