A wonderful Christmas

John didn't manage to get home till 8pm on the final day, but since the taxi wasn't picking us up till 11.30pm we had time to walk round to the pub at the Sheraton for supper and relax before we set off. The security guys insisted on opening one of the cases at the airport but thankfully it was the one with the clothes in rather than all the Christmas pressies and table decorations which would have taken a lot more unpacking! After a quick glass of champagne we settled down to sleep and actually got a very good night - I think the beds are longer on BA than Etihad, and the staff were charming, no sign of grumpiness at all at being denied their strike. We arrived early and the shuttle to Manchester was only about 30 minutes late, despite snow, ice and freezing temperatures. Some of the passengers at Heathrow had been there all night whereas we felt very refreshed.
It was great to be home, despite the icy temperature in the apartment which had had no heating all winter. We hit the shops immediately to scoop up the last minute presents and had a sumptuous Christmas lunch in Selfridges before John treated me to two new dresses in their sale (Matthew Williamson and Givenchy, though I think the black Givenchy might be a bit racey for Abu Dhabi) and Prada shoes (not in the sale but very lovely) - a fabulous Christmas present. We settled in for a relaxing evening of TV watching - I shall never complain about UK TV again, after the rather sparse offerings on Orbit Showtime it felt like a feast of entertainment. I shall have to get a DVD recorder so we can record things to take back as the broadband just doesn't have the band width for the iPlayer function and doesn't work in the main room. We went to bed that night with snow falling on an already covered ground - there must have been about 10cm which is more than I've ever seen in central Manchester.
Christmas Eve we went back to the shops early, before the crowds and managed to buy some new Armani jeans and jumper for John's Christmas present. We then got packed up and had a quick treat lunch at Pizza Express (how I've missed that experience) and set off for Skipton. We managed all but the last bit up to Mum's though with foot hard down and a high gear I got the car up the last hill. It was so great+ to see everyone and the North Yorkshire countryside looked lovely in the snow. We wrapped up presents and ate another delicious meal before an early night as the time difference was still a factor in our body clocks.
Christmas day I took Mum's dog, Kirsty, for a run in the snow and ice. Frozen ground and dog noses proved irresistable so I had to persuade Kirsty to run rather than sniff. I did my usual with the table decorations (pictures to follow) and was able to annoy everyone for days with the gold star confetti and red laminated hay! Before we started on champagne and present giving and a wonderful Christmas lunch with all the delicious trimmings. We were joined by Marion and Brian, my brother in law's parents so there were 10 of us for Christmas lunch so it was a real family party and Mum managed the whole feast with the rest of us providing skivvy support. It was one of the best Christmas Day's for years and I loved every minute. John and I headed off down the hill to stay in a small hotel in Skipton for the night as the house was rather full.
Next morning I skidded my way back up the hill over black ice to pick up Kirsty for another run/sniff session and ended up on my backside at least once. Getting the car back out proved tricky but with help from several people with spades I managed to drive down to pick John up and get back to Mum's in one piece. Another wonderful lunch and more TV. Everyone else headed off on boxing day so John, Mum and I enjoyed a quiet night and managed to fit in some more champagne and a small supper!
We headed back to Manchester after lunch on Sunday and this time Kirsty seemed to have got the hang of running again - just in time for her to forget how it works till my next visit. We'd booked Sunday night at a new Italian restaurant which has taken over the space of the much lamented 'Establishment' which went bust 3 years ago and has been missed ever since. I had to swallow my football allegiances as it is partly owned by Rio Ferdinand and called, unsuprisingly 'Rosso'. However, the food and the place were super and we were joined by Wayne and Colleen Rooney so it's clearly the 'in' place in Manchester at the moment. Certainly somewhere to look forward to for our next visit since Harvey Nichols and even Paul Heathcotes, Grado, have been disappointing in recent visits.
All in all a very enjoyable time - I just love being back in Manchester and the UK and visiting familiar places. I always loved the place but you appreciate it even more when you go away!