The End

I woke up at stupid o’clock this morning.  We’ve been back in the UK for four days and my body clock hasn’t quite adjusted.  Mrs G, however, is fast asleep and making her asthmatic hamster noises.  I’m sure I’ll come right soon.

The last four months has been a wonderful experience for which I am very grateful. The people are the thing I will miss most about our time in the US.  Mrs G and I made some great friends who we hope will come and stay with us some day.  Preferably not all at the same time as that could get a little crowded.   We’re hoping that we might manage to squeeze a return trip in next year.

I will also miss the food.  Who knew that peanut butter and pumpkin were so versatile?  Individually that is.  Never did find a pumpkin and peanut butter delicacy.  I’ll also miss the beer, especially as I gave up on the booze during our last two weeks there.  While my mind felt as young as the twenty-somethings I was spending time with my body took great delight in reminding me that I turn 40 next month.

At the end of my last entry I suggested that Mrs G and I might endure another meal out.  We did.  We graced The Red Lion in Stockbridge with our presence and dined on Bambi chops.  Delicious!  I had a pumpkin crème brulee for dessert which was absolutely divine.

While driving back to New Haven from Massachusetts we saw one of the most amazing sights.  The area had been hit with ice storms the previous day.  As far as the eye could see it looked like the trees were made of ice.  It was a clear, sunny day and the light reflecting off the branches made us feel like we were driving through an enchanted forest.

Our last few days in New Haven were fairly busy as we made an effort to catch up with as many people as possible before leaving.

On the Wednesday Rebekah, Ellen and Mrs G arranged a Tea Party with an open invite to all at Yale Divinity School.  There were scones with jam and freshly made clotted cream (courtesy of Rebekah), cakes, tea and cucumber sandwiches galore.  Suitably bombastic music was played: God Save The Queen, Rule Britannia, Jerusalem, and so forth and Rebekah knighted a few folk in Her Majesty’s name.  With a spoon.

On our penultimate day Alex, Jess and Marissa took us to Five Guys to experience the ultimate in American burgers.  This happened to be the day that the snow came to New Haven.  Over half a foot of it in a very short space of time.  It took us a looooong time to travel a short distance.  And when we got there it was closed.  So we turned back and went to Archie Moore’s instead where I had the same meal as on my first visit there: Grilled Pastrami Reuben.  We were joined by Almuth, Althea, Kate (and brother), Katelyn, Lani, Lauren, Stephen and Suzanna and had a very pleasant few hours eating and drinking.

We said our final goodbyes to Marissa and Suzanna the following morning and Stephen drove us to the train station.  We got to Newark Liberty International Airport with plenty of time to spare and the flight took off on time.

We arrived back in the UK around 6:30am and were met by my best mate Colin who we had managed to trick into picking us up at sparrow fart on Sunday morning.  We knew we were back in the UK as one of the first signs that greeted us in the airport gave detailed instructions of what to do if you wished to make a complaint.  The drive home took less than an hour and the first thing we did was to drink copious quantities of tea – proper English tea!

It was good to be away and it’s good to be home.