Where is "home," exactly? Is it where you grew up? Is it where your parents live? Is it where your house is? Or is it wherever you happen to be living now?
Everywhere we've been over the past 3 weeks has been a place at least one of us thinks of as "home," but now, after going "home" so many times, we are back in London -- the newest location to earn that label. It was a great trip, during which we visited friends and family, our childhood homes, and a few favorite haunts. [And for those of you we did not get a chance to see on this go-round, we hope we'll be able to catch up with you on our next visit. Time is in short supply over the holidays...]
We started our family reunion tour in Washington, DC, where we stayed at Josh's parents' house -- the house they moved to when he was just 3 weeks old. While we were there, we toured some Christmas light displays...
Could use some more lights...
Met our friend Bela's adorable 6-month-old baby boy...
Baby Dillan and Mommy Bela
...And celebrated the birthdays of three dear friends -- who thankfully are also friends with one another, so we combined it into one epic birthday dinner.
2nd Annual Triple Birthday Dinner
With the birthday girls: Elizabeth, Diana, and Ann (and Naina)
We stopped by our house in Arlington -- the last place we both called "home" -- to check in with our tenant, and discovered that a new Trader Joe's had opened up FOUR BLOCKS AWAY! We knew it was coming, but seeing it full of shoppers and Hawaiian-shirt-clad employees made me a little sad that the nearest Trader Joe's is thousands of miles away from where I live now. Well, it will give me one more thing to look forward to when we move back. We also had dinner with some friends who are expecting a baby in April. I was taken completely by surprise when they asked me to be their child's godmother! (Especially considering how religious I am. Not.) What an honor! Best. Christmas. Surprise. Ever.
All too soon, it was time to head up to Vermont to spend Christmas with Josh's family at his parents' vacation house. To maximize our time there, we chose to fly up, which involved flying from DC to Boston and then catching a connecting flight on Cape Air from Boston to Lebanon, NH. The last time we flew to Lebanon, we were in a tiny 4-seater plane and Josh was the pilot (which made me the co-pilot!), so the 10-seater Cape Air plane was much larger in comparison, but still awfully tiny for a commercial flight! When we checked in, they weighed our carry-on bags, which we were not allowed to carry on the flight -- they were stowed in compartments in the wings -- and then asked each of us how much we weighed. It was a full flight, with 8 passengers.
No beverage service on this flight
The flight was a little bumpy, but went smoothly until we landed and discovered our luggage did not make it onto the plane. The guy at the Cape Air desk -- who also directed the plane in and unloaded the bags -- said they'd try to bring them on the next flight and have them delivered to us. We were a bit dubious that they'd have room if the next flight was full as well, but miraculously, we got a call later that evening from a taxi driver asking for directions. Hooray! Next time -- if there is a next time -- I think we'll take the Dartmouth bus from Boston to Hanover instead of flying into Lebanon to reduce the risk of lost luggage and weather-related delays/cancellations.
Josh's parents and brother, Ben, were already there with Ben's wife, Laada, and our nieces Laska (almost 15) and Larissa (7), so it was nice to catch up with all of them. There was no snow on the ground when we arrived on Dec 22, but we woke up the next morning to a winter wonderland. Of course we all had to bundle up and go outside to play in the snow!
Mikki (the dog), Josh, and Laska playing in the snow.
Charlie Brown Christmas trees!
Laska & Larissa's snowman is happy to see you
View from the house overlooking Lake Morey
Josh and Larissa-sized snow angels on the deck
Josh sledding down the road
Laska and Larissa with their "ice buffalo"
Sunset over Lake Morey
It was nice to have a white Christmas in Vermont, although it made it a little treacherous getting up and down the narrow gravel road to the house. Fortunately we had two cars with 4WD, so we weren't trapped up there. We had Christmas Eve dinner at aunt Portia's house across the river in Orford, NH, with Josh's aunt Priscilla and uncle Ken, who were also in town for the holidays. On Christmas morning, the girls opened their stockings and waited patiently for everyone to get up, eat breakfast, and get the house ready for Christmas dinner before opening presents. They were much more patient than Josh and I were! I guess we should have brought our stockings, too.
