Twenty eight hours after leaving our beloved Africa, Matt & I are home safe & sound. We're trying to get back into our daily routine, but it's tough. When I came home from the grocery store this morning, I was stunned that no one was there to greet me with a lavender scented hot towel & a glass of champagne. Talk about bursting your bubble.
Thanks to all of you for your positive comments on the blog. So many of you mentioned getting emotional & crying at the descriptions & the pictures. I'm glad I'm not the only one who was in awe of our experiences. I was moved to tears countless numbers of times, & I'm glad that came across to you as well.
No offense to my dearest friends whom I typically spend New Year's Eve with --- Dawn & Fred, Cindy & Dave, Donna & Todd, Kevin, Donna --- but honestly, I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else in the world but Nairobi to usher in 2011. We were set to leave for the airport at midnight to catch our flight at 3:40 AM, but we spared a few minutes to celebrate New Years. Most of our group had already gone to the airport earlier to catch various flights home, but the stragglers included me & Matt, Joe & Diane, Lucy & Bob, Marta & Cecilio, Margaret, & our Tour Director Eric. We were in one of the hotel's ballrooms where there was a band & lots of people partying. We were given flutes of champagne mixed with watermelon juice. We were all singing "I Got A Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas (you know the tune ... "Tonight's gonna be a good night ...."), then the countdown began ("10 ... 9 ... 8 ..."), confetti exploded from the ceiling, then it was time to yell HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! We'd only knew each other for a couple weeks, but the way we were all hugging & kissing each other, you'd think we'd been best buddies for years. Such a joyful moment, & I don't know the last time I was this happy.
But it was a bittersweet moment. After whooping it up, it was time to leave all the merriment as our driver was waiting to take us to the airport. Happiness turned to heartache as we all said our goodbyes. And Eric is the Scarecrow to my Dorothy ...... I think I'll miss him most of all.
Flying home First Class sure took the sting out of our vacation coming to an end. I never even HEARD of Turkish Airlines in my life, but their First Class seating is INSANE. Everyone gets their own CUBICLE. Yes, I said cubicle. It's not just a plush leather seat anymore. It's chairs that tilt all the way back & turn into a flat bed for sleeping, Do Not Disturb signs, a massage option for your chair, TV screens that fold out in front of you with about 25 different movie choices, slippers, a newspaper, roses & L'Occitane toiletries in the bathroom ...... I mean, what the heck???
Don't get me started on the food service. Oh, OK, I'll tell you about it. First of all, the chef --- YES, an honest-to-God chef in a chef's hat comes out & offers you canapes. They set up a place setting in front of you with linen napkins, chilled silverware, & fancy drinks. You know when you go to a fancy-schmancy restaurant & they make a Caesar salad for you tableside? WELL, THEY DO IT ON THE PLANE TOO. When I aksed for a chicken Caesar salad, they tossed it right in front of me. One of the different options on the menu was a pan fried sea bass, which I ordered. But they mistakenly brought me lamb chops instead. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS??? The princess is MOST displeased!!! Get the chef out here to rectify this mistake IMMEDIATELY!!! OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!!!!!
The time went by very quickly. There wasn't even a peep out of Matt, & you know how horribly bored he gets during long flights. The bad part of this experience is, we're now spoiled & absolutely cannot sit in the back of the plane again. We CAN'T. We WON'T!!!
The flights were all on time, everything ran smoothly, & here we are nestled back in Bethel Park. A big, fat THANK YOU to my dear brother-in-law Bill for sending a Town Car & driver to get us from JFK to Newark. It worked out like clockwork, & we appreciated your offer. We picked our dogs up from Fuzzy Paws Pet Villa & Spa, & it's nice to have the whole family reunited again. Even though Charm & Mitch are the worst dogs in the world, these jackasses have sweet faces & they melt my heart every time.
Even though Matt returned to work & I'm running around for hours on end catching up on errands, emails, phone calls, etc., we are still basking in the glow of our experiences in Dubai & Africa. We wonder ...... what trip can possibly top this one? Well, stay tuned, & maybe one day we'll find out together.
With much love to all of you,
Clara
