UK There and Back

Our vacation came and went in a blur! We were afraid we were not going to be able to go because of the volcano in Iceland that grounded all air traffic in the UK for six days. But a few days before our scheduled departure, the ash cloud moved off, air traffic resumed, and Heathrow airport was reopened. We had no problems getting to London, even though it was an extremely busy and full flight. They even had to have added security at the terminal to make sure all re-routed passengers and those wanting desperately to get home would remain calm in the line and peace would remain. There were no incidents, and everyone was very grateful to finally have tickets and be moving again, instead of spending their days and nights at the airport.

We were not as lucky on the way back. We were seated on the very full and hot plane hour late, and as soon as the doors were closed, the pilot came on and said the new ash cloud (a straight stream from Iceland to Spain) was causing delays. Every plane in Northern Europe heading west had to be re-routed to go through a narrow air lane above Iceland. Because of all the coordination between all European airports, we were stuck waiting for our window. The estimated time was 2 1/2 hours to wait. They moved the plane to a temporary holding area, and we waited about 3 hours. Then the pilot said it was our turn to leave, but our engine #3 would not start, so we had to go back to the terminal and get engineering to fix the engine. We did that, and had to wait another hour for it to be fixed and the paperwork to be finished. Finally, they were able to put our plane back in the queue to wait for another window. Luckily, we had an advantage, because the crew could only work so long, and we had an 11 hour flight ahead of us. We only had to wait another hour before we were on our way. Once we took off, there were no more issues. I was so glad to be off that plane! Over sixteen hours in a hot, stuffy plane is just too long!

But this return trip will soon be forgot, because I can focus on all the great and wonderful things we saw and did while exploring many cities and towns in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Some of the most memorable: going on a river cruise on the River Thames at night, visiting Windsor Castle while the Queen was in residence, walking around Stratford-upon-Avon, exploring the Royal Mile (and it's underground) in Edinburgh, Scotland, eating Haggis at a Traditional Scottish Evening, seeing the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, watching Kelli dance on stage with a cute Irish guy during a Traditional Irish Evening (the "Let's Dance" Wii Game really gave her an advantage!), driving around the Ring of Kerry (breathtakingly beautiful area in Ireland), kissing the Blarney Stone (actually I had to do it twice to actually kiss it. The first time I missed it...kissing a random stone on the Blarney Castle wall...and I didn't want to have to buy the T-Shirt that said "I Missed the Blarney Stone"), getting proposed to on a Jaunting Buggy in Killarney (the buggy driver wore me down until I agreed. He was very convincing :), having dinner in the Cardiff Castle (Wales), seeing the odd, but intriguing Stonehenge, exploring the Roman Baths in Bath, England, and finally seeing WICKED on The West End (Britain's version of Broadway). I loved, loved, loved Wicked. If you ever get a chance to see it, GO!! You will not be sorry and you will be singing the songs for weeks after.

Overall, this tour did not disappoint! I loved every minute of it. I seriously did not want to come back and face reality. It took me a week to recover from it and have any type of desire to do anything. I did have to go to work, but I was only there in body.

I took over 1400 pictures (that is not including the pictures Kelli took), and have been trying to go through them so I can start posting pictures for you. I will probably post a few different entries, split up per country, or maybe even per leg of the tour. I haven't decided yet. Just know, I haven't forgotten you. I am just slow at getting organized. I hope to have the first entry by the end of this week. I'll post pictures as soon and as often as I can, so you can get a taste of the wonders and beauty that Kelli and I experienced.

Stay tuned!