The title of this post is exactly what I'm going to talk about this week. Let's start at the beginning.
In an earlier post I mentioned we'd calculated that for son's birthday we usually give him a present around £100 and his birthday party usually comes to at least £200 (I KNOW). On top of that we had quite a lot of Tesco vouchers built up that we could use against hotels.
Back in March after a successful trip to Glasgow I had a great idea that we could take son away on a mini break for his birthday. Replacing his present and party. Seemed like an amazing plan. Then for just a little bit extra we could all have a great experience. We decided on Rome (well actually we decided on Athens, but my geography is so bad we ended up going to Rome).
The first challenge came when we found the flights. The company I booked it through insisted that son was an adult as he was 13. Problem was when I went to put the passport information into the airline site - they insisted he was a child and wouldn't accept his passport information.
Fast forward through many long telephone conversations and we were told we'd have to sort out at the airport when we got there. Something I was VERY uncomfortable about, but the company we booked through were adamant that was the only way of doing it. I was convinced we were not even going to get on the plane.
Turns out I was very wrong. Actually when we got the airport we were able to sort things out very quickly and with no complicated questions - lesson learnt!
With the many things we've done recently - all which have involved eating - my tummy is not quite the trampoline I'd like. In fact if anything was dropped on it it would get sucked into a vortex of fat. As a result of this I decided I'd help myself look nice for Rome and bought some tummy helping Bridget Jones style knickers. They were perfect, not too tight so you didn't get the toothpaste tube effect of all the excess blubber being pushed out above and below.
So feeling very together I made my way through airport security. Only for the machine to beep. This in itself is not unusual as I always seem to have something in my pocket, up my sleeve or something basic that's easily resolved. Imagine my confusion when I went through and looked at the screen to see what had caused the alarm. Only to see my entire knicker area lit up in big lights.
In a moment of horror I realised that it must be my groovy new tummy knickers. The blubber has got so bad that some sort of metal mesh is required just to keep things under control! Anyway there were a couple of things I could do and the one I opted with was to start laughing - somewhat to the surprise of security who had surrounded me. I called out to husband and son 'my knickers have set the alarm off'.
I went to hand husband something and 3 security guards shouted - 'don't touch him'. Oddly I still wasn't freaked. I got escorted to a room where they made me take my trousers down to my knees and much time was spent scanning my knickers. Fortunately they didn't make me take them off or do any personal searching. They were actually really nice and I was having to hold down the giggles the whole time. I must say that huge credit has to go to the way security treated me, for me to feel so unthreatened in this situation has to be because of how they dealt with it.
Obviously - and the fact that I knew I hadn't done anything wrong!
Who knew the first time I'd cause a ruckus at a security check would be when I was middle aged. What a wasted youth I had! The other thing about this that I really loved was my husband's reaction - when I shouted over that my knickers had set the alarm off he just looked at me with his eyebrow raised in a 'of course your pants set off the alarm, I'd have expected nothing else' way. It's things like this that are why I love him.
Son admitted to me yesterday that he thought I must have wet myself - I'm slightly less enamoured by that.
Needless to say - eventually got through security. Next thing I needed to do was to consider the journey home. I'd only bought one style of knickers for my 4 day trip. All I had in my suitcase were another 4 pairs of the metal knickers! Until this moment I had no idea just how few places there are at an airport to buy knickers! I ended up buying the only pair I could find - a pack of 3 lacey, very girlie knickers. Not my style at all (my style obviously being large METAL KNICKERS!).
I carried these back to where son and husband were waiting and son nearly had a meltdown. 'Put your pants away and stop waving them around' he hissed in a way that only a teenager can address an unsatisfactory parent. Obviously this bought out the worst in me and I waved them in front of him saying 'just imagine your mother wearing these lovely lacy knickers'. I forget how son replied, but he wasn't happy. I actually think I may have stopped any future fantasies about ladies in underwear - or at least ruined the mental image for him. Actually I feel a little guilty about winding him up, but don't tell him that.
So that's the knickers bit of the post! Flight was a dream and I slept through most of it. When we arrived in Rome we'd arranged to be picked up and taken to the hotel. All went very well.
