Our trip back to the UK

I've been absent from the blog due to a busy visit back to the UK. We seemed to do a lot of rushing about trying to squeeze everything in but it was fun and nice to be able to see so many people.
We had a very pleasant flight as John kindly paid for my business class ticket and it was a day time flight so we were able to take full advantage of the champagne, wine and lovely food as well as watching films. It was really great to be back in Manchester and I was so glad we'd kept the apartment. Seeing the familiar sights and popping to Tesco Express - I never thought I'd enjoy it so much! Sunday was a beautiful Autumn day and we went out to Alderley Edge on the train to have lunch with Alison and David which was great and we enjoyed roast pork and red wine for the first time in ages. Monday I went into the office. It was lovely to see everyone though, despite still having a desk, I felt a bit displaced, with everyone so busy about their daily tasks and nothing for me to do but talk. Tuesday was my birthday so we went over to Skipton and went to the Angel at Hetton for a fabulous meal during their Champagne and Seafood festival. It was great to see mum again and on Wednesday we took Kirsty up to Grass Wood to see Dad and Mangar and Jim's memorial woods. The trees were at their most lovely though the special woods were overgrown and Kirsty is too big to carry over the stiles though she tried to run at the fence a couple of times but just got a squashed nose!
On Thursday we went to see Giselle at the Palace - English National Ballet put on a lovely, traditional performance which I enjoyed though John thought there weren't enough fairies and didn't believe me when I told him they were called Willis!
Friday we set off at 6am to drive down to Leysdown to see Isobel. I'm not so used to the early starts these days! We took her to Reads in Faversham to celebrate her 80th birthday - a lovely restaurant with rooms and the weather in the South was a perfect, sunny Autumn, unlike the wind and cloud we'd been experiencing in the North. It was a super place though I prefer my baths at the edge of the room rather than in the middle but I know that's the trendy place to put them now! The food was amazing - another find from the good hotel's guide which has never failed to yield wonderful little hotels with great kitchens.
Sunday we headed off to Wendover to see Rachel, Andrew, Ellie and Alastair and had another lovely day with family. Hopefully they'll be coming to visit us before too long, though Rachel tends to have their holidays organised well in advance.
Monday it was time to start doing some work again so we made our way into London. We left the car at Luton since last time we were in London the hotel charged £45 per night for parking so on top of the congestion charge and the general annoyance of driving in London it seemed like a good move. We stayed at the Sofitel St James which we haven't tried before but is really handy for the Royal Academy of Engineering and proved to be a good choice. John had endless meetings to chair and a visit to Imperial to see the Masdar fellows who are studying for PHD's there. I fitted in an Investors in People steering committee and a board meeting. It's a tough time for the staff at IIP at present as they are being transferred into the UK Council for Education and Skills, which should mean a great future for the standard but a lot of upheaval for the people involved. Like anything involving government it also takes longer than it should and the communication could be better which doesn't help. From next March there won't be any need for a non exec board so I guess my involvement then will become more informal.
On Wednesday I went to Nottingham to meet with Liz at Boots which I really enjoyed - it was great to be back and to hear about everything that is going on. I also enjoyed driving the car from Luton to Nottingham and back as I didn't get much of a turn on the other journeys as John was keen to drive!
Despite all this I managed to find time for a little shopping and we had our customary visit to Rules since it's the game season. It nearly ended in disaster as they had no record of our on line booking, despite having a text and email confirmation. With slightly bad grace they did manage to come up with a table and we had a fabulous meal (roast grouse with all the trimmings!) Wednesday night we went out for dinner with Stratos and Maria, John's friends from Imperial and had a most convivial evening. They took us to an amazing restaurant in Mayfair 'Petit Maison' which seems to be the in place and was certainly buzzing though we ate so late and I'd enjoyed several preprandial beverages so probably wasn't in top form for food appreciation!
You'll have noticed a constant theme of incredible dinners during this trip and you'd be right to wonder how we managed to eat so much! The cooler weather gave us our appetites back and we ate like kings the whole time. It will be short rations and lots of exercise when we get back! Though I did manage to run in Skipton and Leysdown and Kirsty seemed to enjoy her first experience of going running with me. Like Hamish and Magnus before her, shelties make excellent running partners.
Thursday, after more meetings, we headed back to Manchester to get ready for the return to Abu Dhabi. Washing (which is much harder to get dry in Manchester) and tidying up ready to leave the apartment for much longer this time, together with a bit more shopping. I was over ambitious with buying things I haven't found in Abu Dhabi and had a hard job getting my suitcase shut. Rachel bought me a lovely teapot for my birthday which I was determined to take back and did manage to get it in, along with half of Boots, M&S and three bath plugs acquired in Sittingbourne (at last bath plugs for all bathrooms though Kent would be a long way to go to get more!)
Everything sorted we packed up and headed for the airport. Funnily enough I was struggling not to cry as we set off, even though I'd been looking forward to getting back and on with things, it still felt a wrench to think I won't see Manchester till Christmas. However, it was windy and rainy so the thought of some constant sunshine was very cheering.
So a busy couple of weeks and now back to our new life in Abu Dhabi.