a holiday

A short train ride and I left the bustle of the city behind and found myself yet again in a new town without a real clue of where I was heading.  All I knew was the address of a villa where my friends were staying and that the cab ride would cost no more than 6 euros, twice as much as my train journey from Barcelona to Sitges. It’s all part of the journey and no longer phases me in the slightest,  I imagined doing the same in Japan or Russia where even the writing is different and decided that would be more of a challenge.

The cab driver got lost and tried to tell me to walk up a rough track to find the address.  I declined so he took me to the door and tried to charge me extra for the detour.  Facial expressions and sign language got the message across and I gave over the 6 euros that I had been expected to pay and went to find my friends.

As imagined, the villa was superb, wonderful views over the countryside with the sea in the distance, a large open plan living area, terraces, a pool and plenty of space for ten or more.  I had a twin room on the second floor with its own bathroom, a far cry from the building site I had been staying on the week before.

It was like being back in London,  Jac, Tania and Alix were there, along with Alan and John who had popped out for a few days, all good friends whom I have known for years, already installed and in holiday mode.  We relaxed, drank wine, nibbled on crisps and cured sausage and caught up on what had been going on.  The girls had been in Spain for two weeks already with Jacs family, sightseeing in Barcelona and then relaxing at the villa, they had returned to Wales the day before.  

We ate well, drank well and enjoyed doing very little.  Baby Alix kept us amused demonstrating how well she could walk, pointed to her nose, eyes, ears and chin, busied herself with dominoes and plastic bottles and assorted toys for hours, was read the same book countless times always wanting more and was a joy to be with.  Two cabs were needed to get anywhere so much of the time was spent lounging around on the terrace and floating about in the pool.  It was so so nice to be on holiday, in good company and not needing to do anything at all.  I counted back to see when I had last done nothing so convincingly and decided that it was nearly two years ago in Hawaii when I stayed in a hostel by Waikiki Beach, no wonder it was so good.