Finally, on our way home, but not without interruptions

June 5

We always like to give ourselves lots of times, when travelling, to get thru customs and security etc., so arrived at the airport three hours before scheduled departure.  We shouldn't have worried.  True to form this trip, our flight departure time was pushed back from 12:50 to 15:00.

Gatwick Airport, time to get to know you better!   A leisurely lunch at Wagamama; a bit of computer time, but finding plugins to charge devices is a chore; airport hot, crowded, noisy;  several crosswords completed; a wander around the many shops; coffee and tea to keep hydrated; and finally, at 14:30, a gate for our departure is posted.  This only means that our departure will be later than 15:00.  Everyone troupes down to the departure gate, only to sit and wait again.  We are not as unfortunate as some people though.  There were people on the flight with us that had been waiting since Thursday (we are now Sunday) to get on a flight back to Canada.  A couple of girls we talked to were headed back to Winnipeg.  Their original flight was to take them to Toronto, then to Winnipeg.  Now they were booked to Vancouver, then to Winnipeg!  What is happening Westjet?!?

We board the plane then sit for the longest time, finally learning that there is a problem with one of the toilets leaking and NOBODY wants to be without functioning toilets at 39,000 feet for 9 and 1/2 hours!!  So we wait!

Finally, at 16:30, 3 and 1/2 hours after scheduled we leave the ground.

No more whining and whinging, just some pictures on the trip home.

waiting in line to take off

over Edinburgh - the rail bridge in the foreground, the Forth Bridge in the center, and the new bridge being built behind it - persistent mist

a couple of castles along the coast....

....and on an island

the patchwork of the English countryside

over Windsor Castle - looks like they are preparing for the Queen's birthday 

party on Saturday June 11

over the Motorway

 interesting lines of clouds

flying into the cloud bank

you can see the clear line of mist/humidity/smog in this one - clear blue above 

cloud tops from above

looks like someone took a magic marker and wrote on this wing 

  

leaving the UK air space

over Iceland

now Greenland

ice breaking up

now we are over Nunavut

glacier edge

the Northwest Territories

ice break up

ice edge

over the Yukon

now British Columbia - sure not a lot of snow on the mountains

just about there, Stave Lake in the foreground and Mount Baker 

in the background

Finally arrived in Vancouver, 3 hours late, spent the night in the city and are now home recuperating and catching up with all the mail, bills etc.

Next on the agenda:  Join CIDERHOLICS ANONYMOUS - I enjoyed the French cider and Thrasher's Gold in the UK way to much!!!

Hope you enjoyed tagging along with us.

June 4 - More whining and whinging

June 4
Another travel and transition day, and more interruptions.

Today is our scheduled transition day from Scotland back to Gatwick, readying ourselves for our return trip to Canada.  The flight we were scheduled to leave Edinburgh on at 11:15 was cancelled.  No explanation was given as to why our flight was cancelled.  Others were more inconvienienced than we were though. One family of seven who were heading to Orlando, Florida, were diverted to Dublin.  We are now booked on a 13:45 flight to Heathrow airport and will then have to transfer by train or bus to Gatwick.  13:45 came and went and we were still on the ground.  Finally at 14:45 we left.  Then, at Heathrow we were given a voucher for the bus to take us to Gatwick, then a taxi to the hotel.

I am coming to dislike transition days, but thankful that I did book with some wiggle room built in.

Note to self:  Next vacation go to only one destination and stay there!!!

Steel steeds and riding the wheel

June 3
Today we are off to Grangemouth to see some powerful steeds, the Kelpies.  The name Kelpies reflects the mythological transforming beasts who would lure the sailors on to the rocks only to disappear into the crashing waves.  Kelpies were said to possess the strength and endurance of 10 horses, a quality that is analogous with the transformational change and endurance of Scotland's inland waterways. The Kelpies represent the lineage of the heavy horse, think Clydesdales,  of Scottish industry and economy, pulling the wagons, ploughs, barges and coal ships that shaped the geographical layout of the area. This installation was created about 2013.   

These magnificent steeds are over 27 meters tall, made of stainless steel and are positioned alongside one of the major motorways near Edinburgh. 

the canal

The Kelpies

 listening and watching

sniffing the winds

a boat entering the canal

using manpower to swing the bridge open

entering the boat basin

about to enter the lock

in the lock and closing the gates 

tying up to the lock

 lock has been filled, the boat has risen and untying in preparation for leaving

exiting the lock

further up the canal in Falkirk

Now back to that funny contraption I teased you with a couple of days ago - the Falkirk Wheel.  The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal.  Opened in 2002, it reconnects the two canals for the first time since the 1930s.  The two canals served by the wheel were previously connected by a series of 11 locks.  The wheel raises boats by 24 metres (79 ft), but the Union Canal is still 11 metres (36 ft) higher than the aqueduct which meets the wheel so boats must also pass through a pair of locks between the top of the wheel and the Union Canal. The Falkirk Wheel is the only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world, and one of two working boat lifts in the United Kingdom.  

we are taking a ride - starting down here

going up.....


....higher......

......just about there....

the boat accompanying us in the lift left ahead of us

heading down the upper causeway

there's a tunnel ahead

out of the tunnel and into the boat basin - the two locks to take us 

further up the Union Canal are just ahead 

heading back into the tunnel for the trip down

our tour boat was called the Archimedes and it is the Archimedes principle on which the lift operates.  The wheel is well balanced and takes the same amount of energy to operate as it does to boil 6 tea kettles

waiting for a newly arrived boat to come out of the causeway before 

we can enter and make our trip down

a family out enjoying the day