Off to Florida

Mirinda left for Miami today and, rather than go to work, I decided to go to Heathrow and see her off. This was for two reasons.

Firstly, because I went to Middlesbrough last weekend, I haven’t seen her much recently. Secondly, I knew she’d have some last minute shopping for me to do.

Instead of the usual Friday 6am rising, I woke at 6:10 (not intentionally but because my bladder insisted) which woke the poodles, so I decided to stay awake before leaving for the shops at 8am.

Having stocked up on all the little bottles of stuff that Mirinda feels she’ll desperately need on the plane (sunscreen?) and something for my dinner, I walked back home and helped with the long process of making sure she has everything she’ll need for the next week.

Our very reliable and lovely taxi lady (Carol) turned up on the second chime of midday and we set off for the airport. We have a brilliant relationship with Carol. I call and book a taxi and have no need for things like addresses and names – she just knows. All she needs is the time.

Actually, when it’s a ride to Heathrow, I tell her when we have to be there (two hours before) and she determines what time to pick us up. She tends to allow an hour, depending on the time of day. She initially suggested 12:30 but, when I asked her if she was sure, she amended it to midday. We arrived at Terminal 5 in half an hour. Unheard of.

We checked the luggage in then went to Carluccio’s for a late breakfast of eggs (Benedict for Mirinda, Florentine for me) and coffee. I really like Carluccio’s and the restaurant at Terminal 5 is lovely – it feels very Italian. Actually I think most of the staff is Italian so this helps with the atmosphere, somewhat.

Food finished, and with just over an hour to go, we said our farewells and she headed down the Fast Track corridor to security. And I went home.

I was very lucky with connections and, was at Farnham before she took off. The house felt a bit lonely when I reached home…thank goodness for the poodles! Or, rather, thank Mirinda for the poodles.