Family In Town!

My sister and brother in law are here for a visit!!!
It is great to be around other Americans. Isn't it terrible that I feel that way? But a lot of the time here I feel very 'out of place'... just a 'yank'... so it's nice to finally have someone else like me around.

It was interesting this morning picking them up. They flew into London Gatwick, which is about 45 minutes North of Brighton. They were meant to arrive around 8:30 this morning. The plan was, since Gloria had to work - that I would go into town, catch a train out of Portslade to Gatwick, get there in plenty of time to meet them... pick them up and head back home on the train.

Well, I missed my bus by 3 minutes.

A train to London Victoria leaves Portslade like twice an hour, sometimes more frequently than that during commuter times, so I waited patiently at the platform for the next train. I figured that it would take them at least 30 minutes to get thru customs... so I was still a-ok.

The next train pulls into the station.

This one calls at every train station between Portslade and London EXCEPT Gatwick.

**bangs head**

At this point, it was already well after 8. So I ended up having to get Stewart to hire me a taxi and get THAT up to Gatwick... I was about 15 minutes late, and I think I left Cheryl and Michael panicking a bit, but everything turned out ok in the end. What a mess it was this morning though!

It was a good day today.... we took them for a walk on the downs from our house here.... then we grabbed a bus into the city and ate lunch on the sea front before checking them into their hotel. They were ready to pass out indeed.

Michael was brave and ate Fish, Chips, and Mushy Peas. A traditional English meal, indeed!!!

More to come.