I'm HOME...
Well sort of... I've returned to Vancouver and have taken up temporary residence with some friends, but I sure can tell you it was a nice feeling landing in Vancouver. Very comfortable...
Anyways, I do owe updates from the last cruise and my missions:
Heading out in Oslo: check
Finding pottery in Estonia: check
Getting to the Ice Bar in Stockholm: check
Getting out in Riga: no check
Seeing the Hermitage: no check
The last cruise was good in that George let me go out pretty much whenever I wanted. With 3 of us in the office, there was definitely more workers than there was work, so the last little bit was definitely easier on the hours. It was hard to imagine that after becoming so comfortable in my small cabin that I was going to leave it and head back home. My world had become the ship ~ my friends, my support, my entertainment.
The trip home required just over 2hrs on the bus to get to Heathrow. From there I spent far too much money on lunch ~ I'm not quite sure how they afford things there ~ 14 pounds for lunch which was $26US and that was with only a diet coke ~ no beer! After hanging around the airport for about 4 hours, I finally boarded the plane for home. The flight was just under 10 hours which I suppose is really quite remarkable seeing that I was in the North Sea less than 24hrs ago. I always love flying into Vancouver and yesterday was no different. Coming in over the mountains, I get a sense of calm as we approach the runway, and often find myself saying, it's good to be home.
Beth and Marc picked me up at the airport ~ kind souls. Beth has a new VW beetle and similar to my car is not necessarily intended for moving folks around. So there I was with my suitcase and box in the back seat as they were just a bit too big for the trunk.
I think it will take a bit of getting used to the fact that there isn't anywhere or anything that I need to do. For the past 6 months I have been required to stick to a daily schedule. Now my time is mine ~ and believe it or not the 2 months has been sliced, diced and a fair bit of it allocated. Plans include catching up with friends here, taking a 2 week vacation, heading back to ON to visit my dad and Krista ~ gotta see the new house ~ and then coming back to see a few folks before I head to New York to pick up the ship again in November. With things planned out, I am sure the time will go very quickly and before I know it I will be returning to my tiny cabin and a life that has oddly become comfortable, if not a bit surreal.
Saying good-bye to everyone before I left wasn't as difficult knowing that I would be returning. It felt like I was saying 'catch you later', rather than good-bye. Although I do know that there will be some folks who will not be there when I return and that is sad. I WILL MISS YOU PAM!!
Anyways, I was up at 5am, it is now 6:45am and I'm ready for a nap. Oh the joys of days off! I'm going to enjoy them while I have them I tell you.
Photos from Oslo and the Ice Bar to come. I promise.
Anyways, I do owe updates from the last cruise and my missions:
Heading out in Oslo: check
Finding pottery in Estonia: check
Getting to the Ice Bar in Stockholm: check
Getting out in Riga: no check
Seeing the Hermitage: no check
The last cruise was good in that George let me go out pretty much whenever I wanted. With 3 of us in the office, there was definitely more workers than there was work, so the last little bit was definitely easier on the hours. It was hard to imagine that after becoming so comfortable in my small cabin that I was going to leave it and head back home. My world had become the ship ~ my friends, my support, my entertainment.
The trip home required just over 2hrs on the bus to get to Heathrow. From there I spent far too much money on lunch ~ I'm not quite sure how they afford things there ~ 14 pounds for lunch which was $26US and that was with only a diet coke ~ no beer! After hanging around the airport for about 4 hours, I finally boarded the plane for home. The flight was just under 10 hours which I suppose is really quite remarkable seeing that I was in the North Sea less than 24hrs ago. I always love flying into Vancouver and yesterday was no different. Coming in over the mountains, I get a sense of calm as we approach the runway, and often find myself saying, it's good to be home.
Beth and Marc picked me up at the airport ~ kind souls. Beth has a new VW beetle and similar to my car is not necessarily intended for moving folks around. So there I was with my suitcase and box in the back seat as they were just a bit too big for the trunk.
I think it will take a bit of getting used to the fact that there isn't anywhere or anything that I need to do. For the past 6 months I have been required to stick to a daily schedule. Now my time is mine ~ and believe it or not the 2 months has been sliced, diced and a fair bit of it allocated. Plans include catching up with friends here, taking a 2 week vacation, heading back to ON to visit my dad and Krista ~ gotta see the new house ~ and then coming back to see a few folks before I head to New York to pick up the ship again in November. With things planned out, I am sure the time will go very quickly and before I know it I will be returning to my tiny cabin and a life that has oddly become comfortable, if not a bit surreal.
Saying good-bye to everyone before I left wasn't as difficult knowing that I would be returning. It felt like I was saying 'catch you later', rather than good-bye. Although I do know that there will be some folks who will not be there when I return and that is sad. I WILL MISS YOU PAM!!
Anyways, I was up at 5am, it is now 6:45am and I'm ready for a nap. Oh the joys of days off! I'm going to enjoy them while I have them I tell you.
Photos from Oslo and the Ice Bar to come. I promise.
posted by Carrie @ 6:28 AM
1 Comments:
At 9:27 AM,
Sean said…
Welcome back Carrie!
Looking forward to seeing you and drinking some beer on the new deck.
Check out updates at www.exactlyandapproximately.blogspot.com.
Hope to see you soon,
S.
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