I stepped out of the plane feeling slightly disoriented, but happy I managed to pack everything back in a carry-on suitcase and found an aisle seat (I find them more comfortable) in one of the first rows. We were early. In a few minutes, Simon's car would stop at the curb and he would step out of it, hold me in his arms, load the suitcase in the trunk and drive me back to my apartment, were I would be able to settle down and take a shower. It would be very nice.

With fading memories of my parents smiling and waving their hands on the other side of the security line, I walked through the sliding doors while switching my cell phone on. The heat fell down on me, heavily contrasting with the coolness of the overly air-conditioned airport. "Ouch," I thought. "It's really warmer than in San Francisco here... and I was already complaining of the heat this morning. How weird to think that only a few days ago it was so cold I had to buy an extra sweater and ‒ gasp ‒ fingerless gloves!"

So life is back to normal (and the arms of the Fabulous Feline), with memories of a real city with abnormally sloping streets, cute but scary cable cars, impressive bridges, friendly squirrels, sea gulls and sea lions, beautiful flowers and trees, amazing art from Asia and Papua New Guinea, photogenic Victorian houses, rounded bay windows, foggy mornings, and over four hundred pictures to show for it.