Arrival

Saturday 5th May 5:30am.
Getting out of Heathrow was suprisingly simple. Unlike the many times I had arrived on business customs was practically empty. We were prepared with our visa documentation so there was no problem at immigration. Our visas were stamped and the official explained that we could re-enter the UK any number of times for the duration of our stay. This is necessary as we intend to travel whenever we get the chance.

Following immigation we collected our baggage from the carousel. It took a while for all items to come through. James caught sight of his car seat and stroller. He was keen to approach the carousel to pick them up but of course we had to explain that he had to stand back. We had two luggage trollies and piled everying onto them. Meanwhile Merrilyn gave our agent a call to meet us at our Windsor apartment.

We exited through customs and located our driver - Andy. Thoughtfully this transfer had been pre-arranged so that we didn't have to worry about finding a taxi that could carry all our kit. He was parked just outside the terminal so we loaded the station wagon up (they call them estate wagons over here) and headed off to Windsor.

We're staying at a lovely 2 bedroom apartment that is only a few hundred metres from Windsor Castle. Andy gave us a tour of the city to help get our bearings. From there we met the agent who showed us through the apartment.

By this time poor little James was clearly exhausted. So we spent a little time unpacking the cases and putting things away. To our suprise James room has a double bed (we had been told it would contain two singles). So the little bloke has gone from a cot to a double bed! Out front a man pulled up with a blue Ford Fiesta wagon into our car park. He jumped out and pulled from the back a small motor cycle in a few parts. Turns out this was our rental car. The bike was the means for the delivery man to make his was back to the office. Of course, the car was a manaul. As I don't drive a manual (probably unusual for the UK) we had to contact the rental company and request a change over. Just was well - as it turned out the car could be driven until Monday anyway for insurance reasons.

James was very clingy so Merrilyn decided to jump in bed with him. Unfortunately he didn't sleep so after an hour we all decided to go for a walk and explore our new home.

The weather was fine so we decided to head off towards the Castle. As we headed up the main promenade (Peascod St) the castle turret came into view. It reminded me somewhat of the Duomo in Florence in the sense that this icon is visible peeking through a number of side streets. This was the first time Merrilyn had seen the castle. It is impressive!

On returning James had really had it. He was crying at little things and really over it all. Of course, this was understandable and Merrilyn and I were very focused on helping him cope.

We went to a local Italian restaurant for dinner. James had a small pineapple pizza. I had a Calzone. Following that we went home and crashed. Merrilyn set pillows up beside James to help contrain him in the bed. Whilst we kept an ear out for him during the night he slept 12 hours straight. I don't think he moved!