Greetings from aboard Thomas Cook Airlines (or Condor or AirTanker
or one of several other names that appeared in our discount booking
confirmations. It was surprisingly difficult to determine exactly what airline
we were going to be flying with from the documentation, though we managed to
work it out by the time we dropped off our rental car at the Belfast City
Airport) somewhere above Greenland!
We are finally on the last stage of our family
multi-continent adventure, having been treated to some truly wonderful
hospitality along the way. Our first stop was to visit a good friend from Joe’s
graduate days at Cambridge. It was high time for a visit, especially
considering Ulrich’s recent engagement, and though the greatest highlight of
the stopover was getting to meet Theresia and spend some time with the two of them
as a couple, we enjoyed getting to see the sights of Cambridge again after a
long absence.
Our last visit to the city was in 2012 for the London Olympics,
and the once small college town has definitely expanded a bit in the last six
years. A couple pub meals, long run visiting Joe’s typical hangouts (the
Cavendish Laboratory, Wolfson College, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Parker’s Piece,
Jesus Green, etc.), many restful moments in the back garden of Ulrich’s place
and several wonderful home cooked meals made the time a restful place for us to
decompress from our African adventure for a few days. Having the two girls playing
around the old colleges was pretty surreal and reminded us of how much our
lives have changed in a relatively short amount of time.
We were also lucky enough to be able to take a day trip up
to a small village outside of Peterborough to visit Carol’s friend Emily, who
has taken ownership of a castle in recent years. After our modest but overly
confident cab driver got us lost a couple times, we finally turned in through
the gates getting our first glimpse of Woodcroft Castle while crossing over the
moat and trying hard not to be too distracted by the flocks of peacocks! Emily
gave us a grand tour of the castle (complete with defense tower, chapel, guard
house, etc.) and grounds, and the girls loved the opportunity to run around in
a bit more free space than they had been accustomed to with all the travel.
Another highlight was traveling around Cambridge by car
thanks to Ulrich (affectionately known as Uncle Ulrich for his patience, playfulness
and creativity with the girls!) tracking down two carseats. We were also so
grateful for the ride he gave us to Stanstead Airport on our way to Ireland for
our last stop before heading home.
We were headed for Belfast, which was the home of Dave and
Ruth. Dave was another B42 comrade from Cambridge days of yore, and we had last
seen him in Australia in 2016 for another B42 wedding which unfortunately was
not recorded in The Adventures of Joe & Carol. Petra was just over a year
old at the time and we have some amazing photos of her paddling around on the
Great Barrier Reef among other thing (we realized that with this trip Petra
become a five continent traveler which we think is pretty grand for someone
three years old). Narrowly avoiding an excessively long tangential story, this
was the first time that we had been able to see Ruth in person since the
combined wedding/graduation festivities of 2011 and even more excitingly our
first opportunity to meet their twin children who are coming up on two years of
age! 
The twins were amazing, and very graciously shared a lot of
toys and food with Petra and Matea who made themselves right at home. Ruth’s
cooking and baking skills are truly inspiring and any weight loss which we
might have possibly incurred during our time in Kenya was undoubtedly reversed
with interest in just three days. In addition to fattening us up for our trip
home, Dave and Ruth showed us some of the many beautiful sights around the
greater Belfast area, including a very scenic seaside park complete with
miniature railway at Carnfunnock and the Castle Ward now recognized by the
world as Winterfell since the filming of Game of Thrones. Also particularly memorable
were a few minutes strolling about at some wonderfully isolated remains of a Celtic
monastery dated back to around 700 AD.
Our best memories from this phase of our journey are of
course just sitting around the table or living room getting to reconnect with our
friends and hearing about their own adventures since were all students and
chasing around with the kids almost like we all lived much closer together on
the planet.
And now we are headed home… almost. This flight will take us
to Washington State, USA, where we have the honor of attending Joe’s younger
sister’s wedding this upcoming weekend. After the festivities we will hit the
road heading South to spend just a few short weeks packing up our belongings
before making our official move out of Southern California to start a new chapter
in our lives up in the Pacific Northwest. We’re not sure when the next
instalment of our blog will appear, but perhaps once we’re settled in our new
home the story of our transition will be worth documenting for posterity. Irrespective
of that particular story, we will endeavor to not wait another four years
before posting an update on this crazy pilgrimage we call ‘life’. Many
blessings to you all.
Joe & Carol (& Petra & Matea)
