Action stations! With the last of the packing done, and an odd assortment of foods for breakfast and packed for snacks, we got in the cars a little late, bade a noisy farewell to the Threlfalls and trundled off down the hill for the final time. The villa was good value and the boys loved the pool but the lack of air-conditioning and numerous marching columns of ants would maybe make us think twice about booking it again. We didn't get the value out of the car hire (about £470 for ten days) so a taxi transfer (reckioned to be about €50-€70 one way) might have been better but it would have caused some logistical problems getting going anywhere as one car and two adults doesn't cut it unless you have a third adult to mind children during a shuttle operation.
The drive to the airport was swift but the wait for the transfer bus was a little fraught as other families begain to jostle for position and the clock ticked down. We got on though and whilst we'd cut it a little fine at least we didn't have too wait too long at the airport. Only a short delay, thankfully, and then we were off back to Blighty. We touched down in Manchester, negotiated the snaking passport queue relatively quickly and had our car returned to us promptly.
We bade farewell to Sharon who had the dubious pleasure of heading for the train to Birmingham to immediately embark on the Pampered Chef conference. I raced up the M6, pausing for an hour and dinner and then running into the filthy weather that is still sweeping across the country with depressing frequency. We got home around 7.30pm and the boys were delighted to see their own rooms and belongings once more. It was a late bedtime as everyone had been dozing on and off on the drive home, but at least we were home and in our own beds.
