(28th April 2009)
I never thought I would ever willingly and excitedly get out of bed at 530am ever. No really- anyone who knows me even a little bit would probably know that I don’t do mornings-ever. Here is the only exception. After 14 months nearly to the day of not seeing mum and dad I more than willingly dragged myself out of bed and to Heathrow airport. As usual I missed the train I wanted to catch and had to wait nearly half an hour for the next one (being stingy and catching the Heathrow connect). Granted I still got to the airport well before mum and dad were due to land but that’s not the point. I was just so ridiculously beyond excited. This excitement was pissed off slightly when I found out that the flight was delayed and running about 45 minutes late. BUGGER! It was like the world was screwing with me just to get a reaction. Well my reaction was to buy a large double espresso so in your face world!
When they finally walked out from the arrivals gates it was all I could do not to jump the fence and tackle them in a bear hug (I didn’t want to make a scene) so I waited until they just cleared the fenced off bit and then jumped on them. It was really surreal and hard to explain how I felt. I’m trying not to be overly dramatic here but after the last few months I’d had I really just wanted my mum and dad to give me a hug. I’m not ashamed to say we were all a little teary (even dad no matter how much he may try to deny it). After this initial excitement and them both commenting that I had lost weight (YAY!) they both needed to pee....nothing had changed – man I missed mum and dad!
So after our somewhat mushy reunion we headed back to Bayswater (another long wait for a train- it seemed to be my luck at the minute but considering the company I really didn’t mind). On getting back home and having a much needed cup of tea we headed out to see the sights of London. London really is a great place to be a tourist in and I never stop enjoying walking through the parks hunting for squirrels and people watching and having mum and dad with me really made it all the more exciting. I remember walking through Hyde Park we came across a sign saying “humps 400 yards” and for some reason dad seemed to find this one of the funniest things on the planet. I think it must have been the jetlag perhaps. After cutting through the park we got to Buckingham Palace. Somehow we had timed it perfectly for the changing of the guards. Now I have never seen this changing of the guards before but seeing the crowds on that particular day I realised that I still probably wouldn’t be able to SEE the changing of the guards, I might HEAR it but would it be really worth the effort? We made a group decision of “bugger that” and headed down to Westminster abbey. Best decision ever!!!!! We saw the Queen (and Prince Phil) but we saw the Queen! It was absolutely brilliant. I the staunch monarchist was grinning like an idiot the whole time. Mum and I actually climbed up on a big metal and concrete thing to get a better view of her and dad managed to wiggle through to the front of the crowd and get a plumb position next to a copper. Did I mention it was absolutely brilliant! At this stage I had been over here 14 months altogether and had been over once before and I had never even had a sniff of anything remotely royal. The closest I had come was visiting Windsor castle on a day that she was apparently in according to the flags and I once x-rayed a lady whose husband was in the royal marching band. Mum and dad couldn’t believe their luck that after only being in the country for like 3 hours they had already seen royalty! Not everyone can say that can they?
The next few days we spent doing some nicely generic London touristy things together. St Pauls cathedral, shopping on Oxford Street, the British museum, national portrait gallery, national gallery and the tower of London. We had a much awaited ride on the Eye (thank you Jo Heys!) and I even managed to get them both on one of those foot pedal paddle boats in Hyde Park! – I did most of the pedalling.
Next stop Dublin!
YAY MY MUM AND DAD ARE HERE!!!!!!!!!!
