From: "Philip Merryman" <phil_merryman@hotmail.com>

Date: Sun May 26, 2002 08:19:19 PM Etc/GMT

Subject: Back Home

Hi All,

I am now safely back home after an uneventful transatlantic crossing. In fact the nearest it got to having an event was the 10 minute wait on the ground at Heathrow (for the airport gate to clear) because the flight was early!!!

My last steak in New York was excellent. Also the restaurant had Bass on draught at $5 per pint (compare with the comments in the previous mail) , furthermore it was the best pint of Bass I have had outside the UK on the whole trip! Not too cold! ;-) So I recommend Dano's on 5th Ave at 5th & 28th. The quick trip up the Empire State Building on Saturday proved to be not quite so quick as there were heaps of people (it is a holiday weekend in the USA) and there were queues for the lifts both up and down. They even suggested we walked the last 6 floors at the top because it was quicker than queueing! I took the option and they were right!

Now that I am back home I am trying to stay awake until bedtime here so as to try to minimise the jetlag. It is all rather strange: having almost been counting the days since the Grand Canyon now that I am back it is almost as if it never happened! However there is an enormous and growing pile of boxes and packets as the Items I posted home continue to arrive. It seems more like Christmas! :-) I am taking it easy in front of the soccer for the next few weeks and also to have the novelty of spending consecutive nights in the same bed!! Over the next few days I will gradually sort out all my stuff before working out what to do next.

Now, before any of you say "Please come and show us all your pictures" (too late for one of you!) please bear in mind the following statistics:

I have taken approximately 2650 photographs and 20 hours of video!!!!

All this has to be processed, catalogued, edited and presented. This will take many weeks, if not months, even longer if I get a job and end up having no time left! So please bear with me. However if any of you wish for me to come and help empty various containers of alcohol I am more than willing to oblige!

In some of your replies to my mailsI have been referred to as "The Wanderer" and "Michael Palin". My own idea is, considering where I was living before I began all this, is "The Haarlem Globetrotter"! Anyway, whatever you choose to call me, this is the last of my communal mails. Those of you at home can now look forward to less clutter in your inbox, those of you at work can now get some work done! Thanks to all of you who contacted me over the last four months. In many ways it was as good as having travelling companions. Its been great fun travelling and writing all about it. But now I am having a break.

So this is the Haarlem Globetrotter saying:

"They think its all over...........

...... IT IS NOW!!!!!!