Thursday, May 9, 2013

Saying Farewell to England ~ Day 9

Our final day in London. How did this happen so quickly?!?!

Packing our suitcases and going home.
We were sad our trip was over, but still
smiling because we'd had so much fun!

From my travel journal: "When we originally booked our hotel in London {The Strand Palace} we paid for breakfast to be included. How convenient, we thought. It was a nice spread of a traditional English breakfast that was great the first day, but has decreased in yum-factor with each passing day. On this last morning in London, we made our way down the street and grabbed a breakfast sandwich (a bacon butty) on our way over to Covent Garden."


At Covent Garden we did some last minute souvenir shopping then headed back to check out of our hotel room. I laugh to myself when I see the next photo and hear Carrie's words as we made our way back to our hotel - me stopping every 10 feet to snap another photo. "Mother! I don't think you realize how much we need to HURRY!" She was right, of course.


Cobblestone is tricky to walk on, but pulling a large, heavy suitcase on cobblestone is even more challenging. {At this moment I would like to send a shout out to the genius who invented wheels on suitcases! Awesome!} We made our way through crowds of people and onto the underground train headed for Heathrow Airport.

The train was packed! We squeezed in there like everyone else, and slowly made our way to the airport. With each stop came the silent hope that people would get off of the train, but more people just kept climbing in. Wow - that was interesting. We had to disembark at one point to change train lines, and from that point on there was a little more wiggle room.

Due to me taking one-more-picture, the crowds of people we waded through, numerous stops of the train, and then a delayed train when we had to switch, we finally arrived at the airport 30 minutes behind schedule. It was no big deal travel wise, but I felt bad because Ruth and The Boy Child had been waiting there to see us off.

"It's so nice to meet you!" I said to Ruth's boy. And in all honesty he replied, "We have been waiting and waiting and waiting..." :o) Bless his sweet heart - 30 minutes must have felt like an eternity to him!


The Boy Child was lovely, and he took to me right away. {Carrie got Alice, I had TBC!} He was chatty and animated, and it was so fun to see his excitement over all of the airplanes landing and taking off. He knew each airline carrier and announced their names as he saw them, including "There's British Airways, a JUMBO jet!"


We enjoyed a quick lunch and then it was time to make our way through security...


It was hard saying goodbye to Ruth and her boy. It was hard saying goodbye to England. Our trip was over, and now we'd be left with the lovely memories we jam-packed into nine days.

With a lump in my throat I hugged Ruth and her sweet boy. Carrie and I turned to walk away and in a moment I heard Ruth's boy call out, "I love you!" {be still, my heart} I turned, with tears in my eyes then, and called back to him, "I love you, too!"

Can you think of a more perfect way to end our time in England?
Simply perfect.
 
Dear friends ~ Thanks so much for your sweet and gracious comments on all of my vacation posts. It was such a special time for Carrie and me, and I realize that some of these posts were super lengthy, but it was a labor of love to put them together. I really appreciate those of you who took the time to sit through our vacation slides! It was fun, huh? ;o) ~ Deb

16 comments:

helena said...

I've loved the vicarious sharing of your trip over the past weeks. I love the last photo - it looks like it had pixel magic to make just a few colours stand out against grey and black - but know that is just what airports are like

Rhona said...

I have loved each one of your holiday posts but felt a lump in my throat knowing this is the last one. Those nine days went so quickly and it now feels like ages since you were here. We're so glad you came to the UK and so grateful we got a chance to meet up with you and Carrie. Special memories! Maybe one day I'll make it over to visit you :) xx

Barbara@Sweet Serendipity said...

Maybe it's the approach of Mother's Day, maybe it's remembering my own son at the sweet age of the boy in your story, maybe it's the new boy babe asleep in my arms as I'm reading your blog, or MAYBE you have just gotten very good at evoking emotion with your stories......but this post literally made me cry! Wonderful, Deb!

Ruth said...

TBC was thrilled to see himself in this post (as was I) and he frequently reminds me that we are going to Arizona one day. I'm so glad that you and Carrie came to the UK, that we were able to have an unrushed lunch and that you were able to meet TBC.
Lovely, lovely, lovely post! x

Irene said...

I have truly enjoyed reading all your post especially the ones of your England vacation. Love this last pic and that darling little boy's last comments. Your posts have touched my heart. Happy Mother's Day!

Sian said...

How very very lovely. That's one special little boy she has :) It's so nice to see him with Carrie, because I sometimes imagine him playing with Little E or even TTO. They all love trains

debs14 said...

A fantastic finale!what a great series of posts. You packed so much into your time and I've loved reading about your adventures.

Amy said...

Your travel posts have been wonderful to see Deb - I have thoroughly enjoyed all of them!
The finale is fabulous!

Anonymous said...

I've been so enjoying reading your England posts. I'm off to catch up on the ones I missed (this blog reader seems to only give me the option of most recent first).

Becky said...

A fantastic last vacation post. I have so much enjoyed reading these. Let's hope we get to meet again another day xx

Karen said...

I've loved every one of these vacation posts, and hope I'll be as conscientious about getting mine up next month as you have been. I do think it was the perfect trip---such a special time for you and Carrie, so many friends to meet, fabulous sights, and yes, the perfect ending!

Jo said...

I can't put in to words how much I have enjoyed your holiday posts, it sounds like you had a wonderful time :)

scrappyjacky said...

I have just loved all your UK posts,Deb....and am so pleased that you both had such a wonderful stay.
Love the photo of you and TBC.

Ginger said...

I really enjoyed reading each and every post Deb! You did jam lots into those 9 days and now you have these lovely posts and memories with fantastic photos to keep it alive. I also like that you kept a diary and included some of those written memories too :)

Alison said...

Tears again this morning Deb, as I read your final post...perfect!
Alison xx

Lisa-Jane said...

Awww, that made me cry! Kids are just so open with their feelings aren't they?! Glad you are home safe and sound. I'm still catching up on stuff around the blogosphere and packing something special for someone special ;-)

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