Santa came!!!
We also posed for a few family photos by the fireplace -- taking advantage of all the additional photographers.
We had a bit of drama after dinner. We had finished opening gifts and were JUST about to start a game of Scattergories (a family gift from aunt Portia) when the phone rang. The downhill neighbor's car had gotten stuck on the road on her way home and until AAA could come and tow it to her house, no one would be able to drive up or down the road to our house. The men all bundled up and headed down the hill to see if they could get her car out of the ditch, but to no avail. There had been a few snow showers during the day, and the temperature was well below freezing, so the road was pretty slippery. We abandoned the game and waited to hear back from her once the road was clear, but when the phone finally rang, she was nearly in hysterics. The first tow truck that came couldn't make it up the hill to her car, so they sent a second one with a snow plow. The driver managed to get up the road, but after chaining her car to the back, he lost control of the truck, sliding backwards and crashing into the front of her car -- and pushing it right back into the ditch. He told her she'd have to wait until the road was plowed and sanded before they could help her, and then left. Nice.
This is a private road in very small town in Vermont. It's maintained by a guy named Todd. There was some doubt as to whether Todd -- or anyone else -- would be willing, or able, to treat the road at 9 pm on Christmas, so the aunties and uncles bundled up and set off down the hill on foot. Fortunately, aunt Portia had left her car at the bottom of the hill and had Bill drive them up, so they didn't have to walk all the way back to New Hampshire!
We were invited to lunch at aunt Portia's the next day, so we were relieved to get a call from the neighbor at 11:30 am to let us know that the road had been sanded and her car was safely back in her garage. We made our way carefully down the hill and across the river. While we were waiting for Josh's uncle Josh to arrive (yes, it does get confusing!), Portia's husband, John, showed us how he had creatively re-used the case of his old Apple G5 computer after the motherboard melted down:
The Apple G(erbil)5
[Please note that no actual gerbils were harmed (or used) in the making of this adorable gerbil habitat. Those are just stuffed animals.]
Uncle Josh arrived with cousins Nick and Eliza, and since we had a critical mass of the Fitzhugh family all in one place (including Josh's dad and all three of his siblings), Nick offered to take a family photo with his fancy camera. While he was getting the tripod set up, I took a quick one myself. Larissa was having one of her moments, but at least you can see everyone else.
A large chunk of the Fitzhugh clan
Ben and family headed to the airport after lunch so they could visit Laada's family. A couple days later, we did the same (to visit MY family, that is). The weather was a bit iffy -- what you'd call a "wintry mix" of rain, snow, and sleet -- so we were nervous that our flight would be canceled or delayed. We would have left right on time, had we not had to wait for another plane to land, which took an eternity due to the low visibility. We were sure our bags would not make it onto our connecting flight once again.
Our Cape Air flight back to Boston
By the time we arrived in Boston, 20 minutes late, we were doubtful that we would even make it to our connecting flight to San Francisco. Fortunately, it was in the same terminal, so we didn't have to leave the airport, take a shuttle bus, and go back through security like we did on the way up. (What's up with that, Logan?!) We made it to the gate just as they started boarding. Whew!
When we got to San Francisco, we assumed we'd have to arrange for our bags to be delivered to us yet again, but -- miracle of miracles! -- they showed up on the baggage carousel! We couldn't believe it. Even better, our flight got in early, there was no line at the rental car counter (and they had one Toyota Corolla left), and there was NO TRAFFIC between SFO and my sister's place in Berkeley. And to top it all off, she had a Zachary's pizza in the oven for us when we arrived. It was like Christmas all over again!
