Winter-Break Trip to England
[Photos from 24-29 February 2016, posted on 01 March 2016. Yes, it’s my birthday! 🙂]
Long before I fell and broke my ankle, we’d bought tickets for the whole family to visit England over the kids’ winter school break.
All the doctors I talked to leading up to the trip said that I should be able to travel, but I was doubtful because my foot would get swollen and painful very fast when down low. Then the cast came off (on a Tuesday) and I realized that the majority of the pain was from my swollen skin pushing up against the cast, so the odds of going to England the next day went from 10% to 90%.
Then I looked at the seats I’d booked, and realized that we’d have two adjacent window seats on the correct side of the plane, meaning I could keep my leg on the armrest in front of me. Thus I decided I would go after all, because a change of scenery is always a good thing. Happily, we discovered that Easyjet has pretty flimsy seats, so there was plenty of space for my leg. (Icelandair has bulkier seats, and the gap between the seatback and the fuselage is smaller.)
Also, compressure socks are amazing! (41 images total, including TWO PHOTOS of SCARS 13 images down as Friday begins)
Group photo, taken by Finnur, as we were about to head for the airport.
Wednesday 24 February 2016
In the car, on the way to the airport. (Even though it was around freezing outside, the car made it there and back again with 20 km to spare.)
Default leg position, and the scenery.
Waving to the pilots.
Leg on Bjarki’s armrest. It was 85% comfortable, especially after I stuffed some jackets under it.
Overhead view.
Emma did really well on the plane, reading, coloring, playing with stickers.
When we landed, I went down the stairs to the tarmac, and into a car that was waiting for me. Thankfully, there was space there for the rest of the family.
Waiting for everybody to disembark, in case somebody else needed assistance.
A photo out the window of the car. We were driven for a few minutes, to a door where a gentleman with a wheelchair was waiting for us. He walked us a little ways through passport control, where we got to skip the main line. Then it was through customs, and out into the arrivals hall.
The airplane landed 20 minutes ahead of schedule, so we had to wait 10 minutes for dad and Anthony to arrive. It was great to have two cars, because that meant I could lounge in the backseat all the way to the house.
Thursday 25 February 2016
Finnur took the train to London to work at the local Google office, while the rest of us rested.
Later in the day, dad and Shirley took the kids to the toy-store to get them late Christmas presents.
Friday 26 February 2016
Scars looking better.
Outside of leg. I’ve got a weird hole there in one spot, where some stuff must have randomly coagulated.
Bjarki playing with his late Christmas present, while the girls were out with granddad on a shopping trip.
Emma in the house, looking at a Harry Potter book. Surprisingly, I ended up working on my work-computers for a few hours myself that day!
We went to a nearby pub for dinner.
The kids marveling over a guy playing one of those claw-games, while dad messages Shirley who’d gotten stuck in a monster traffic jam for four hours, and missed dinner.
Food arriving!
Food all gone, and ice-creams eaten.
Naughty dad!
Saturday 27 February 2016
Lounging on a Saturday while Finnur and dad went to watch a football game.
Calm times in the kitchen with a cup of tea.
Sunday 28 February 2016
Anthony about to head out to band practice, and then work.
Leg lounging in the backseat on the way to the Bluewater mall.
Anna getting to hang out in the front seat.
The mall!
The view from my rented scooter!
Hooray for scooter rentals!
We spent four hours in the mall! We didn’t buy a whole lot, but we had a good time.
Monday 29 February 2016
Looking out the rear window, to where Anthony was trailing us, with Finnur, Emma, and Bjarki in his car. Interestingly, since he’s a new driver, the insurance company insists on outfitting his car with a black box which records everything he does, including going over the speed limit! (Which must mean they’re tracking him with GPS!)
We made it to Gatwick!
Anthony smirking at my inability to keep my crutches upright as I attempted to take photos using both hands. These days I can stand on my left leg, while the right leg gently touches the ground, acting as a balancer.
The car empty of luggage, and time to say goodbye. We then had to walk to that bright cyan sign in the background to get assigned a wheelchair and wheelchair pusher.
After security, I was checked into a fenced off area for people needing special assistance.
When it was time to board, I was instructed to hop on a buggy, which drove me in the opposite direction of the gate, along with an older couple. We exited by an elevator, rode down one floor, walked a little ways out of the building, and into a small van. The van took us to the plane, and then a large self-rising car lifted us up to the plane so we could hop in without going up stairs. Meanwhile, Finnur had to walk to the gate with the kiddos, all by his lonesome self.
The plane was delayed a bit by a computer issue that sounded like the gates weren’t showing up on the announcement screens. Furthermore, it sounded like a passenger had decided not to fly, and so a bag had to be taken off of the plane. That’s our car-seat by the end as they were fishing the suitcase off the plane. We took off an hour later than expected.
Always fun when a plane comes in to land, and it looks like it’s about to fly straight into you for a bit.
Goodbye green England!
Cheeful Emma did well on this flight.
The computer addicts in the row in front of us.
We let Emma play on the laptop towards the very end, but every time Emma would accidentally turn the power off it started updating and optimizing, so she got very little use out of it.
Going home went pretty well, and right before we arrived home at nine in the evening, we stopped by a pizza place to pick up the pizzas we’d ordered en route.
We thank dad, Shirley, and Anthony for their hospitality as always, and hope to visit them again soon. Sadly, we didn’t manage to visit the portion of my family that’s hanging out in Bournemouth, but there’s always the next time!
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