Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Our three alarms woke us up at 5:30 (our two cell phones AND my travel alarm clock). What had to be done?
Shower, shave and all that for both of us.
Empty the fridge of left over cheese, orange juice, and who remembers what. Wash and dry the glasses from last night. Wipe down the sink area. I had purchased garbage bags for the apartment and so we could load up our last bit of trash.

The suitcases needed a final PACK of the toiletries and zipped and bolted shut. The bed made. The bathroom checked. A final look around for my wedding ring (no luck). Check the closets another time. And everything done and it was 6:28. And we had until 7 to wait for the cab. Can we sit down and wait? No. We have to decide how to get the suitcases downstairs quietly. Although Judy said, "I really don't care if we have to bump them down stairs, I don't want to fall." And I agreed it was death to fall with the suitcases. The question is: do we let them go ahead of us in case they fall, or do we go down backwards with the suitcases UP the stairs? It seemed crazy to keep the heavy suitcases behind us. So we would let them go first and we would follow them. Okay, easy, BUT do we go together downstairs and then let one person wait at the bottom inside the door to the street to guard them. "Oh, no one will be awake so early on Sunday," I said. But, what if someone comes IN the door and sees two unguarded suitcases? What if? Do we leave Judy there, vulnerable to an attack from some hoodlum? What to do? What to do?

We finally decided to take them both down at the same time and leave them there. What the hell! And then go back up for the carry on bags and the garbage and make a final look around.  So we did that. Bumpety Bumpety Bump. Twisty turny. SLOWLY SLOWLY and a bit noisily down the stairs. I had the garbage with me so I opened the door to drop it on the street in the city trash collection space and THERE WAS THE MINI CAB, early! We said hello to the driver and gave him the suitcases and told him we had to go back upstairs. No problem he told us.

No problems at all. Breather. Back up stairs. We were getting strong like mountain goats now so the trip up was much easier with each passing day. Into the room. Get everything out into the hallway outside the apartment door. Back inside for the final look around. Whew! Everything clean and everything we own outside. Leave the keys on the table by the TV with a thank you note to Pieter, the landlord. (and a secret thanks to Airbnb, the organizing company). Close the door. No going back in now.

Down stairs to find the suitcases in the cab and the driver waiting. It was raining a bit and we jumped into his car for the trip. The company is the WEST END CAR SERVICES. "24 hour Minicab -Chauffeurs-Courier-Car Hire. Officially licensed private hire operator. Licensed by Transport for London, No. 04769/01/01. Public Carriage Office. 47 Rupert Street London W1D 7PD." VERY fancy stuff, eh? Impressive. Well, the driver told us right off the bat, "This is the first time I have ever driven to Heathrow Terminal 4. I just arrived in England 3months ago to study English." "Oh, where did you come from?" "I come from Afghanistan." (silent: "Oh yes?") "I studied Accounting for three years in Enschede in Holland. Do you know Holland?" We almost cheered!

We ended up speaking Dutch the whole way to the airport! It was an interesting ride for two reasons. First, because out of the clear blue sky were three people who were NOT Dutch, all speaking Dutch and laughing about patats met. But, second, that the driver had never been to Heathrow Four and so he had his GPS to help him, but there was a lot of road construction and the GPS didn't help. At times, he drove very slowly trying to read the signs for the airport. It gave us a funny feeling that maybe he might miss it. But, at last, he turned onto a highway that said "HEATHROW FOUR" and we were suddenly there. We said our "Tot Ziens" and went into the airport building. Now, the flight was for 9:00 and it was only about 7:45 so, as usual, we had a LOT of time after we dropped the bags. When we checked in, I asked the agent if he could please find us two seats together since it was our 50th wedding anniversary and well.....you know. So, he congratulated us and fixed the deal.

We walked up and down for a while and finally sat down with a pot of tea and some of the delicious Raisin and Oatmeal biscuits. Then the flight was called for boarding.  When we got on the plane, we discovered that it was EMPTY. We were sitting in the two seats on the left of the aisle and the central four seats on ALL rows were empty. Seats in front of us and behind us were empty. I think there were only 100 people on the whole plane. Great for sleeping and eating and drinking and sleeping(I mean trying to sleep). On Delta, there is a personal movie/TV/music screen for each passenger, so I could watch 3 movies easily and then put on a classical radio station and snore away. (Oh, by the way, I collect airplane blankets that make great nap blankets at home in Miami) And then we were home in Miami. Early in the afternoon in a HOT, MUGGY climate. End of the trip.