the traveller returns

well I am now back in London and I felt that for completeness I should update with my last few days in California plus my journey home.

When I left off we were about to celebrate 4th july. It was great fun. We watched Italy beat Germany on the tv (can't believe that I was actually hoping germany would win), drank some beers, had a lovely bbq, ate ice cream and went to watch the fireworks go off over disney land.

The 5th July we actually went in to Disneyland. It was me, Gaby, Sandy and little Giorgina, who at 2 years old was scared of a lot of the rides (despite claiming she wasn't scared, you should have seen her holding her hand over her mouth and looking wide eyed during the Pirates of the Caribbean ride). I did a lot of the more adult, scarier rides like Space Mountain, thundermountain etc.. which was a giggle. We ate lots of stuff that was very overpriced and bad for us. A good time was had by all and we were all exhausted by the time we made it home that night.

Thursday morning it was Eduardo's birthday so we had a celebratory breakfast before we started our girls day. I went for a manicure with Sandy and Gigi (her first manicure and pedicure - she was so good until she smudged it all right after it was done but 2 year olds aren't designed to stay still and wait for these things to dry). Sandy and I dropped Gigi off at home before going out for a spot of shopping and a bite to eat. It was really good fun. We giggled a lot and experienced the joys of retail therapy. When we got back it was time to change shifts with Gaby coming out with me for rubios fish tacos and a film (the Lake House) which was a cute chick flick. We had a lovely time.

the next morning it was friday and time for me to pack my stuff for my journey home. It took me ages, as once again my stuff seemed to have expanded (could be due to the retail therapy the day before) but I manage to cram everything in so that I would only have to wander through the airport with the excess stuff in 2 plastic bags plus my sleeping bag, oh and my large beach bag. Hell I still used up less of the over head space than most people. I had a lovely last lunch with the Negretes before gaby drove me to the airport for 1.30pm

The flight was pretty well on time, so other than sitting in the airport doing sudoku, chatting to some really sweet people in queues and on the plane, plus watching 4 inflight movies because I just could not sleep... there really isn't much to report about the journey (oh and I opted for the beef not the chicken). Mum was there to meet me at 11am Saturday morning in Heathrow. I walked right up to her without her recognising me (what can I say, my tan was well and truly topped up in Ecuador, so I am a different colour to usual). Saturday was lost to jetlag, with my having to have a 3 hour nap and than feeling groggy for the rest of the day. the cats eventually recognised me so it was hard to get a lot of sleep as they kept proding me in the face during the night so that I would stroke them some more. they are allowed to be needy now, but this can not carry on much longer, I need sleep.

Sunday I met up with Terri to watch the Wimbledon mens finals, before going round to Hannah's for the world cup final. A good time was had at both, it was lovely to start catching up with my friends although i am still feeling a bit disorientated and like I should be getting on a bus or a plane to go somewhere else.

Now it is Monday and I have had lots of my hair cut off in anticipation of my job interview tomorrow (plus a top up manicure for luck). Wish me luck! Actually given the time I had better go to bed and hope that the cats don't keep waking me up as I need sleep for my brain to be properly functioning tomorrow.

Suppose that this now constitutes the end of my blog, as my travels are offically over, but watch this space as I am hoping to pop a few galapagos pics up here in the next couple of days. over and out