The next morning, we loaded up the car and the three of us drove down to Fresno to visit my parents for a belated Christmas celebration. They've lived in the same house since I was 2, so it was yet another homecoming for me. My parents didn't get a Christmas tree this year, so we hung the tree quilt my aunt made over the fireplace so Santa would know where to leave the gifts. It worked!
Our Christmas tree in Fresno
Having grown up there, I can say with confidence that Fresno is one of the least interesting parts of California, but we still enjoyed our visit. I hadn't seen my parents since the previous Christmas, so it was nice to spend some time with them, and they were equally happy to see us. My mom made many of our favorite foods -- including her famous turkey enchiladas -- and Josh enjoyed making fresh-squeezed orange juice every morning with oranges he picked from my parents' tree. I saw a couple of my old high school friends who still live in the area, and we caught a matinee of The Muppets, which doesn't open in the UK until February. (I LOVE the Muppets, so I couldn't wait that long!) Thanks to a combination of jet lag and nothing better to do, we were in bed by 10:30 on New Year's Eve.
After lunch on Jan 1 we loaded up the car and drove back up to the Bay Area, dropped my sister off in Berkeley, and arrived at Josh's aunt Kris' house in Palo Alto just in time for dinner with cousin Jennifer and her family. They are all planning a trip to the UK this summer, so we had lots to talk about. The next morning, we went for a walk with aunt Kris, which took us through a swanky neighborhood where lots of Silicon Valley bigwigs live, like Google's Larry Page and the late Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs' house - the little trees in front are apple trees!
In the afternoon, we had a visit from cousin Jessica, who is getting married in Wales this summer (hence her mom and sister's planned trip to the UK). We are looking forward to seeing Wales and spending time with the family -- and we're glad we won't have to fly all the way to California for the wedding (not that we don't enjoy going to California, but it's a long and expensive trip from London). Good thing Jessica's fiance is from Wales!
That evening, we paid a quick visit to my uncle Armand, who lives 10 minutes away from aunt Kris, and then had a nice dinner with our friends Esther & Karl. I've been friends with Esther since 4th grade, and Josh and Karl get along very well thanks to their shared love of airplanes, so we always try to see them when we're in the area. I lived in Berkeley and Oakland for 8 years before I moved to DC, and since my mom is from San Francisco and both of her siblings and my sister live in the Bay Area, I feel like I have stronger ties to that part of California than I do to Fresno. Especially when you add my friends (like Esther) and Josh's relatives to the equation. I always feel a little homesick when I'm there.
We flew back to London on the 3rd. It's a 10.5-hour overnight flight from San Francisco, but it seemed a little longer thanks to the poor little girl sitting next to me, who went through an entire stack of airsickness bags and two changes of clothes -- she couldn't keep anything down. Her mother was very apologetic and baffled, as she'd never gotten airsick before and no one else in the family was sick -- she had 2 other kids. She thought maybe it was something the girl had eaten. Even worse, it was her birthday. I'm guessing she was turning 5. Poor thing!
When we returned to our little house in London on the 4th, we were greeted with a stack of Christmas cards that had arrived while we were away. After living out of a suitcase for 3 weeks, we were happy to be back in our own house, and sleeping in our own bed. Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home. Well, except for all the other places that are like home...
As Christmas approaches, the weekends fill up with holiday activities, and this past weekend was no exception. Friday night we attended the monthly AWC cocktail party at one of the member's flats in Kensington. Many people had already left town, but there was still a good turnout. I had spent the afternoon baking Christmas cookies, so I brought a plate to share as my "holiday" themed appetizer.
Saturday afternoon we had our first outing to the New Wimbledon Theatre, which is just a few blocks from our house.
