Washington - Iceland
The time had come...we were going home! After all these months, the past couple of days we had gotten more and more excited about getting home and seeing family and friends. Giving my Grandma a massive hug, having Mum and Dad welcome us back to the UK in arrivals and playing with Grandmas dog...it'd been 6 months! We were waiting outside our Washington DC hotel after saying cheerio to Barack and Michelle when our SuperShuttle turned up. About half an hour late but we had plenty of time before our flight so thankfully we booked it to come early. We jumped in and we were off.
On our journey, the heavens opened (of course they knew we were leaving so they were sad!) but we were snug in a taxi so no harm done there! It was strange though due to it being absolutely beautiful weather recently especially the last couple of days in DC.
Then we had arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport. A fun surprising fact we learn't whilst there was that we had actually gone into a different state, we now were in Virginia. How weird. What made us think was that in duty free shops all the souvenirs had Washington and Virginia on them so we asked. 'What state are we in?!' Luckily we didn't get too much of a funny look...hopefully we weren't the only silly ones haha. You really do learn something new everyday!
There we are FI644 to Reykjavik...
When you are there we had to catch a little monorail to get to our terminal and so with our passports and boarding passes in hand, we were nearly on the plane.
We reached our terminal and we had time for some dinner and used the FREE WIFI, end on a high internet wise :) We took a long walk down the main walkway and settled upon Chipotle. We had had Chipotle maybe 2 times previous, actually I think only once!! Yes just the one, and obviously we must have liked it. We got our meal, taking it in turns watching the bags whilst the others went to order and collect their food. We all enjoyed it very much.
This is evidence...a clear plate/basket!!
We then were full up and so with that we headed towards the gate to board our flight.
We had been around this whole thing...well not officially until we touched down in Manchester but we had nearly reached that milestone. To this day we still can't believe what we did!
When we checked in, we had asked whether we were all sat together but sadly on our first flight we weren't. This was due to Chris having a different reference and of course booking another time. We had emailed a few days prior enquiring about sitting together but all the documentation had been put through so it was too late. He was about 4 rows behind us which was a shame. But on the second flight after our layover, he'd put us all together which made up for it.
Nat asked for an upgrade but that was asking too much - our experience of business class was one to treasure! (Dubai to Bangkok)
Iceland Air were quite generous giving each person a small bottle of water and I found a box for my earphones but what dragged them down is that you don't ANY free food AT ALL. You have to pay for it all! Crazy, okay if a short haul 2/3/4 hours but not a long haul one! The leg room wasn't brill and you also had to pay for earphones. Thankfully we had our own so we got around this but we were just focused on going home and we also slept alot as well.
Here we are leaving Washington. Goodbye America, it's been brilliant!
I love flying, just the pure idea of it is abit freaky but it enables you go get from one country to another so quickly and also to be above the clouds is something very special.
We had experienced this a few times but it never gets boring, going into the daytime.
Nearly at Iceland!
Then we had touched down, one more flight and we'd be home!
Iceland to Manchester
We had a couple of hours layover and the most amazing thing at the airport is...the toilets!! Oh my word you don't just have your own cubicle, you have your own bathroom. And there are loads! Own toilet, own sink, own dryer (dyson of course) and also after getting used to american public toilets it was a nice change. All public toilets have a ridiculously big slit down both sides of the door, completely pointless, the only point to them is for perverts to stare at you whilst on the loo...we just didn't get it and they were everywhere so it was nice not to be self-conscious every time somebody walked in.
After the amazinggggg toilets, we sat ready to board.
It was then time for the usual shuttle bus to the plane. Our last one!
Then we were on the plane, all sat together which was nice for our very last plane ride home.
Destination....MANCHESTER!!
And then we could see it, the greenery, the buildings, ENGLAND! Since being away I appreciate England a little bit more and also our local attractions. The York Minster was something us locals just walk by and take no notice of but now I look at it and think 'that's actually a really beautiful thing we have here'.
We then touched down and it was official......WE HAD TRAVELLED AROUND THE WORLD!!
Bloody hell that's crazy...fancy doing it again!?
We landed on time and Mum and Dad were waiting in arrivals for some massive hugs when we were reunited.
We collected our baggage and were on our way, after being let back into the country we were on our walk down the corridor and then we turned the corner. We were faced with crowds and crowds of people and I couldn't see either of them...and then I spied Dad. And then I saw Mum racing in front of everybody half crying already with a cut out of a Kelloggs Cornflakes box with 'Nat, Rach and Chris' on it. First reaction was a giggle to the sign and then tears...we gave them the biggest hugs, we couldn't believe it was happening. 6 months ago we had said goodbye, then said a temporary hello and goodbye in New Zealand and now it was Hello (for a while!). Literally people were staring at us and smiling with us being so happy! :) After our initial welcome, we headed towards the car!
Whilst we were walking and actually ever since we collected our baggage we wondered a few things. Our waterproof covers were missing, both of them and our bags had been tampered with. I momentarily opened the top of my backpack and all the heavy, solid things were on the top, we had obviously being checked. I completely agree with this security process however I completely disagree with them just stuffing our belongings back in any manner and also leaving our tie completely loose which was lucky not to get caught. As we were unpacking later that day, I found a sheet of paper from American Homeland Security saying we'd had a bag search. Fine with that but shocking how they left our bags and also couldn't be bothered to put our waterproof bags back on. ANYWAY!
After negotiating through the lift process at Manchester Airport, we got back to the car to find that they'd brought our scarves and coats yeyyyyyyy!! We did definately need it though, it was chilly with our hot climate clothes on. And then as we got in the car, Mum said they had a gift for us. When we left initially in February, I'd bought a cadbury creme egg and put it under their pillow for them to find later on that night. I took one to the airport with me, put it in my pocket and for some reason I thought I'd left it at home. Only to find, 5 minutes from the airport that it was in my pocket completely melted all over my pocket. That's why it mean't alot for them to bring one for us. :)
After chatting and chatting, we got home to a lovely sign at the front gate! Welcome Home Girls! :) Bless them! <3
Without even getting the bags out, I'd raced over to Grandmas and honestly I walked in, ignored the dog (sorry) and went straight to hug Grandma, there were tears, smiling, I picked her up and spun her around and it was just a perfect way of seeing Grandma again. <3
Mum, Dad, Nat and Chris then came over and we chatted and chatted and chatted and chatted.
We were home!!!
Now all we needed was to sort the mass of souvenirs and the hours and hours of footage. Completely worth it!! What an amazing 6 months!
Rach xx
P.S We will be doing a 'round up' blog doing a little interview with questions and answers which should be up soon.
P.P.S Thank you all for reading our blog and hope you've enjoyed all our adventures! xx
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