Last flight out of Cairo!

As you've probably read in previous posts we had a really mental 'last night' in Cairo that consisted of frantic packing, regretting running out of bin bags, power cuts and cleaning.  After moving two summers ago we vowed we would never have a 'last night' like that again, but this one got pretty close.

Anyway - we were up early on the Sunday morning and our minibus arrived on time so Scott got to loading our luggage into the lift and onto the bus (six large cases, two small cases, trunki, rucksack, change bag, buggy and car seat!).  He did such a good job at loading everything that I called down from the balcony to check that he had it all, and when he said he did I just asked "Well, shall I lock up then?" and Leila and I gave a final wave 'bye bye' and headed on down to join him.  With hindsight it was a weird 'goodbye' for us to such a significant home in our lives, but we have the memories and so know we can't dwell on things like this or we'll never get on!

Leila was great in the minibus and at the airport when we met Nabil to check us in.  It was a bit sad to be honest even saying goodbye to Nabil (as it had been when we said goodbye to Sayed, our regular driver, the other day) but maybe we will see him again - we're definitely keeping his number!


At the airport we grabbed some breakfast (Leila was finally tempted to try some scrambled egg off our plate!) and then wandered around to keep Leila busy.  We'd got loads of Egyptian cash still, but decided to not try and spend it on random souvenirs as we can change it in London when we arrive. Leila enjoyed posting a final few postcards (after bulk-buying stamps about a year ago!) and playing around with Trunki and then it was time to board!

We'll probably get to our final destination before these do!

Leila and Trunki take a final look out on Egyptian "soil"

Trying to explain to Leila that we are now inside the plane....Luckily she's got 5.5hrs to grasp the concept!

Leila in her own seat (while Chimp gets the lap belt!)

Leila was great on the flight even though it was a lot of hard work for both of us.  Buying the extra seat was the right thing to do, as having the three seats made things so much easier. Leila spent most of the time in her seat and was kept entertained by the food and drink on the flight (and in our bag!), standing up to look behind/in front, clambering over the two of us, playing with Chimp and reading and singing.  We did a lot of reading and singing!  There were times when things were tough and she was a bit gringy, but she was mainly under control.  It was really nice though that the older lady in front of us complimented us on Leila's behaviour (and her husband claimed he didn't realise there was a toddler behind him....not sure if I quite believe that!) and on our approach to looking after her on the flight.

In London we had quite a wait for the bags (well there were a number of them!) and then spent some time figuring out how we were going to transport them all with just the two of us.  In the end Scott had a luggage trolley piled high with our six large cases and I had all four pieces of hand luggage on the buggy and then pulled Leila along on Trunki. Luckily it wasn't far that we had to negotiate with these unsteady vehicles until we were out with the P's in the Arrivals Hall.

Waiting for one of our many bags at Heathrow

Taking it easy!