The New Wimbledon Theatre at night
It is a large, full-fledged playhouse, which often hosts West End/Broadway-style shows. At Christmas time, they traditionally have a "Panto" or Pantomime play, which takes a familiar fairy tale and embellishes it with pop songs, cross-dressing actors, audience participation, and a celebrity cast member. In this case, the show was Dick Whittington, starring Dame Edna Everage. It was a full house, and about 50% of the matinee audience was under the age of 10, so it was quite a boisterous crowd. We had great seats in the first row of the mezzanine, which gave us an
unobstructed view of the stage without being in danger of getting picked
on or sprayed by the cast (who at one point were wielding super
soakers). We weren't allowed to take photos during the show, but I did snap a couple before it started.
The sparkly curtain (and view from our seats)
Dame Edna made a grand entrance in her "possum gondola"
During the intermission (or "interval" as they call it here), they handed out special 3D glasses to everyone in the audience that resembled Dame Edna's signature glasses.
Dame Edna 3D glasses
I wasn't quite sure why we'd need 3D glasses to watch a play, but the second half of the show contained an underwater sequence projected on a screen that was right out of Finding Nemo. The entire show was very entertaining, and while some of the singing, dancing, and choreography was less than stellar, Dame Edna was hilarious! We'll definitely be back for next year's show, whatever it will be.
Saturday evening, we were invited to a holiday part at our neighbor's house, which they had originally planned for the following weekend, but then moved it back a week when Josh mentioned that we would be out of town. They are so sweet! They invited the occupants of all the adjacent houses on our street, so we got to meet several other neighbors that we hadn't seen before and get better acquainted with the few that we had. It was quite a multicultural group. In addition to our Kiwi/Aussie/Chinese hosts, and our Indian/American selves, there were a handful of South Africans and a guy from Sweden. So much for getting to know more British people... ;-)
I left all our Christmas decorations in storage in our house back in DC, but we felt like our house needed something to make it feel more festive. I spent about $8 on a tinsel garland and a bead garland -- which I wrapped around the banister -- and some tiny red jingle bell ornaments, with which I decorated our rescued IKEA bonsai tree.
Charlie Brown tree, UK edition
My neighbor, Anna, asked if we were getting a Christmas tree, so I explained that since we were going to be away for Christmas, and didn't have any ornaments anyway, we would have to make do with a Charlie Brown tree this year. After seeing her puzzled smile, I realized that while Charlie Brown and Snoopy are globally known, the animated holiday specials are only shown in the United States, so I had to give her some back story so she could understand the concept.
Sunday we hunkered down at home and powered through our Christmas cards. It took most of the day, but we had a great feeling of accomplishment when we were done. If only we were so methodical about our Christmas shopping...
We had planned a long weekend in Brussels because we had heard that the Christmas markets there were quite nice, and it was easy to get to by train -- which is often faster and cheaper than flying. We had initially hoped to go to Germany, which has the most Christmas-y markets of them all, but the cost was prohibitive by the time we got around to planning the trip. But since we both love chocolate and waffles, and speak a little French, Brussels seemed like a good alternative.
We arrived at the Gare du Midi in Brussels around 5:30 pm and made our way down to the subway station underneath. We knew which station our hotel was near, but weren't quite sure the best way to get there. Josh bought tickets from a machine while I tried to find a map. No sign of one posted anywhere in the station. And when I asked one of the station attendants for a printed one, he said they didn't have any. When I pressed him about where I could find a map, he asked, "What do you need it for?" Seriously? This is an international train station full of tourists. Wouldn't it be helpful to have a metro system map posted somewhere so they can figure out how to get where they need to go? Maybe he misunderstood -- his English wasn't great, and neither is my French -- but this was not a great start to our weekend in Brussels. And it only got worse...
We made our way down to what we thought was the correct platform. Once again, no map. Just a list of train numbers and stations. I didn't see the station we needed to get to listed there, so I asked Josh if he was sure we were in the right place. He pulled his iPad out of his backpack and loaded the tiny Brussels metro map he had downloaded before we left and checked it against the sign. A friendly bystander with his two small children asked if we needed any help, so we told him where we were trying to go, and he confirmed that while the trains on this platform didn't stop there (despite what it looked like on the map), we could get off at another station that was only a few blocks away and walk from there. A train was approaching, so Josh went to put his iPad back in his backpack, which he had set down on the chair behind him. It was gone.
