Friday 23 September 2011

Lanzarote to Lowestoft

Not sure if I've been missed, but I've had a 7 day social media silence, no Twitter, no Facebook and only the most essential emails have I answered and all because of our surprise trip to the UK.

This last week has been hectic and emotional. For the last six weeks I had been quietly organising a trip back to the UK, we told no one as we wanted to surprise my parents. With a fantastic doggy sitter able to look after our two rescue doggies, we left our little pebble in the ocean and flew back to the UK.

My parents live in a village just outside Lowestoft (Lowestoft is the most easterly place in the UK), we arrived at our hotel late Thursday evening and after a restless night, because I could not stop thinking about the surprise we had in store, we quickly breakfasted and waited for the taxi to take us to my mum and dads. Oh my my, so many tears and lots of hugs - we rang the door bell and as dad answered the door, we chimed, "we thought we'd surprise you," dad swept me into his arms tears streamed down our faces and a lump in my throat threatened to choke me..... it was very emotional for all of us.

The week raced by in a flash as we caught up with family and friends with lots of laugh and many tears. We ate far to much and red wine flowed as if it was going out of fashion. The weather was amazing, warm, dry and sunny - on Tuesday in the deep shade in my parent's garden the temps registered 22c.....!

We shopped in the mega supermarkets, Asda being the nearest to my parents and our hotel. The choice was mind blowing and the service breathtaking, we bought so many things, thank goodness we travelled to the UK light!

But before we could draw breath we were back in the car for the two hour journey to Stanstead to fly back home. It was difficult having to leave everyone behind, needless to say, there have been many more tears.

The whole week went amazingly smoothly thanks to all the staff at the Victoria Hotel in Lowestoft who made our stay there fantastic. Also special thanks to Atlas Taxi Service in Lowestoft, especially Ian and Sue for providing a first class and friendly service. They helped to make our special week, special!

We are back on our little island, the weather that greeted us was overcast, hot and with rain this morning. Our doggies were overjoyed to see us and have not left our side since collecting them. It feels good to be home, but oh my my I'm filled with emotions...!
Will we go back to live in the UK? Probably not, but it was good to go back.

18 comments:

Rea's Book Reviews said...

So glad you had an amazing, although emotional time back over here. Well done for keeping it a secret!!!xx

Linn B Halton and Lucy Coleman said...

So glad it was such a great week for you and your family/friends! You deserved the break away from everything, but we did miss you! Linn x

Pauline Barclay said...

Hello Rea, it was not easy keeping it a secret, but it was worth it. x

Hi Linn, thanks for missing me, it is great to see everyone here again and it was fab to see my UK family and friends, just a tad too emotional...sob! xx

Melanie said...

Well done you! It must have been a wonderful surprise for your parents and friends back in the UK to have you suddenly appear on their doorstep.

We missed your Internet presence.

Anonymous said...

What a lovely surprise for your parents. Surprise visits are not easy to organise. And pleased to see you back. We missed you.

Unknown said...

What a wonderful trip it must have been! I'm so glad you were able to do that. I could never have kept it a secret, though. You were missed, I'm glad you're back.

Rosalind Adam said...

So that's where you've been! Was missing your lovely fluffy messages... and you were so close to us too!!! Next time we should meet up!!!! Glad the weather was kind to you while you were here and that you had a fab time.

Your Blog Host - Janet Beasley said...

What a wonderful time you did have! I'm misty-eyed myself just reading about the joy. Thanks for sharing this post - because it's so important we all remember the ones who truly make this life so special, and that so many times it's the hidden treasures in life, when we find them, make life even more worth living. And to that I add, you were missed. Have a super duper day!

Pauline Barclay said...

Hi Melanie, it was so wonderful, thank you. xx

Hello Kit, no it was not easy to organise or keep quiet about, I was so busy with LAHE and I could not tell you what I was really up to... laugh!

Hi Lotsocats100, thanks for missing me, it feels nice to be missed too! xx

Hello Ros, I know you are not too far away as our nephew is at Wellbeck and I think that is close to you too. Sending you some of my fluffy hugs and hoping all is great with you. xxx

Hi Janet, I feel a tad guilty for not being around when you premiered you fabby vidoe about all of us at LAHE. Thank you for calling by and also including me in that great movie of yours. xx

And to you all, I missed you too! xx

AngelJane said...

So glad your were able to visit the UK even though it was in Silence... Its so lovely to surprise loved ones but I can appreciate how happy your lovely little dogs were to have you home!

Big hug Pauline from Jane :) <3 xx

Pauline Barclay said...

Hello Jane thanks for the big hugs and it was all lovely. The doggies won't let me out of their sight at the moment....! xx

Anonymous said...

What a great idea and glad it went so well. good to have you back!
AliB

Pauline Barclay said...

Hello AliB thanks for stopping by, it was a fantastic time. Now back down to earth...laugh! x

Unknown said...

I definitely missed you. :)

So glad you had a wonderful time. I can only begin to imagine what an emotional time it was. Well done on pulling off the surprise!

Pauline Barclay said...

Aww thanks Shirley. It was great but all the years we've lived away from family I've never been able to stop the tears when we say goodbye to everyone....! xx

Rosalind Adam said...

Thanks for the fluffy hugs. Was getting withdrawal symptoms. lol. There’s a brand new award waiting for you on my blog. It’s a ‘thank you’ type of award :-) (Is this blog still called Scribbles? If not let me know and I'll change my blog post mention.)

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

I was choked reading your post. How lovely that you surprised your parents like that. I'm glad you had such an enjoyable trip.

My mother surprised me for my birthday this year and I've no idea how everyone kept is quiet as we're a rather noisy, chatty family, but it was wonderful to find her here.

Pauline Barclay said...

Hello Ros, thank you I will be skipping over to see it... and yes it is Scribbles.... so exciting x

Hi Debs, I can imagine how you felt with your surprise. Our surprise was so difficult to keep as we talk to everyone during the week on the phone. But it was so fantastic. x