UK Trip - Returning Home!!!

It was a hectic morning for us on the day we returned home.

We woke up at 6:30 and rushed to get ready. Mr. O had to run to the subway office to return our Oyster Cards. 

Our cab was due at 8. We had to have breakfast before then and then it was an one and half hours ride to airport.

When Mr. O came back, we ordered breakfast and practically inhaled it fast. 

Mr. O still had to bring our luggage down and being a manly man, he refused to take help from concierge (God help me from male ego). So he was the one who had to drag our luggage down. 

By the time we got out, the cab was already there. We hopped on to the cab and went off to the airport. 

We reached there by 10:45. Now we had to claim the VAT for our purchases and we had to check in (since I still have my Indian passport even though I have permanent residence). 

We rushed through the check in only to find out that the seat handle of the seat of Mr. O's choice of extra legroom doesn't move. That won't do. He is a big man. So he changed both our seats to 33rd row from 15th row which is a two person seat. 

Then we went to claim the VAT. But get this, they say that you will get the 20% VAT returned to you. But how it works is that the custom stamps the receipts, you go to a private company which has contract with the UK Govt. and they charge additional money to give you cash for each receipts (so you better buy over £50 worth of souvenirs from one shop so you get one receipt). Also, additionally if you want that money in your currency, then they charge outrageous conversion rate. 

So you are really not getting much of a VAT back. 

Anyhoo, beggars can't be choosers. That's why they ask you to do it on the point of departure at the airport. You will hardly go to airport for any other reason but to fly out. And if your flight is due, you are less likely to leave the airport and use some other company to claim the money. 

So we took the money in pounds thinking that at least we can blow the money in duty free. 

But first, we went to eat. So we spent some money there. By the time we finished having food, our flight was boarding. We still had £7-8 pounds left (£5 in cash, rest in coins). 

I thought that I will buy some snacks and grab a couple of bottles of water. 

Mr. O was holding the cash. By the time we got to the store, Mr. O had misplaced the £5 note. Great!!! So we only had enough money for one bottle of water and nothing else. 

We didn't want to use our credit card again. So we just grabbed the bottle of water and rushed to board the flight. 

When we found our seats, we realised that the seats had a wall behind them and was ridiculously tiny. Not to mention the so-called window was so ahead that it practically belonged to the previous row. 

I am claustrophobic so this is my brand of torture. So the entire flight, Mr. O and I had to switch seats constantly every 2 hours. 

We landed in Toronto at 3 p.m. on Saturday. By that time, I was cranky, tired, had seized up muscle in my back and very sad that not only the vacation is over, but also that there's no vacation left for the rest of the year.

The luggage also took another hour to arrive. By the time we got home, it was 5 p.m. and both of us were severely jet lagged. 

So we just decided to go out for dinner and grab groceries. 

That's when I realised that I have become a Canadian. I ordered Poutine for dinner with burger... 

Those of you who don't know what Poutine is, it's the best food on the planet. 

Take crispy French fries, dump cheese curds on it, then pour hot gravy so that it melts the cheese curds into melting, stringy cheese.

Now grab a fork and dig in. 

If you ever come to Canada, Poutine should be in your list of food for sure.

After dinner, we went home and I unpacked my suitcase right away. My cousin is coming to Canada on this Thursday. So I have a lot of work to do until then. 

Besides, the fastest way to get rid of jetlag is to not to sleep until bedtime. So I kept myself busy with cleaning, running a load of laundry, sorting out our own souvenirs from the gifts and Mr. O watched his much awaited Game of Thrones episode.

Tomorrow we will start to clean up the house. We only have three days to get everything done until my cousin and her family arrives from Paris.