Day 6 – Coming home

“Homeward bound

I wish I was

Homeward bound”

So sang Simon and Garfunkel all those years ago, and that’s exactly what we are today.  Never have a set of suitcases been packed so quickly, and the “what time are we leaving?” questions been asked so often.  We had an effortless transfer to Athens airport this morning, and it was only an officious check in lady that meant it took us nearly half an hour to check all the group in.  Plenty of time for a visit to McDonalds.  McDonalds and loving it – Mr. Suter did try to warn the people in the queue behind him that he had a big order, but when you have to order 25 Happy Meals it takes time.  We’re not sure whether the moniker ‘Happy Meal’ comes from – the staff decidedly were not!

With a slight delay in Athens the was the usual rush for spending – despite repeated warnings that it wasn’t actually necessary to have spent every last penny of their money, the children have been determined to do so.  We’ll be interested to see some of the items that have made their way into your children’s bags! 

It was an uneventful flight until we were approaching Doha, when we discovered that we were flying into a storm.  Cagla was somewhat concerned about the rain, and wondered if all the parents would come to Doha to collect the children as she didn’t think the planes would be able to fly in the wet.  Resilient they were – we were actually struck by lightning as we came in!

With a two hour layover in Doha, again the children had a bit of extra time to go off and explore.  We’re not sure where the money is coming from, but still they managed to come back with bags and bags of stuff.   Andy nearly didn’t – to much consternation, Andy managed to lose his wallet (it had been in his jacket pocket, which was slung over his shoulder!) but luckily for him it was handed in by a honest traveller.

And so there you have it.  We’re at the gate in Doha, the flight is on time and we’ll be back in Dammam in no time at all…