We were up and breakfasting by seven thirty, in time for the 8.33 inter city DB train to Dusseldorf Airport. All proceeded smoothly with our British Airways flight on a smaller aircraft than the one on our outward journey, until we reached London airspace, where we told there would be landing delay due to a torrential downpour putting the usual landing sequence temporarily on hold. We cruised around through bumpy clouds for twenty minutes or so before being permitted to descend without incident.
We'd booked on a four thirty bus to Cardiff, but even a briefly delayed arrival left the prospect of a two hour wait. Due to the rain, buses were all arriving late and we'd seen the M4 congested on the landing approach. The two o'clock coach to Cardiff hadn't yet arrived, we heard, so we re-booked on that coach, as there were spaces, in the hope of getting home earlier. It was an hour and half late, so our coach arrived back in Cardiff only half an hour earlier than we might otherwise have done. We missed lunch, not wanting the stray for from the bus stop as the rebooked coach was supposed to be arriving "any time now".
Despite the potential for offering real time updates to passengers using GPS tracking and social media, National Express still keeps its passengers and dispatch crew a bit in the dark. It's an excellent service, nevertheless, apart from chilly and entirely un-necessary air conditioning in use when most passengers are in summer dress. Forced air at 20C feels like 14C if you're stuck in your seat and can't move around. You can ask the driver to raise the temperature, but aren't supposed to speak to him when the coach is on the move!
We were home by nine, and cooking a curry, fourteen hours after saying auf Wiedersehen to our friends Connie and Udo. It was great to spend time with them, and I certainly appreciated being back in Germany for the first time since re-unification. How could it be so long!
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