Homeward Bound

---

Geo: 53.4807, -2.23451

We awake early. All the bags are packed and all that remains is to make sure that the villa is spick and span for when the owners arrive later that morning. We nip to Denny's for our final breakfast of this trip. Peter has his usual 'Grand Slam Slugger' and I have my favourite 'Moons over My Hammy' and return to the villa to gather the last of our things before heading out. We do not need to be at Sanford Airport until at least 2pm and so we decide to do some last minute shopping instead.

We head up I-4 to the Mall at Millennia which we class as a 'posh' mall as it has a Tiffany store. Peter had been rather jealous of my Ray Bans that I purchased earlier in the week and so decided to get some for himself. He buys Ray Ban P's, the P standing for polarized which will beneficial when driving as eliminates glare. Not quite the bargain I got but still good for polarized lenses. We make use of the free wi-fi at Starbucks to locate a petrol station near to the airport as we need to ensure the tank in the rental car is full before dropping it off.

We arrive at the airport at around 2.30pm and Peter sortes out the return of the renatal car. Check-in and security is very quick as there is hardly any lines which is one of the real benefits of flying from this slightly smaller provincial airport. A quick stop at duty free for some essential beverages (Bombay & JD) and then we head to the Royal Palm Lounge. As we are flying premium class we have automatic access to this very pleasant lounge. We are given a wristband that entitles us to 2 free beers or wines which we make use off and then we settle down until boarding.

We are called to board about 16.30 and are soon settled in. We push back on time and take off around 17.15. Thankfully the flight time back home is only 7 hours 40 mins due to the jet-stream and a significant tailwind that I saw at one point during the flight at 173mph, propelling to almost supersonic speed. We both watch and enjoy Les Miserable from the inflight entertainment selection. It's a long film and by the time it ends we are already over Newfoundland and about to start the transatlantic part of the flight. There is not much else to choose from and so we both pull out our iPads to watch programmes and films we had previously downloaded. Night time is very brief if it could be called that at all, the full moon casts a eerie glow over the clouds and ocean below us so it almost looks like daylight. Soon the cabin lights are brought up and breakfast is served.

We land at Manchester at approximately 05.55 to bring to a close an excellent 2 weeks away. It feels like we have been away for much longer. We are greeted by bright sunshine and blue skies although the temperature is a little fresher at 6C (42F) but it's better than rain.

---

Comments

[SHERRY]

Enjoyed your blog thanks for sharing this

[Linda Ruckman]

Thoroughly enjoyed every part of your blog and would LOVE to travel with you sometime! We are from the Houston area and are planning our first trip on the Allure on Sept. 8th. Although we've cruised many times (usually on Princess and Cel
ebrity), this will be our first venture on Royal Caribbean! Thank you for documenting your fabulous 2-week trip!