Alan & Lyn's Huge Adventure: 11/5/24 To Woking & Henley on Thames

Our time in Athens is over , and today we head off to the airport again . Timing was impeccable today for some reason - we booked a taxi for the run to the airport , it was 5mins early , and we were downstairs just coming through the doors as it came up the street . An uneventful drive to the airport saw us there at 7:30am for our 10:25am flight to Gatwick . Checking our bags through , we found a seat and waited before going through security & customs . A line developed for everyone with a foreign passport- it grew and grew until we decided to line up as well , just so we could get through in time ! We lined up and moved forward slowly until a gentleman ushered us across to another line - we just jumped the queue of over 300 people and sailed straight through getting the passport stamped - winning !!!

Through duty free and a bottle of scotch happened to find it's way into my possession , then onto the departure lounge . Didn't realise it was to the bus depot though 🤣 , we then had to get a bus out to the plane sitting out on the tarmac waiting for us . Onto the 2nd bus and out to the plane and boarded , the plane was full . After some fluffing about , we took off , heading over Greece to the Adriatic Sea and onwards towards Venice . I managed to get a window seat - the cloud didn't clear until we were well over the Adriatic , but it did clear !! Following Croatia's coastline , seeing the multitude of islands below was great .Before long we were over land again and going toward Switzerland , finding copious amounts of snow on the Italian side of the Alps .

That continued for a while , we cleared the mountains and ended up in France with a mosaic of fields & crops spread out below us .

The flight was uneventful and smooth , crossing the channel we caught our first glimpse of the UK , and some of the cliffs below Dover .

Another 20mins and we were landed at Gatwick Airport for a total of 4 hours flying . Wandering down the ramps and escalators , we arrived at baggage claim to see both our suitcases just coming around . Through customs and out to the train station , charging the Oyster cards used for the train here . Changing trains at Clapham Junction , we had to swipe off with the Oyster cards and buy a ticket for the 2nd leg . Trains ove there are privatised and not cheap !! The first train cost us about £10 each , the 2nd leg was £11.40 each !! Anyway that's how it is here so suck it up princess . Getting of at Woking , we were assisted by a gentleman to the High St exit - as per the instructions that our wonderful daughter gave us to get here . Taylor found us wandering down through a square as she was having a coffee with a friend , and grabbed us . We got the opportunity to surprise our granddaughter - she wasn't expecting us just yet - when she finished her aerials class . She was suitably impressed to see us , then lead us home . This is where we'll be for a few weeks . Vast amounts of catching up , talking , playing with Isla and waiting for our son to arrive home from cricket , where we did more talking etc , with a beer in hand !

After our best nights sleep since we left home ( we were on airbeds - heaven for us ) , we headed out for the late morning / afternoon to Henley on Thames , where we had some lunch at a pub ( The Angel ) beside the Thames River . Trouble was , there were a lot of other people that had the same idea . It was a fine sunny day here and when that happens everyone goes outside to enjoy the warmth / sunshine - it was about 24 degrees - so a hot day 😆 We had to park about 1klm away , so the girls got out near the hotel and Justin & I found a spot and walked back along the river to the Angel . There were plenty of barge boats and cruisers tied up to the docks .