We set off on Sunday with Pete & Julie to the T5 Travelodge(!) and then took a trip to Windsor – very picturesque and relaxing!

An open top bus tour gave us an insight to the history of Windsor & Eton….

….and then we managed to find some appropriate accompaniments to welcome the travelers back to Old Blighty! We thought they would be suitably embarassing!

So Monday morning arrived and we got to the airport early (like 6.30am early!!) and they’d landed. What seemed an eternity passed before they emerged from customs etc…….

But they were happy to fly the flags – welcome home!!

It was the 3rd ODI between England & New Zealand. The weather wasn’t too good and we had to wait 5 hours before play started! However, we then got 24 over of England batting and almost 20 overs of NZ batting – but not quite enough for D/L to kick in, so it was “no result”!

Still, an enjoyable day, and we’ll definitely be back!

We arrived in Liverpool and checked into our hotel (The Liner), relaxed with a pint and a burger & chips in the bar, before heading off to Anfield along with around 35,998 other people!

The atmosphere was electric around the ground as we queued through the mud. Having had our umbrellas confiscated(?!) we took our seats just along from the Directors’ Box where apparently the dignatories included Yoko Ono, Olivia Harrison, Wayne Rooney & Colleen McLoughlin, although I’m loathed to put the latter pair in the same sentence as the former pair!

The first band on were the Zutons – pretty good…..

The next band were the Kaiser Chiefs – better…….

Then Peter Kay introduced the main act – Paul McCartney……..AMAZING!!!!

Macca played a mix of Beatles, Wings and some of his more recent numbers. It was an amazing atmosphere and he was a little emotional for his return to Liverpool, but did the Beatles and himself proud. This guy sure knows how to put on a show, as the following videos demonstrate……

Live & Let Die Blackbird Yesterday (click on the title)

We left the ground, somewhat hoarse, to fireworks – what a fantastic event! Not sure if we’ll get the chance to see him live again, but if anyone hears of an opportunity, please let us know!

And watch the video at:

Cocoa – the video

Aaaaaahhhhhhh!!!

Happy birthday Cocoa!

This may become seriously addictive!

Saturday 29th March arrived and he opened a surprise envelope, containing tickets for a VIP day at St Andrews: champagne reception, stadium tour, carvery lunch and tickets in the Directors’ Box, all rounded off with a signed shirt (“penguin” strip from the 70s!) What we didn’t know until we got there was that he could also lead the team out on to the pitch! Well, you’d have thought he was 9 years old again, not 50! He came out to the applause of nearly 30,000 fans (well, perhaps some of them were actually applauding Blues or Man City!) He shook Damien Johnson’s hand, which obviously worked because Blues went on to win 3-1!

Here’s a picture of Mark in the centre circle:

The following weekend, and there was another BIG surprise! A party with live band, food and around 90 of our friends and family.

A “This is Your Life” presentation included photos of Mark through the years and also a couple of videos from people who would have loved to have been there, but were rather a long way away – Canada and Australia! The Brownes produced an amazing rendition of Land Down Under (Men at Work) filmed on location at Ocean Grove, whilst Matt & Helen’s message came from cooler climes!

Here are some photos of the party:

Oh dear, the guitar’s going down!

Co-party goers!

Cheers!

And look what we woke up to the next morning – we nearly went and fetched our skis!

Our outbound flight was cancelled, so we stayed in a hotel overnight at Heathrow, although it took BA over 5 hours to find our baggage somewhere between the check-in desk and the plane. We checked in again 24 hours later, reluctantly saying au revoir to our bags…..

However, we eventually arrived at Vancouver on Sunday evening, complete with all our bags:

On the Monday, Nett, Peter & Sharon headed for lessons and Mark, Caroline & Dave headed for Whistler and then Glacier Creek! Look who we found there:

This is the view from Glacier Creek – we all wish we had this sort of view from work!!

A lunch stop at Chic Pea was in order too:

We had fabulous weather, with the Peak in view:

And the apres started!

Matt & Helen joined us skiing on their days off, and Helen had her first visit to the Peak:

We skied Peak………

……….to Creek

And even managed to ski the Blackcomb Glacier, although that was a bit scary (for some of us)!!

We had our final apres visit to the Longhorn:

followed by Belinis at Milestones!

Our return journey was not exactly uneventful, as although we arrived back at Heathrow (having extended our stay to account for the lost day at the start), our baggage did not appear on the carousel! It eventually arrived in Coventry the next day, damaged but complete.

All in all, an excellent holiday – great food (and wine/beer!), great weather, great skiing and great company!!

Roll on next year!!!

She has some new furry boots to wear in Whistler – did we mention we’re going away on holiday?!!!

Anyway, she has TWO bufferdays now between work and holiday (family joke!)