Travelling light

Hi readers!
It's 5:38am UK time & i've just woken up after 9 hours of complete unconsciousness, possibly accompanied by some drooling. Who would know. My feathery pillow shows no signs however. I am sipping instant coffee & nibbling on Marks & Spencer oat cookies, which are crumbing up the sleeping arrangements badly though. Will housekeeping vacuum the bed, I wonder? oh, I forgot to mention... Spud & I are in Manchester! Yes, you heard right. We have just (insanely) travelled 24 hours on a 'plane to spend 4 days here while we attend Spud's mother's funeral tomorrow. I admit that at times during the ever-lasting flight, I questioned my mental state in doing this, but now that I am here with Spud it seems all worth it really. I'm afraid I can't upload any photos currently, but they will be forthcoming. I took some snaps from the plane as we flew over Iraq & Germany etc. We flew with Emirates & it really was not too bad at all though WHY do they make us "cattle class" walk THROUGH business, our hands gently fondling the moulded plastic of the sky beds while our eyes linger longingly over the expansive leg room....? Slap, slap! That's me slapping myself out of my reverie... Speaking of leg room, at one point during the leg to Dubai, I found myself hungry after my little vegetarian meal (my request - aimed at being first served) & remembering my packet of Jatz had fallen to the floor, I began an attempt to retrieve it. Well, I was jammed head down, my arm flailing about trying to feel the crinkly cellophane in the dark, when the French backpacker in front threw her seat back for a snooze & my life flashed before my eyes! Dubai was fascinating, despite my aching back, swollen legs & stinging, red-rimmed eyes, because of the jumble of humanity you see there in the airport. It is a melange of cultures as western
travelers, Asian students, Moroccans, African women in glorious robes the colours of the rainbow, Algerians & Middle-Easterners all rush from one end of the terminal to the other, being lured all the time by the glitzy, shiny duty-free stores with their luxury goods. From Dubai to Manchester, we were on one of those brand new double-decker 380 jets.
Verry nice. The 'loo (when I could get in there) was Tres Poshe, with burled wood trims.
Immigration in Manchester was the paranoid nightmare you'd expect from a country that has actually experienced terrorism & being on a flight from the middle-east with 600 Asian students on board slowed the process down nicely. Needless to say, Spud & I are actually overjoyed to be here now. More later but now is time to open my birthday present! Cheerio!