Home again.

It has been incredibly busy this last two weeks, but I don't want to leave you all hanging. Let me see if I can fill in some of the gaps.

The last 2 days of our time in India we spent in Kolkata. We spent some time downtown in the bazaar, which was very interesting, and not as crowded as in Shillong. This was just a one day quirk I suspect, because we ended up in Kolkata on Holi, which is a major festival, and many shops were closed. There was a huge parade going through the streets, which we managed to wind around on our way from the hotel to other places.

We spent some time at Mother Teresa's compound, and toured through the museum, and went by the orphanage for a few minutes. We were not able to find anyone at the orphanage who could give us a tour, or direct us anywhere, so we did not stay long.

In the afternoon, we went to say goodbye to Swami and Violet, and had a good visit with them.

In the evening, we wandered through some of the area around the hotel, and saw many people being splashed with paint, for Holi, didn't manage to get too painted ourselves, and turned in early, since we had to leave for the airport at 2:00 am. Unfortunately, because of the really loud music from the pavilion across from the hotel, none of us slept particularly well, in the four hours available. But it meant it wasn't as complicated to get up in time to get to the airport.

We got through all the check in steps at the airport in reasonable time, and then just had to do the waiting and waiting, which by then we were quite good at.
We shall quickly pass over the trip. Just think: 9 hours from Kolkata to London, 7 hours from London to Toronto, with not enough time between the two flights to get to a washroom in the airport. I really dislike the set up at London airport. You have to come out of the secure area and go back through security to pass between flights. So if you wanted to take you're little water bottle with you, or anything like that, you are out of luck. And you are held up for no reason between flights to do this extra security check which is totally unnecessary.

We had a 3 hour layover in Toronto, during which time we not only got to find a washroom, but also managed to find the Tim Hortons, and roll up the rim. T the 4 hour? flight to Saskatoon. We arrived in Saskatoon at 10:10 pm, still on the same Wednesday. Definitely the longest day I have ever had, and likely the least sleep. We were met at the airport by a wonderful crowd of friends and family and enjoyed a short visit, before heading home to try to sleep.