Monday 13th August 2012

And so the working week begins again. And I'm off on my travels again later this morning, travelling to Warrington for yet more meetings. I'll be back home sometime in the later half of the week.

Its been a fine weekend, with the sun shining, mostly, form clear blue skies. We got out and walked a couple of times, and headed to Walmer Castle to look at the summer colours. And then their was the Olympics which finished in a cacophony of noise and flashing lights on Sunday night. The Games, I think, will be regarded as a success as Team GB finished with 29 golds, and there being no major issues with the venues or transport system. With the vexed issue of the availability of tickets to the public one that was never resolved, and the early days blighted by banks of empty seats as the so called 'Olympic Family' did not take up their allocation.

That apart, it has been glorious, with hundreds of sporting highlights, and rivers of tears cried to to victories and defeats. World records were broken, personal bests were beaten and memories made that will last a lifetime.

So, on Friday I had to make my way back home from Denmark; were were due to leave the hotel at a quarter to seven with just a cup of coffee to fill us until we got to the airport at Billund. As it turned out the smell of freshly baked rolls meant we had breakfast after all, and we ended up leaving ten minutes late. Due to rush hour in Arhus, we were a little behind, and we arrived at the airport just before nine, and Graeme had to rush through customs after handing the car keys back as his flight left some two hours before mine.

And I had those two hours to wait, and read the magazine I had brought with me, looked round the duty free shop and bought Jools some Lego; well, Legoland was less than a mile away! And then it was time to get on the plane, and head south to Frankfurt.

Once we cleared Danish airspace, the skies cleared and we could see the countryside laid out like a carpet below us roll by. I took a few shots as we approached Frankfurt, with the Rheine being clear to see and several cities too.

And I had another two and a half hours to wait until my flight to London departed. So, I walked to the right terminal, and found a Chinese restaurant and ordered a light meal and then found my gate and sat down to look at the planes coming and going whilst reading a copy of the Financial Times.

And then it was time to leave Germany; I had another window seat and had my camera with me in case we flew over the Olympic Park as we landed. Once we cleared the French coast, I could see the shape of Thanet and the Thames stretching into the haze.



We flew over south London, turning round over Battersea and then dropping very low as we got nearer to dockland. I got some shots as we flew over St Paul's and The City. As we shook and rolled our way even lower, I got a view over to Stratford and got a couple of shots of the Olympic Park.



My bag was one of the first off the plane, and so I went up to the DLR station and a train straight to Stratford was already waiting. I was dreading this part, with the stadium in use that night so it would be crowded, right? No; by the time the train left Stratford Regional, I had the carriage to myself, and so made my way to the International Station and down onto the platform. There were dozens of people waiting, but soon enough a 12 car train pulled in and we all got on and I even got a seat.

And we were soon whizzing through the tunnels towards the Essex flatlands and the crossing at Dartford and into Kent. A change of train at Ashford, and that was it, arriving into Dover at half six, which made my journey taking some 13 and a half hours. I was travelling from just Denmark not the other side of the world, and i was shattered.

Jools was waiting, and so we headed off back home to our house on the cliffs and a weekend together in the summer sunshine.