On Sunday March 25th, we set out very early (our transfer was 6am and it was daylight savings morning so really 5am)! We set our alarm for 5am, but our iPhone updated the time and after getting up and dressed (which was kind of difficult with brace etc), I realized our mistake. Thankful we hadn't woken the kids up! I hadn't had a lot of sleep given my leg was braced and pretty swollen. We had a tense moment at Chambery airport when being asked if I could bend my leg. I managed to convince them that with an aisle seat I would be fine to let the trolley past. Phew. We had a good time getting to the plane, in a wheelchair and getting a hydraulic lift (Alex joined me). The flight was fine and when we arrived at Gatwick, I was told assistance would be arriving. Assistance was a wheelchair for 100m and then a motorized trolley. I was allowed to take 1 child with me, so Tara and I got on. What an amazing service, the lady who drove us was lovely - a volunteer and just so friendly and accommodating. We were driven to passport control and then met the boys at baggage reclaim and then we all got a ride to the car rental area! It was an excellent service. We picked up our rental car and drove to the Hilton hotel in Cobham in Surrey.
Gary dropped me off at the door of the Hilton - we arrived around lunchtime. I went in hobbling on my crutches with both kids. The check-in staff told us our room wasn't ready yet as they had been full the night before. The manager at the desk then looked at me and said, "You look like you could do with a drink, come to the bar with me" and she took the kids and I to the bar and told the bartender to get us what we wanted and she would sign the bill. She got the children 2 activity packs with colouring etc inside and it made me feel like crying - it had been such a journey to get there and everyone had been so kind. With the accident happening less than 24 hours prior, we hadn't really had a chance to process it all but she was so lovely and accommodating.
When Gary and I lived in England we had a house in Walton on Thames and this was one of the reasons we had chosen the Hilton at Cobham. As it was lunchtime, we decided to go to one of our favourite pubs for lunch. We drove there (got a little lost) but managed to find it ok and as it was Sunday lunch the place was heaving. Luckily we did manage to get a table and we had a gorgeous pub lunch at what used to be called "The Oatlands Chase" but had changed its name. Again, on leaving, Gary went to get the car and people were helping me out - opening the car door and just being so kind.
We drove back to our hotel and got our rooms, only to find out that they were on the 2nd floor and there was no lift!! I had a chat with the front desk staff and they offered us a room on the ground floor but unfortunately the ground floor had no interconnecting rooms so we decided we'd give the 2nd floor a go. I very quickly learnt how to get up and down stairs with my crutches. The rooms were lovely and it was nice to be able to relax and collect ourselves for a while.
On Sunday night we caught up with some old friends Mark & Liz and their 2 daughters, Rachel and Gemma. We went to an old favourite restaurant - Pizza Express. I was delighted that they still had my all time favourite pizza on the menu - Veneziana. The kids had a lovely time and it was so nice to catch up with old friends - now in a very different situation with 4 kids between us!
On Monday, we had a lovely day exploring Surrey again and just chilling out. On Tuesday, our flight was at 10:30pm so we asked the hotel if we could have late checkout. They told us it was 10 pounds an hour after 1pm and we organised to have the room till 4pm. They didn't end up charging us the extra 30 pounds which was again, so nice of them. We had a nice easy day and then at 4pm, checked out and drove to a nearby playground we had seen earlier in the day. The kids had a brilliant time playing and then we went to another of our favourite pubs on the river for dinner before driving to Heathrow. It was a lovely relaxing few days in Surrey despite me being on crutches and leg in a splint.
Gary did the drive back to Heathrow - our trusty GPS got us there without an issue and we managed to check in without a hitch. Gatwick definitely wins the prize for assistance. Heathrow was a lady with a wheelchair who was very kind. In Singapore we had a guy who crashed me into a number of objects and was going so fast that poor Tara was running to try to keep up. Eventually Gary asked him if he could take the hand luggage and Gary pushed me. The guy was a bit clueless. Anyway, we made it back to Singapore in 1 piece.
A big shout out to Gary for managing 2 toddlers, 2 heavy suitcases, 4 items of hand luggage and a wife on crutches. What a champion.
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