Another day in Paradise. I think I could just end todays blog with just those 4 words as everything is almost just a repeat of the day before. But that would defeat the objective and be even more boring than what we actually did.
Breakfast this morning was Eggs Benedict – with maybe just a rasher or three of the delicious crispy bacon on the side. We were later than normal getting to the sunbeds and our favoured ones had all been taken. After contemplating whether to take two that were on the edge of the sea we decided to head for shade and shifted some around to be under a longer Tiki Shelter. At 10am we were ready for our first cocktail of the day purely in order to maintain our hydration levels.
It was another glorious day. Blue skies with occasional intermittent cloud and a lovely warm breeze off the sea. I was still ensconced in the Thursday Murder Club book which had maintained the high standard the more I read. Book choices are very personal. Karen is a slow reader and prefers the heavy classics. She is still making her way through the book Tombland by CL Sansom and enjoying it. I prefer less historical lighter books and always enjoy the latest Grisham or Reacher novel. Lately I have enjoyed a number of detective novels set in Norfolk by local authors. The writing isn’t always great but I love the references to places I know well. I cannot read fantasy or science fiction or horror books as they do nothing for me.
Reading is also something I primarily do whilst travelling. Some of that is down to the fact that Karen always thinks I should be doing something more productive than reading when at home especially when she is at work (of her choice). I gave up trying to win that argument and find it easier just not to do so.
Whilst we laid there there was a wedding taking place at the pavilion directly next to us. I kept saying things like ‘Don’t Do It’ and ‘Its a Trap – she will change once you say I do’ but Karen told me to be quiet and to not ruin their special day.
After a while we toddled off to the Hot Tub that we had entirely to ourselves. We heard this morning that the Hotel is 84% full today but we are not sure where everyone is as the place feels quite deserted. Karen did her exercises and feels there is a definite improvement in the movement of her left arm.
Out of the blue we got a bill today for the Physio Sessions she has been having. We thought they were covered by our Health plan as mine have been before. Another query and complaint to deal with. I am still in dispute with Amex about 2 issues (change of card anniversary date and a payment to Dollar Car Rental), EDF about their (lack of) billing and smart meters as well as BA about their admin delay which meant they expired a voucher which we should have had returned to us. We are also still in dispute over the car that hit Karen on the NDR last March. Court papers were issued in December to recover the excess I have had to pay. Now I have to add Vitality Health to the list. I believe in praising where praise is due (as I have done to Virgin Atlantic about their crew on our flight here) but also to stick up for myself when I can see that I have been wronged by a company especially ones to whom I pay a lot of money to.
We then went and got ourselves a couple of Caesar Wraps for lunch and washed them down with some soft drinks from the bar. The novelty of having lots of cocktails has definitely worn off and we just needed cold drinks.
After this we headed back to our room for a while and then went for our daily constitutional along the beach. I find it easier walking one way along the bay than the other. The shoreline has a slope and going along with my right leg nearest the sea is much more comfortable. Turning round to come back with left leg nearest the sea is much more difficult. I have been told in the past that from my road accident my left leg is ½ inch shorter and I wondered if that was the reason why. Nevertheless, it still makes for an enjoyable 30-minute walk.
Then it was time for a nice sit down near one of the outside bars. We had a couple of glasses of Mimosa’s and sat quietly catching up with some messages from home. It was very relaxing and all rather civilised.
Standing close by were a small group from England, somewhere up North. What caught our attention was that one of the guys was very brown they had obviously been here for a while. He looked to be in his late 50’s. The more I observed the more I tried to deduce about him. He was trying to be and thought himself a cool dude. He had lots of beads around his wrist that had obviously been bought from local sellers. I deduced he wanted everyone back home to know where he had been. He had a number of cloth bands around his ankle as well – goodness knows why. I guessed he worried greatly about his appearance and put much effort into it. Karen would say better that than me who takes and cares almost zero percent about how I look. Later than evening I saw him and nearly choked. He had on this shirt which even I recognised would be a unique piece from a designer (if it had been massed produced no one would buy it). It was white with like a rainbow of paint spilled down from the shoulders. I suppose everyone to their own. I am much happier just trying to blend in with other fellow scruffs.
After a while we headed back to our room where we did have to smarten up for first reservation in one of the restaurants which had a dress code. I did not approve. I am in the Caribbean to chill and relax not to dress up for dinner. I want to enjoy the barmy 24c evenings, not be dressed like a penguin. I could just about accept the need for men to have a collared T Shirt or Shirt but not trousers. Especially as all I had brought was some black jeans for an emergency. I compromised by wearing my smart Black travel Joggers which I reasoned looked like casual trousers. No one could tell. Karen did look rather fetching in one of her new cruise dresses she had brought with her. We looked rather resplendent and fitted in perfectly.
The restaurant called Calabosh was decorated in an interesting style, a mash up of fine English Stately Home and a shack. The service was good and the food of a decent standard. I had the New York Strip whilst Karen went for the Chicken. It seems we could have ordered 4 courses which we didn’t understand and only had 3 (I ordered a dessert so that Karen could try 2 different ones).
Without rushing we were finished in about 1 hour. So we made our way to the Country & Western evening by the pool. The band were really rather good and we were disappointed we only caught the last 15 minutes of them.
We relocated again to another bar and because it looked pretty sat by a fire pit. The Fire pit was totally unnecessary and made a warm evening quite hot. We had to have some Baileys on the Rocks to cool us down.
It was then time for bed. I soon fell asleep whilst Karen read for a while.
I am not sure where the time goes to here, but it sure passes quickly when you are busy doing nothing.
