Postscript

We had no further drama getting home, and arrived in Ottawa at 3:30 pm after I don’t know how many hours of being awake on one and a half hours sleep! At each airport we had to go through security and each time they pulled aside our bags of souvenirs and were puzzled by the beach pebbles. When we landed in Frankfurt we celebrated being able to flush toilet paper for the first time in a month, and Hugh was relieved to look like everyone else - no more pats in the head from strangers. We barely had time to sign in to wifi before boarding any of our flights, so there was no extra time to do anything other than buy our duty free whisky.

We were the last ones off the plane in Ottawa, and the pilots invited the kids to go up to the cockpit and sit in the pilots’ seats for a photo op. At first when asked if he wanted to go in the cockpit, David gave a typical pre-teen shrug and said no, but I quickly intervened and said, absolutely yes! I’ve never had the chance and was more excited about the opportunity than they were. Topher commented on how surprisingly low tech it looked, and the pilot said it was soon being retired. I’m glad we found that out after landing.

The sight of snow on the ground in Ottawa was unsurprising but not welcome, although we were glad to breathe fresh air with no diesel fumes and coal smoke. We managed to stay awake long enough to visit with Mum, Dad, Sarah, Paul and family, and showed off our purchases and gave them some gifts. We had supper at our favourite Thai restaurant before heading home to sleep in our own beds. David is hoping we can continue our current rate of eating in restaurants. He recommends that we wean ourselves off slowly, eating out every other day instead of every day for the next month or so!

It’s hard to believe this trip that we’ve talked about doing for over 20 years is over already. We’re happy to be home, but looking forward to retiring and someday living part of the year in Europe. Greece and Turkey are definitely both on the short list!