And now the end is near …..well almost!

Let down again Dear Reader …I apologise ……yesterday came and went I’m afraid , courtesy of a rather nasty cough/cold caught whilst on our Camino! Where on earth it came from I cannot be certain , but my money is on the pilgrim walking into Finisterre as we were walking out. He carried his walking boots in one hand ( his feet in socks and a pair of plastic beach sandals, presumably wrecked from his walk) and walking pole in the other – so no hope that as he coughed as if he was the local town crier making an announcement, he could raise neither an elbow nor a hand to cover his mouth and prevent any germs escaping and heading my way……..

Anyway, I’m here now and keeping any germs to myself you’ll be pleased to know! I don’t want you to think I’m obsessed with flight safety or life jackets but when I was telling you about our flight home, I omitted to tell you about a flight the DB and I undertook in July of this year with our two American friends. We successfully flew from the UK to Schiphol Airport ….where we were due to catch a connecting flight within Europe! This is when things went awry – we managed to lose our friends ( careless I know Dear Reader, however we are absolved of all responsibility as they were in the care of the assistance team at the time!) , and when at the last minute we got on the connecting flight, to my horror the cabin crew giving the safety briefing forgot to tell us about the life jacket . I was all for pressing the call button to alert them to their error, when the DB suggested that perhaps a life jacket was surplus to requirement when flying over a land mass! He had a point , so I sat quietly for the remainder of the flight safe in the knowledge that at least my safety belt was securely fastened and if needed an oxygen mask was above my head should I need it !

In case you’re wondering , we were reunited with our friends some time later along with our suitcase that also went astray on the same journey – all was well that ended well!

So let me get back to the end of our Camino journey – I’d brought you all to a standstill on the runway at Stanstead Airport , thanks I’m sure to us and our fellow passengers applying the brakes! So we leave the plane after the usual scramble after touching down. I’m certain we’re told to remain seated, with our seat belts fastened, until the Captain has switched off the “fasten seat belt” sign. I must need my hearing testing because clearly everyone else hears “ undo your seatbelts as soon as we start to taxi to our dock, and as soon as the plane stops get up quickly to retrieve your over head bags ……oh and don’t mind anyone else whilst you’re doing it , things may fall out and hit someone but as long as it’s not you, all is good” The strange thing Dear Reader, is the doors don’t open any quicker for them than for me, and we all file off in line anyway. Just an observation……….

We all file off the plane and into the airport building – and follow the signs for Passport Control and Baggage Reclaim ….up stairs, then downstairs , along a travelator then to a bottle neck of travellers at the top of some stairs. We have arrived ….into utter chaos , no system in place it appeared, although being typically British, we found the end of the queue. However, to our dismay we realised many people reached the top of those stairs and completely ignored the queue. Suffice to say frustration was all around – when finally we reach the e- booths! What happened to the man or woman behind the desk looking at our passports ? Money saving I guess – but the machines don’t always play ball do they ? No, Dear Reader, they don’t! The number of people who stood hopefully on those yellow footprints, remove glasses (but then they couldn’t read the instructions – so glasses have to go back on whilst they check they’re doing the right thing – then off they come again so the machine recognises you) whilst you look in the camera hopefully……and then “computer says …no” . So you’re removed and advised to try a booth further along… Now, not that I’m telling Border Force what to do ……..just saying…….

So finally we exit Passport Control and head to Baggage Reclaim – and we’ve been so long, all cases from Santiago have long been removed from the carousel. Fortunately, not lost , so gathered up and off we go through Customs . We have nothing to declare -but suddenly the doors leading out of customs shut with an alarming siren and flashing lights. We, along with about fifty ( not too happy ) others were held in a holding bay …….further delay ! Eventually, we are released……and so to the bus ( I might say , at this point we have decided never to fly from this airport again!) Now for the bus – they allegedly come every 10 minutes. Well, we were at fifteen minutes already, but then we see the incoming drop off bus, labelled “Terminal”. Marvellous, we all thought – then the sign changed to “Out of Service”. I think you can imagine the mood of those waiting ……….fortunately, it changed quite quickly ( I think the driver saw anarchy ahead unless it did!) Eventually we reached our car , having spent over two and a half hours since leaving the plane . It’s just as well I’m not an influencer ( now there’s a thought!!!) because on that day , that airport was not fit for purpose !

Needless to say , the journey home “up North” was completely uneventful…….thank goodness I hear you cry, I don’t think I could take any more……..

That is us , back home and the end of one journey ……..not quite ready to set off again, but of course metaphorically we’re both back on our own everyday journeys! One of the first duties on my return is to ceremoniously discard my trusty ( well not so) raincoat.

One of my blogs referred to the 6 P’s – which talked about perfect planning preventing , let us say, a rubbish performance.

So Dear Reader , I put my hands up in error! I took this red poncho out of my case before we left for Santiago …… instead taking my 12 year old purple rain coat……I mean it was early September, surely it wasn’t going to rain??!!! Fool! Check the weather forecast next time . Lesson learnt though – red poncho is already in the rucksack for next time ………the purple one , you ask ……..easy, it’s in the bin!!!!

Just before I go, I’ll let you into a secret ……..earlier today I had surgery on one of my toe nails ……

As I was waiting to go in to this room, the receptionist came to me to ask if I’d mind if my partner came in with me ……the DB as you know him! Not at all I said – does he really want to come in? With that, he was in and sitting on a stool, eyes agog to watch the surgery! You can imagine my concerns – him fainting or worse in horror at the gore of the procedure …..not at all he said , I’ve watched this on you tube! – I’d like to see what they do ! Well rather him than me – I didn’t look at all!

So here I sit with my foot elevated – while Nurse Harding is doing a very good job of keeping me fed and hydrated – and I don’t mind telling you, I’m making the most of it! Normal service will return to Harding Towers soon enough!!!!

I am pleased to tell you , that is it for today …….however, I have decided to continue the blog with reflections and observations on both our Camino and life ……. you’ll be pleased to know it won’t be a daily occurrence, but once maybe twice a month …I’ll see how it goes!

So until we meet again Keep Safe , Be Happy …and remember, in a world where you can be anything, be kind.