A view from Montreal Airport

Hello folks. I'm sorry to have been so hopeless about writing again, but frankly the holiday was lovely and the Conference busy, so there never seemed to be time to write this. Two days ago I left Vancouver for a final two days in Montreal.

Shock 1: the flight was almost five hours!
Shock 2: it is a three hour time difference.

All this should help with the jet lag; I'm almost half way home, right? I met a friend and we went to stay at his cousin's place on a lake outside Montreal. The Lake is memorably called Lac Bob.  Blackadder instantly came to mind.

It was fabulous. The sun shone. The leaves are beginning to turn and the colours were awesome. The wind rippled the surface of the lake. The only sign of other human beings were the curls of smoke from the chimneys of other cabins. You could touch the silence. We meandered to farm shops, bought beef and vegetables and fruit and wine. Returning to the cabin, we cooked on a combination of the cooker and the barbecue. The meat was the best I have ever tasted by quite a long way.

Today, we returned to Montreal, went to an Exhibition about the Samurai and another on the Etruscans, both fascinating, empty, beautifully described. Then my friend dropped me at the airport: at my own request, I was three hours early. We said fond farewells, hoped that we would be able to meet on one side of the pond or the other within the year, waved goodbye.

Things went fairly rapidly downhill after that. The flight was delayed; by 'at least' an hour and a quarter. As I speak, we are still in the lounge. They are now quoting an hour and forty minutes. Our scheduled arrival at Heathrow at 0920 is now being quoted as 1030. I can feel all the benefit from the trip leeching away by the second. We are all tired. It is a tribute to the Canadians that there have been no frayed tempers.

But, do you want to know the worst of it? I was due to pick up Molly Cat before 12.00. This is now not going to happen. I hope Linda lets me pick her up later, but thanks to the time difference, I won't know till I land. I can't bear the thought of the whole weekend without her.

A View from Vancouver

I arrived in Vancouver on Saturday. It is a looooooong way from England - a nine and a half hour flight. I don't like aeroplanes. I don't like long flights. I was stressed, and exhausted. But my brother and his wife were there to meet me and it was lovely to see them. Thanks to the time difference, it was still light, although we had left London at 5p.m.  We walked out of the airport past a tank of jellyfish; why, I asked myself?

Everybody told me how beautifulVancouver is. Frankly, it isn't. So far, it seems to me little different from anywhere else. But the scenery is awesome, wonderful, amazing. Yesterday we went to the Aquarium: I enjoyed it all, but the Belluga whales and the dolphins were a particular pleasure.

Today we went to Deep Cove Bay. It is beautiful. The trees drop down to the water's edge, the sea was calm, like a millpond, the colours are amazing. I have been so lucky with the weather - there has been almost unbroken sunshine.

But for me, the highlight was last night. At about 8, the dog went mad. We peered outside. Walking across the deck was a raccoon. I had never seen one. I was so excited. I am now hoping for something bigger.