Once again, Christmas comes around. It seems only moments since the last.
This year, we travelled to the U.K. for an extended break to see family and friends.
The trip began in early December with a train ride to Lisbon. Then, after an overnight stay, a flight to London Heathrow.
The port of call was Crayford, where we would stay for two weeks while Janet was working 'abroad' with her normal job. During that fortnight, I helped out with various DIY tasks around the house, and we also had time to shop for the forthcoming festive event.
The time passed too quickly; it was soon December 22nd, and time for our train journey to Halifax, where we stayed over the Christmas week.
We had various things arranged for this week. Eating out was necessary because we were in a hotel with no restaurant. We had previously booked a Christmas Dinner at a local pub and invited my sister to join us for the meal. We picked up some breakfast items and snacks to eat in the hotel.
To deliver some items and the Christmas gifts to our family in Macclesfield in time for the 25th, I had arranged a hire car for one day on the 23rd. We arrived at the hire place in good time and, because the medium-sized car which I had booked was not available, we were offered a large Chinese SUV at a reduced cost. With no other options, we had to accept.
The Jaecoo 7 Hybrid was a large vehicle, but it still only just managed our luggage and three people. The comfort is excellent with a fairly smooth, quiet ride. The driver assistance was often overwhelming, from the point when you first sit in the car. When you approach the vehicle with the key fob, the doors unlock, the door handles slide out, and it starts automatically. Then it fools you, climb in, put it into drive or reverse, and it will not move until you fit the driver's seatbelt - annoying when you only want to move a few feet.
Here's a promotional image of the same model that I stole from the internet.
Once on the road, it doesn't take long to work out the clever driver aids. Automatic handbrake, 360° overhead virtual camera view, lane selection view, rear parking camera view. The annoying bong-bong whenever the speed limit was passed, the bleeping and scary red flashing bar on the dashboard if it thought the car in front was approaching too quickly. All too much!
Nevertheless, we got to Macclesfield and back without incident, and the car was returned the next day.
We spent Christmas Eve doing some more shopping and delivering gifts to family members.
Christmas Day started quite strangely. We were in a fairly comfortable hotel room, but with few of the home comforts. We had some presents to open and a TV to watch, but little else to do until our Christmas Dinner later in the day. By the time we needed to leave for the meal, we were quite hungry 😅.
We met my sister at the Beefeater pub, ordered some drinks, and then we were seated for the meal.
Though the place was quite full, the waiting service was well organised. The courses were served promptly and efficiently. The quality was very good, and we really enjoyed the whole event. The only disappointing thing was the horrible coffee served at the end.
The weather had turned quite cold by the end of the meal, so we returned to the hotel to relax.
On Boxing Day, Janet was scheduled to work for a few hours in the morning, so I took the opportunity to visit my mother in the care home where she is a resident. Unfortunately, she is suffering the effects of dementia and needs almost constant care. My dad visits every day, both to be with her and to help with the care process.
I'm not sure if my mum really recognised me, but it was great to see my parents together.
I left the care home a little after lunchtime and went to my sister's house nearby. Janet had already arrived as planned, and we waited for my niece, her partner, and her children to turn up.
We had a very relaxing afternoon, catching up and snacking on treats.
Later that evening, we went to the Victoria Theatre in Halifax to watch a pantomime based on Beauty and the Beast. The show was very enjoyable, bringing back memories of working with the SOL Summer School theatre in Congleton.
The usual mishaps and improvisations had the audience in raptures of laughter.
Our final day in Halifax was spent shopping around town to buy items that we cannot easily find in Portugal.
On Sunday, we took a train journey to Macclesfield, with all our luggage!
The unfortunate part was not knowing that the free transfer bus to get from Victoria Station to Piccadilly Station did not start until 10 am. We waited for more than 30 minutes and then missed our next train by only a couple of minutes. We could have walked across Manchester and not had to wait a further 45 minutes for the next train.
However, we arrived at Macclesfield in good time; we had booked an early check-in at the hotel, so we went directly there.
A brief rest, then shopping for food and provisions in preparation for yet another hotel stay.
The week ahead had already been mostly planned, separate meals with our two daughters, a meal at our 'local' pub for New Year's Eve, and perhaps meeting with some old friends from where we used to live.
We had some very good meals, though much more expensive than we remembered.
It was wonderful to go out with Emily and Lyla; our granddaughter has grown up so much.
We did see her on our pre-Christmas visit.
The meal at Pizza Express with Rachel and Steve, her partner, was also very enjoyable.
Rachel also agreed to wash some of our clothes as we were running short of clean items to wear.
Our New Year's Eve meal at the Blacksmith's Arms was really nice, and afterwards we met for a drink with our old neighbours. That made the evening go well after the disappointing notification that the pub would be closing at 10 pm. We were hoping to stay there and celebrate the New Year. We were kindly offered a lift to the hotel, which saved almost an hour's walk.
In the end, we stood at the hotel window and watched the fireworks with Jools Holland's Hootananny playing on the TV in the background.
On Friday, after our meal with Rachel and Steve, upon returning to the hotel, the receptionist informed us that we had to change our room. Apparently, they had to honour a request for another guest to have their selected room; bizarre but true. Fortunately, we had already packed most of our clothes and items ready for the journey home, so moving to a different room just across the corridor was not too much of a chore.
Saturday morning arrived, and we took a taxi to the airport. Our passage through the airport, baggage drop, security, and the duty-free zone was a breeze.
Our flight was already slightly delayed, but not enough to worry about. The boarding gate was announced, and we went along as normal and boarded the plane.
After a few minutes, I could see the baggage handlers on the ground actually unloading the luggage. This is strange as we normally expect them to be putting cases into the aircraft. Apparently, the cargo room door had been frozen shut, and it took over 40 minutes to open the door before they could unload. Then they had to load the outgoing luggage. The delay was not too long, and we were finally on our way home.
Back in Lisbon, the expected delays at the airport through passport control were non-existent; we passed through without any problem.
Unfortunately, the delay with the flight departure meant that we had missed our planned train that would stop at Vale de Prazeres. The next, and final, train was the InterCity, which stops at Fundão. We would have to arrange a lift from a friend, probably sometime around 11 pm at the earliest, not a great solution. We decided to take the bus instead. The bus takes slightly less time and departs more frequently. Therefore, we would arrive in Fundão sooner. Better for everyone.
We arrived home slightly later than we would have had we caught the afternoon train, but home we were after four whole weeks away.
This place is definitely home now.