We flew to the UK on Friday and came back Monday, going by an untried route. I thought we'd try flying out of Basel. It is supposed to be the "Europort" on the border of France and Suisse. Unfortunately the train doesn't go to the airport (unlike everywhere else here) so you have to pay for a bus that takes 20 mins with a 15 min wait. At the train station there are no signs pointing to the bus stop, so it took us ages to find it. The airport is nice and quiet, plenty of kid running space. We went with Easyjet (a first)- Brtiain's Low Cost Airline. They're crap. If you want to connect to another flight (even on Easyjet) your bags won't be transferred, you have to pick up and recheck them! Huh??? Our flight was delayed an hour on the way out and 2.5 on the way back. Both times they really didn't want to say how long the delay was. The hostie burds looked like tarty 15 year olds and behaved terribly (like 15 year olds hehehe). We'd be up the creek in an emergency with that lot. Walter and I indulged in a lot of "In America things aren't done that way....blahbllah". I think we're a little homesick.
We stayed in a hotel in Kings Lynn (in Norfolk) along with everyone else at the wedding- it was great fun seeing John's "wee pals" as 30somethings, and my parents' friends, and ofcourse my family. The last time I saw a lot of them was 15 years ago! It was really nice meeting Sarah's family too. Jamie (Emma's brother) and Susan had the room next to us and we didn't milk the noisy chilldren early in the morning enough ;) The wedding was held on the grounds of Haughton (sp?) Hall, abode of Lord Chalmondsley (pronounced Chumley- seriously). The Stockwells were the last to arrive, ofcourse. The church is very old (I didn't have time to find out particulars) and has no running water or electricity. It's beautiful. The ceremony was lovely, and a few tears were shed. The reception was in the gardens, where Allie and Toby went crazy running around and eating the plants. Allie can pick out mint now! By the time the 'wedding breakfast' started we had to take the boys back to bed. The Friday travelling and the first night in a new place had rendered them unfit for human consumption. Walter and I missed the dinner and speeches :( We've been promised video. We did make it back for the dancing. When we arrived there was an ambulance parked outside the tent! The only other American (Californian at that) broke her ankle pole dancing! It was a great evening- there's nothing like men dancing in kilts....
On Sunday we said goodbye to everyone and drove to Cambridge, where we didn't see very much due to bad directions from a hotel clerk. What we did see was gorgeous- I highly recommend it. Monday, we woke to serious lightning and thunder, had a difficult day of travel (including Allie throwing up all over the bus from the airport to the train- the driver was not amused) and got home to a spectacular heat lightning storm. That's more lightning than I've seen in 10 years!
Walter's in Helsinki right now waxing eloquent :) The boys and I met a new friend at the park today. Veronique, her daughter Julia (20 mos) and son Alec (2 mos) are the family who lived in the apartment we'll be renting. Not only that, her husband Herb works in the office right next to Walter. Crazy, eh? We need to buy a car so we can visit them. They live in Courcelles-Cormondreche, a ways away in Swiss terms (15 mins). Can anyone recommend a good European car? I have no idea......
Here are some photies of the big day.
1 comment:
What wonderful pictures! The bride is glowing, the groom is beaming. I like what you named that first jpg! Wini and I just got through poring over the pictures and missing Toby & Allie. *sigh* You guys too, of course.
Tell your mum I adore that hat. Sarah and John look so cute!
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