At the end of last month Rose and I celebrated our 7th anniversary of moving permanently to Ambergris Caye, Belize. Seven years. They’ve flown by so fast.
Nothing to do with celebrating the anniversary but around a month before it we took a little time out from island life and made a visit to our previous stamping ground . London. England. United Kingdom no less.
Long time readers of this blog will probably have (quite rightly ) formed the opinion that I am somewhat a creature of habit. If I like something then I generally tend to stick with it (just ask Rose !). So, for our trip to London, I booked air tickets with United Airlines out of Houston and the Radisson Blu Grafton in Tottenham Court Road for our accommodation.
We caught the 09.00 hours Tropic Air flight to the Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport
and had checked in for our first flight to Houston , gone through security and were sitting at Jet’s Bar
and by
I had a
in front of me .
The short flight ( 2hours and 20 minutes ) to Houston was uneventful but we got a rude awakening when we approached the Immigration zone. It was packed. Horrendously packed (readers please do not moan about delays when visiting Belize ).
We eventually (around 90 minutes later ) cleared Immigration, got our plane and arrived at Heathrow around 11.30 hours the next day. We cleared Immigration and then Customs very quick;y and were in an Uber car (I love Uber ) no more than twenty-five minutes after touching down and in our hotel forty-five minutes after that.
Quickly checking in at Reception
quickly unpacking our ‘cases and a freshen-up and we were ready to ‘hit’ the shops ! We had some presents to buy .
With shopping over it was time for Rose and I to reacquaint ourselves with
and then for a good night’s sleep.
Breakfast the next morning .
Now what shall I have ?
Not quite an ‘Estel’s Dine By the Sea ‘ but …
With breakfast over it was time for us to reacquaint ourselves with the UK’s transport system.
An unusually empty railway carriage.
Around thirty minutes later we were collected by my nephew Bradley so that we could spend the day with his partner Shorona and lovely (Shorona is lovely too) children Lottie and Cody. Cody is with me in the photo below.
And then it was present trying on time for Lottie (it was her third birthday the week before we arrived).
“C’mon Lottie . Cheer up “.
“Stop hiding . We can see you”.
it was like a fashion parade. And we managed to get the right size !
We had an amazingly enjoyable day and didn’t get back to our hotel until around 22.30 hours. We had to get some sleep in. We had an appointment the next day With my friend John and his wife Janet for a traditional British Sunday lunch !
But first to savor the lovely Spring day with a walk-in the streets of London.
My friend had booked a table (who knew you need to do that with pubs too now) and not long after sitting down I was devouring my lunch (sorry, only remembered to take a photo after I’d started eating it ).
All friends before the big match . Watford versus Arsenal the next day. Janet and John both support the Hornets and Rose and I, the Gunners and I was going to the game with John.
After breakfast the next morning
-something a little different –
there was time for a little bit of shopping with Rose before heading off to meet my friends and ex workmates John and Jon for a pre match appetiser . Oh, and a few beers !
And after a bite we moved on, yes you’ve guessed it, to another pub!
This one with more Watford fans in it. I was outnumbered.
And then onto to game but not before there was a photo call.
Me surrounded by a load of plonkers.
Enough tomfoolery it was time for the serious stuff.
One nil to the Arsenal.Not unsurprisingly I wasn’t the most popular person in that section of the ground .Time to make a hasty exit and head back to my hotel !
More exciting adventures in the next edition which I’ll try to publish real soon. Can’t wait, can you.
The headline for this edition is based on the song (which I have to admit is one that I don’t particularly like ) released in 1972 by Ralph McTell which reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart.
Belize- building a new life . A Belize blog. 