After a few frantic moments trying to find it and questioning uninterested bystanders, Josh ran back up to the station to find a police officer while I waited with our luggage. While we still had our wallets, cell phones, iPad, and camera, the backpack contained Josh's work laptop and both of our passports. Not good. The friendly man offered to stay with me until Josh returned, but since he had two restless little kids with him, I said I'd be OK. He gave me his business card and told me to call or email if we needed any help before herding his kids onto the train. Glad to know there is at least one good person in Brussels.
I waited for what seemed like an eternity as trains and passengers came and went. Josh had to wait in line to file a police report as there were several other people who had just been robbed in the station. Some even had their luggage stolen while they were using the ticket machines! I texted him the after-hours emergency number for the US Embassy in Brussels, so he called them while he was waiting and was instructed to show up there first thing on Monday morning with completed forms (available online) and passport photos. Then he had to go to the Eurostar office and change our return tickets, since we were planning to return to London Sunday evening as Josh had a full day of meetings scheduled on Monday. They confirmed that we would not be allowed to board the train to London without passports, so we were stuck in Brussels until we could get new ones. What a mess!
By the time we got to our hotel, we were cold, hungry, and utterly exhausted. The people at the reception desk were very sympathetic when we told them what had happened, and said they would extend our reservation another night. At least the hotel cheered us up a little. It was more like a large B&B, and was literally right across the street from one of the big Christmas markets. Each of the rooms at the Welcome Hotel is decorated in the theme of a different country that the owner has visited, complete with items he has brought back from his travels. We were in the Zanzibar room, which was decorated in peacock blue, complete with a peacock painted on the door.
The door to our room (interior)
It was quite a contrast to our rather bland, poorly lit -- but well-appointed -- room in Paris, with colorful tile, fabrics, and lanterns and a trompe l'oeil mural on the wall above the bed. It was small, but had all the basic necessities, plus free wifi and breakfast.
The Zanzibar room
After dropping off our luggage, we headed back out in search of dinner, which took us through the Christmas market across the street. We weren't really in the mood for shopping, but took in some of the sights...
Santa and the Christmas Ice Monster
Ferris Wheel
Awesome steampunk carousel!
Because it was a Friday night and we were right by the Christmas market, many of the restaurants were crowded, but we eventually found a table at a pizza place and soothed our growling tummies and frazzled nerves with comfort food, Belgian beer, and Italian wine.
Saturday we resolved to put our unpleasant arrival out of our minds and just enjoy the day. It was cold, gray, and drizzly, but we braved the dreary weather to take a walking tour of the city and enjoy the holiday decorations.
Floating men
We eventually found ourselves in the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, which is a beautiful 19th-century covered arcade full of high-end shops, cafes and theaters.
Josh braves the shopping arcade
It was bustling with tourists and holiday shoppers looking for a refuge from the weather (like us), and is a great place for window shopping for the products Belgium is famous for:
Lace
Chocolate
Jewelery (those are earrings on the tiny table)
Brussels was another center of Art Nouveau architecture, particularly by Belgian architect Victor Horta, so we enjoyed spotting examples as we walked around the city. Here are some other photos from our wanderings...
Park and museum
Glockenspiel
Art Nouveau buildings
Museum of Musical Instruments
Antiques market
Palace of Justice
View from Palace of Justice
More Art Nouveau
Memorial park
Knit hats that look like baby clothes
More Art Nouveau
Tintin!
Near the town center is the famous Mannekin Pis fountain. It's hard to imagine that this used to be a source of water for the people of Brussels. Who would want to drink from a fountain that depicts a naked little boy peeing? Nowadays, the little boy is rarely naked, as he has an extensive wardrobe of custom-made costumes. On this particular day, he was dressed for the season, because nothing says "Christmas" like St. Nicholas taking a piss on a street corner.
