No sooner was I on a plane to England than I was on a plane back to Spain.
It was meant to be a quick trip to see a few friends and family, and it was. We seemed to cram a lot into a short time and once we got back, we seem to have spent the same amount of time saying to each other, we never did this, we never did that…..!
What we did do was get to spend time with the people we miss the most. Out of 4 days it rained only 1 day, but that was the day Neil played golf with his 2 sons. The rain just about held off until the 16th hole, and then the heavens opened.
At the same time, I was at a local Garden Centre with my younger brother and step-mother. My plan was to have a coffee and a natter and then see if I could find a rhubarb stock to bring back as I fancy growing some rhubarb here – I love stewed rhubarb and custard, I real taste of when I was little.
By the time we had finished coffee the heavens had opened over us and there was no way I was getting drenched for a bit of rhubarb root that may get taken off me at customs, if they spotted it cling-film wrapped to my hairdryer.
And there’s another thing. I had taken my hairdryer in my case with me never thinking that it’s one I bought since we moved to Spain, so if course when I came to use it, it had the wrong plug on the end and we don’t have any adaptors for Spain to UK items, only the other way around! Something for the shopping list.
We landed at East Midlands airport at 11.30pm Thursday evening, and after spending half an hour dragging our cases around the car park looking for our hire car, clicking the remote on the keys to see if we could see any lights flashing that would give us a clue as to where the car was, we finally found it in a completely different car park to that which we had been told to go to.
We had decided, even though we were landing late, we would drive up to Sheffield that night rather than staying in a hotel near the airport and driving up the following morning through rush-hour traffic. As we are not used to traffic here in Spain, the more I could avoid major traffic problems in the UK, the better. It turned out to be a wise decision as with a mile of leaving the airport we were into major road works for mile after mile, where they are widening the motorway all around Nottingham.
We arrived at the hotel about 1.30am and rather than the overwhelming feeling being that we were tired, it was that we were hungry and so at 2am we were sat eating chicken salad sandwiches and drinking coffee. Needless to say we were the only ones in the restaurant!
Friday was a good day and we saw several friends but I did realise I had ‘dropped a clanger’ with the hire car. We had booked it for Neil to do the driving as I rarely drive when I am with Neil. However, I had forgotten that while Neil was playing golf on the Saturday I was driving through to see my younger brother several miles away. The paperwork says ‘Please obtain Hertz approval for additional drivers’ and so we rang them up. Nope, can’t be done over the phone, we have to go in – both of us. Fortunately, I had taken all my paperwork as well as Neil’s but this now meant driving into the centre of Sheffield in Friday night rush hour. Oooops.
We found the Hertz office straight away and it only took 5 minutes to have everything updated to allow me to drive on the Saturday so as we were already in the city centre we decided to go and browse around Staples. I don’t know why but I love looking and normally buying stationery and associated bits. Clothes shopping does not do it for me, but stationery, electronics and stuff for the house & gardens, I just love.
We have designed cards with our address and phone numbers on one side and a little map of directions on the other and we wanted some business size card blanks to print them out on so, that was one purchase. We also bought a greetings card package & program for me to play about with and some ink cartridges as they were half the price I pay in Spain.
Note: Business cards a disappointment, they will not allow printing on both sides – one side is brilliant, the other is all smudged and blurred. Something else for the shopping list!
Saturday was another day of visiting which ended with us celebrating with friends whose birthdays happened to fall on the Saturday and Sunday. It was pure coincidence we were there for their birthdays, but it meant we could all go out for dinner together and have a great night.
Sunday was another day of travelling so I think it should be another day of blogging.
4 comments:
God, you did well! Talking about stationery I treated myself to three erasers from Dompte today as I have lost the one I brought here. I had it the other day, now it has gone. WHERE I ASK?? I thought maybe it had rolled under the bed or under the sofa but no! Of course now I've bought three more (3 in a pack 60c) I will, no doubt, find it.
Hi
The roadworks around East Midlands Airport have been there for about 1year with 50 mile an hour limits most of the way through up to Meadow hall - drives us barmy.
Must admit the level of traffic on the roads really hits you having been in Spain - I keep telling everyone it is so easy to drive in Spain.
Glad you enjoyed the most of your trip.
your boomerang title is much more cleaver than mine! sounds like a great trip for you guys!
LL - you will know, only too well, the joy in seeing friends and family after months away, and how hard it is to leave them knowing it may be many months again, but also how desperate you are to return home and see the animals. Living abroad can be trying at times.
Beverley - I cannot understand people who do not drive in Spain, if they can cope with UK traffic, driving on the right is a doddle with no traffic. We somehow managed not to go to Meadowhall this visit, didn't miss it at all! Did get to Brantano though - I love stocking up on shoes!
Spanish Owner - things always turn up when you have replaced them!
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