Another Piechnik Invades England

My morning started bright and early at 4:45 a.m. in order to catch the 6:00 a.m. train (and coach transfer) to meet my mom at London Heathrow Airport. I was thrilled that my vacation with my parents was finally beginning! Mom followed me through the airport, to the coach, through the train station, and back to Basingstoke. She has occasionally caught a bus back home, but she's not used to the trains and transfers and reading the departure information at stations – a whole new world over here!

I was determined to keep her awake and get her into normal sleep patterns as soon as possible as I know from experience how difficult it is to stay awake with jetlag. I let her sleep for twenty minutes before lunch, then my land-lady, Ann, picked us up and took us to The Vyne, a National Trust property near Basingstoke. Quite surreal for her to hear that Henry VIII and Ann Bolyn stayed at the home.

Wisteria blossoms.

Part of the path we walked along to explore the property.

The Vyne.

We returned to Ann and Jon's place in Hook for dinner and in the car on the way there I turned to say something to mom and although she looked alert when I started speaking, within thirty seconds I could see her eyelids droop and her eyes glaze over. I waved my hand in front of her face and said, “Mom! Wake up!” and her head jerked and she gasped as she asked, “What? Did I fall asleep?” She's never experienced jetlag like this before and I can see this will be a bit of a challenge to keep her awake until an appropriate bedtime.