The journey to England went quite well. Getting to Charles de Gaulle airport and into the airplane took much more time than we would have thought. We spent a lot of time queuing up and waiting. So much so that we didn’t even have time to visit the bathroom before boarding the plane. Fortunately, even EasyJet’s planes are equipped with toilets, so as soon as we were up in the air, we used them.

At London Luton airport, there was another long queue at customs. Loads of people having difficulties with their passports or ID’s, but when it was finally our turn to show our documents to a rather grumpy looking customs official, he waived us through with barely a look at them. I even got up the nerve to ask for stamps, which made him smile. But they don’t do stamps anymore, so my passport looks as neat and empty as ever.

The advantage of the long wait was that, by the time we arrived at the luggage band, our suitcase was already waiting for us. In fact the luggage band wasn’t even moving anymore, we had been held up at customs that long.

So we were out of the airport in no time at all, and looking for our next transport, which was a bus of National Express. We already had tickets for it, but those were officially for half an hour later. The people at the bus station made no problem of that at all, and our suitcases were loaded in the belly of the bus while we took our seats. The bus left immediately and dropped us off 45 minutes later near where we had to be.

And so we arrived at our very first pet and house sit. Anna, the owner, showed us the apartment that is ours to use and take care of for 8 days, and introduced us to our charge. Bella is an almost 11 years old blond Labrador Retriever. She has a very sweet character and took a little under 5 minutes to accept us. She was sitting on my feet before we had even started our tour of the apartment.

Anna was still very busy packing for the holiday she and her husband Chris were about to embark on with their two children, but she took us and Bella for a walk nevertheless, to show us the surroundings and tell us a little about them and -most importantly- Bella. She had already sent us a written document with instructions about the apartment and the care of Bella, and there was a small pile of books and maps on the living room table with all sorts of information about London.

We left Anna to her packing and went out to have something to eat, explore, and do a bit of work. We came back in the evening, just in time to meet Anna’s husband Chris, and the children, and say goodbye to the family, as they left for their holiday.

So here we are. In an apartment in a district to the north west of London city. And a dog to feed, walk, cuddle love and take care of. Amazing to be trusted with someone’s house and pet, even though they did not know us. We will of course take very good care of Bella and the apartment in their absence.