Mannekin Pis as St. Nick
We found ourselves in the Grand Place just as it was starting to get dark, and were treated to a lovely light and music show.
Town Hall
Town Hall and Guildhalls
Christmas tree and snow globe
Town Hall
Tree and light posts
We had a late dinner at a traditional Flemish restaurant near our hotel, and then hit the Christmas market for dessert.
Outside our hotel, with Xmas market in background
Belgian waffle with chocolate, strawberries, and whipped
cream. YUM!!!
Not only did the market have a giant Ferris wheel and awesome carousel, but there was a huge skating rink in the middle of the square.
Ice rink
Sunday morning we got back to business and downloaded the forms we needed to get temporary passports at the US Embassy, and emailed them to the lady at the front desk to print out for us. Then we set out in search of a place to take passport photos, only to discover that all the local photo shops were closed on Sunday. Doh! Fortunately, the tourist info office was open, and the lady there suggested trying the photo booth in a nearby metro station. For 5 euros (about $6.50) each, we got just what we needed. Well, my first set turned out so bad (I looked green!) that Josh gave me another 5 euros to retake them -- and if you know what a cheapskate Josh is, that says a lot. The lighting in these booths is not very flattering!
Don't smile!
With that out of the way, we headed back to the Grand Place to meet an old family friend of mine for lunch. Twricy Hsu (pronounced "Tracy Shu") was a student of my parents when I was just 5 or 6 years old. Originally from Taiwan, she became an honorary member of our family while she was studying at Fresno State, and my parents kept in touch after she went off to grad school and married a fellow student from Belgium. We visited her in Belgium when I was a teenager, but we hadn't seen one another for 25 years, so it was quite a reunion! She looked exactly the same, while I'm sure I've changed quite a bit...
Naina and Twricy in the Grand Place
We had a delicious lunch of traditional Flemish food at the restaurant T Kelderke, which is in a cellar underneath one of the guildhall buildings in the square.
In the Grand Place by the Christmas tree
Then we walked around the city center together for a little while, stopping at a cafe to warm up with some Belgian waffles and hot drinks. Yum!
Mmmmm... Waffle with strawberries and warm chocolate sauce...
It was wonderful to see Twricy after so many years, and we promised to plan another trip to Belgium before we left London so we could visit her in Leuven, which is just west of Brussels.
In the evening, we walked through the Christmas market by our hotel, and then wandered back towards the Grand Place to visit the other Christmas market we had seen by the Bourse (stock exchange).
Christmas market at St Katherine's Place
The Bourse, lit up, and another Christmas market
It was a drizzly Sunday evening, so the masses of humanity we had waded through the previous evening were somewhat diminished and we were able to get a better view of the festivities.
Nativity scene with live sheep
Light and music show in the Grand Place
We woke up early Monday morning, gathered up our paperwork and passport photos, and headed out to the US Embassy, which was mercifully only 3 metro stops from our hotel. It was still dark out when we arrived shortly before 8 am, and we were the second and third people in line when they finally let us in about 20 minutes later. We had to go through a security screening and a metal detector, and had to leave everything but our paperwork with the security guards -- no cell phones, cameras, iPads, etc. were allowed inside. We took a number from a little machine by the door, where you push a button to indicate the purpose of your visit -- visa application, passport services, etc. -- just like at the DMV. The guy in front of us must have been there for a visa, as we were numbers 401 and 402. Then we sat and waited for our numbers to be called.
And waited.
And waited.
Finally, around 10:20 am, Josh asked the cashier if she had any idea how much longer we would have to wait, and if we might have time to run out and grab some breakfast, as we didn't have time to eat beforehand and we were starving. (Our hotel didn't start serving breakfast until 8) She was very apologetic and said the Consular Officer didn't show up for work until 10 am and went straight into a meeting, so we could probably leave as long as we were back by 11. Then she suggested we write to our congressman to complain. Yeah, I'm sure that would make a difference. We grabbed some croissants from a small cafe across the street, and then came back and waited some more.
