Well, I’m back!  Have been back almost two weeks already. Hard to believe 2.5 weeks ago I was in Greece. In temperatures in the 60s. Although Chicago hit 50 the other day. And I missed coming back to the polar vortex by a day.  So all in all, weather-wise, things could be considerably worse.

My first morning back I had issues with jet lag — never used to coming in this direction, but I had issues all week. Must be old age. Or the fact I was up for 24 hours without much sleep between my early bus ride from Cambridge, long wait at Gatwick, and an 8+ hour flight back (though direct and Norwegian Air is great — I recommend them).  Needless to say, I was discombobulated upon my return. I was wide awake at 3 AM, finally got out of bed at 4 — and took this photo at sunrise from my apartment on Feb 4. It was cloudy so you can’t see the sun, but I do love my views at home.

I had to take my mother in for minor (cataract) surgery the morning after I returned, which didn’t help with my level of time-confusion and other general distress. But all went relatively well and I managed to literally tear through 4.5 months’ worth of mail as I waited the three hours before, during and after her surgery. She’s still recovering and having issues, but that’s a long sad story that I’d prefer to keep out of my travel blog!

Before I get to final stats to help me “close out” my trip, I realized I never posted any photos from my last stop before leaving Europe — Cambridge. Only chosen because it was close to a few airports I was using and is supposed to be pretty.  And it is prettier than Oxford, in my humble opinion.

Although it was below freezing, I did the classic “punting” boat ride with a tour guide who talked about Cambridge history. Not that I remember much at this point. (This is why I should blog right after the experience!) They provided blankets and a hot water bottle (I could have used a hot toddy, but I guess that’s not appropriate for the kids). It was worthwhile, as you get to see the different colleges from the “Backs.”

In fact, I didn’t get inside the famous churches (King’s College Chapel, above, and Round Church) — though I went to the Christopher Wren-designed library in Trinity College. The library building is OK, but more amazing are the exhibits — they have Newton’s 1st edition of Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (yeah, had to look that one up) — with his handwritten notes for updates to the 2nd edition.  Plus AA Milne’s original Winnie the Pooh handwritten manuscript, and letters between Hardy and Ramanujan. And tons of religious stuff, which were beautifully illustrated and annotated. And a lot of other items — all from other Trinity College students/professors. I liked the Long Room from Dublin’s Trinity College better as a building/structure (sorry Sir Wren — but you can see below, it’s not spectacular — inside or out) and the Joanina library in Coimbra was more impressively golden, but the exhibits were fascinating.

I also quickly ran through the Fitzwilliam Museum (mostly an art museum, though lots of stuff also from Egyptian, Greek, and Roman ruins). Not huge , but a nice selection of artwork and like in Oxford and London, free! I really admire the UK’s stance that museums should be free to the public to encourage everyone’s exposure and education.

But the best thing about Cambridge was the coincidental timing of Mary’s work trip to London — so we met up in Cambridge on the weekend when both of us happened to be there. Mary and Will came up from London and we took a free walking tour (heard some conflicting “facts” from this guide vs. the punting one, but they all admit they make stuff up themselves).

It was fun to catch up, though cold and brief. And of course we hit a pub (well, two) afterwards. (Side note — I am absolutely fish-and-chipped out. I didn’t just have it in Scotland, Ireland, and in my two trips to England — but also in the British enclaves of Malta and Gibraltar. I need a break.) A lovely end to my trip to catch up with old friends!

A good lead-in to final stats.

• 134 days (19 weeks or 4.5 months — and 133 nights)
• 11 countries
• 29 Airbnbs (averaging $39/night)
• 1,964,599 steps (averaging 14,661 steps/day or about 6.3 miles)
• 12 flights (for a grand total of $667 — crazy, eh?  Just shows how much cheaper inter-Europe flights are than inter-US ones! Though I used FF miles for the flight out)
• More trains, subways, buses, and ferries than I want to count (my total transportation cost, minus the airline flights was $2042 … that includes car rentals, gas, parking, and the occasional uber)
• 82 entry/tour fees (and some of them, as you know if you read the blog, included multiple museums/sites. Plus, I got into a lot of places for free that weren’t counted, totaling $1313)
• 64 blog posts, 2329 views and 364 visitors (though I’m not sure how WordPress counts these?)

I didn’t keep track of miles walked (wait, my phone did — I’ve posted it above). But here’re my boots, which were brand new when I left and which I am now throwing away. I should’ve taken a shot of them from beneath — the grooves are worn down, they are no longer waterproof, the leather is scraped off on the toes, and I simply hate seeing anything I wore repeatedly for those 134 days. But I admit they were quite comfortable and did the job!

I’m going to dump 1 shirt, 1 pair leggings, 1 pair orthotics, and the boots. I really should’ve tossed them during the trip and bought replacements, but I stubbornly stuck to my no-shopping, no-souvenirs mantra. That said, Norwegian Air weighed my backpack before my return and it was 6.5 kg — a bit over 14 lbs, which was down 4 lbs from its pre-trip weight of 18 lbs. So I lost weight! (I also did personally — must’ve been all that walking. But I’m already gaining it back since I’m no longer walking 6+ miles/day!)

That’s it! I have a ton more photos and stories I never shared, but I’ve run out of time and space. It was a great trip and I’m not enjoying being back — even if I was “road weary” at the end. Somehow the total independence and lack of responsibility in warmer weather was way more fun than being back in the cold winter of Chicago with the realities and obligations of life that require my attention. And I hate hearing the news here, even if I listened to a ton of podcasts abroad.

Oh well. Now I need to plan my inter-North America roadtrip. Route 66, here I come!