All the visa applicants had come and gone, and all that remained in the room were other Americans who had also had their passports stolen over the weekend. We heard similar stories -- one woman had her wallet and passport stolen out of her backpack while she was holding it in front of her on a crowded metro train. Another man had his bag stolen from right under his feet as he was using the men's room at the train station. A third has his suitcase stolen while he was using the ticket machine at the station. Clearly, they have a serious problem with theft in Brussels.
We started getting a little peeved as people with higher numbers got called in before us. By the time they called #401, it was 11:30 am. The Consular Officer was somewhat apologetic for the delay, but only because she didn't see the "Urgent" sticker on our form -- not because she didn't even start processing applications until 11 am. She spent about 2 minutes having us swear an oath and sign a form, and then told us we would have our temporary passports within the next 30 minutes.
An HOUR later, we finally left the embassy with our temporary passports. Apparently the US will only issue and print passports in the US, so if you apply for one overseas, you have to do it by mail and wait for them to send it to you. In an emergency, they will issue you a temporary passport, which looks just like a real one but with fewer pages, and is only valid for one year. During that time, you must go through the application process all over again to get a real passport, so our ordeal was far from over -- in more ways than one.
We hurried back to our hotel, where we were supposed to have checked out of our room by noon. Fortunately, we had requested a late check-out and packed most of our things before we left, just in case, so while someone had already cleaned the room, our luggage was still there. We left our bags with the front desk and went off in search of lunch.
St Katherine's Place, where our hotel was located, used to have a canal running through it, and was once a popular fish market. It is surrounded by seafood restaurants, many with big red neon lobsters advertising their menu. Since I don't like seafood, and most of them were quite expensive, we ended up getting soup and a Belgian waffle from stalls at the Christmas market instead. Yummy, and quite a bargain in comparison.
Lobster, anyone?
We also got a closer look at the amazing steampunk carousels we had spotted earlier. They were made in the 90's in France by Les Maneges d'Andrea, and are the coolest carousels we have ever seen. Here are some photos of one of them. The rocket is on a hydraulic lift that goes all the way up through a hole in the roof!
I have never used this function on my camera before, but I felt compelled to take a video of both carousels the previous evening. Sorry about the video quality, but this is my very first attempt at taking a video and the conditions were not ideal. (I also had to teach myself how to use iMovie and upload it to YouTube -- I'm a little behind the curve...) Keep an eye on the rocket, and you can see it lift off. The little boy inside was having the time of his life!
We collected our luggage from the hotel and took the metro to the train station, keeping a close eye on our belongings. We arrived at 3:00 to catch a 4:00 train back to London, but hit yet another snag. Although no one even asked for our passports when traveling from Paris to Brussels, you must pass through border control before boarding a train to the UK. When the officer asked how long we intended to stay in the UK, we explained that we were resident there (we didn't think it would be wise to lie in this situation), but that our passports containing our immigration visas had been stolen. He said he'd need to verify our immigration status, and asked us to have a seat, pointing to an area off to the side with two folding chairs, both of which were occupied.
The
occupants turned out to be a Japanese couple in the same boat. They
also lived in London, but their passports had been stolen at the
Christmas market, so they didn't have their immigration visas, either.
The four of us waited for over an hour while everyone else boarded the
train and left. Finally, we were told that they had verified our status
and rebooked us on the 6 pm train. They stamped our passports to
indicate we have a visa, so at least this won't happen again -- until we
get our new ones.
We were very happy to finally find ourselves back in our little house in Wimbledon later that night,
at the end of what would have been a wonderful trip. We unpacked our
souvenirs -- chocolates, Christmas gifts, and paranoia -- and went to
bed.