The hotel when we arrived was lovely - it was a boutique hotel with just 15 rooms. We were in an adjoined building around the side, where the hotel had obviously purchased 3 adjoining studio flats so they had family rooms. At first I was a little put out not to be in the main building and also that there was no lift - but I was soon proved wrong again.
We had the top room (a long flight of stairs) but right outside our room was a spiral staircase up to a roof garden overlooking Rome - not much of Rome to be fair as some buildings around us were a storey taller, but all the same - it was absolutely amazing. Whilst the roof garden was open to all guests there were only 15 rooms and I only ever saw 2 other people up there the whole time we stayed - so it was almost like we had our own private apartment with roof garden - in Rome! Even better we paid for 3 nights in this room with our Tesco Clubcard vouchers.
Once settled we had the first of many walks around Rome - just taking in the sights and not planning anything in particular. We finished our first day doing what ended up being my take home moment of the stay (not of the boys, but definitely mine). We found a lovely bistro down a side street, the night was warm and the food was amazing. Suddenly a man came up with a guitar and started to sing Italian songs. It was just like being in a film (I'd like to point out he didn't stand at our table - that would have been creepy - he was basically busking by the door of the restaurant).
I started to search through my bags to give him some money and then discovered that I only had a 20 Euro note. Busker came over and I explained my issue. He said he had change so I said great here's 20, give me 15 back. After he'd gone husband pointed out that I was possibly the first person ever to negotiate change with a busker - hadn't occurred to me at the time.
Funny thing was that we then wandered around town and wherever we went the busker seemed to be there. I said to husband he probably thinks I'm stalking him and will not come out for the rest of the week. Husband agreed.
First full day we all agreed the colosseum was the thing we all wanted to see the most. So we wandered into central Rome and made our way there. We did a small detour so I could see the Mouth of Truth (having watched Roman Holiday). I refused to join the huge queue just to have a photo with my hand in the mouth, so took photos through some railings - the only other couple being cheap and lazy like me were also English - I wonder if that tells me anything about us as a nation!
Our tickets for the Colosseum were for 1.00pm. The only thing was we soon realised we'd done the 'mad dogs and Englishmen thing...' we were out walking miles and miles in about 34 degrees of temperature in unbroken VERY HOT sunshine.
I started to get heat exhaustion and we were basically looking everywhere for some shade. I even had an umbrella with me, but even the shade of that wasn't enough. I was turning into one of those scenes when people are lost in the desert, my feet were dragging and I kept stumbling. This could have been because of my new shoes (I'll cover off shoes later), however I was literally about 30 seconds away from face planting when we saw a bit of shade in a wall. Without caring who was around I just sat down on the pavement. After about 10 mins I was able to move again and we were able to find somewhere a bit smarter to sit - a railing that was in the shade!
Fortunately by the time our tickets were valid I was fine to go in. No sooner had we gone through the doors than we saw another woman being wheeled out on a stretcher. Looking much the same as I had before we found the shade. I was very relieved I'd stopped myself before it got too bad - though that stretcher looked very comfortable and half an hour before I'd gladly have pushed her off so I could lie down!
I'm not going to tell you all about the Colosseum, doubtless there a thousands of things you can read about that. It was cool as custard though and everything I thought it would be. Thought it really messes with my head why anybody would have gone there to watch that stuff - the gladiators and the people being pulled apart by wild animals - just don't get it.
Our tickets also included some other things we could look at. As I'd had such a near miss with heat earlier I said that the boys should go off and do this alone and I'd make my way back to the hotel. I think this says a lot about Rome. I'd been in the city for less than a day - and despite the fact I don't speak Italian I felt very comfortable to just wander through the city alone and confident I'd find my way back.
On day 3 we got one one of the busses that go to all the hotspots. The idea is they are hop on and hop off, but we only hopped off twice. Once was at the Vatican so we could take a look. We didn't go in but had a lovely walk taking in the buildings. Though we got a bit lost finding our way home and ended up out in the sun for far too long again! I was getting quite irritated with myself because I don't deal with weakness very well - especially if the person showing weakness is me.
Eventually we managed to get back on track and got back on the bus - only getting off when we came to the train station because we wanted to see how long it would take us to walk back to the hotel ready for our return home.
Before I cover off our final day I just wanted to get onto shoes. As well as my groovy METAL PANTS I purchased some really nice sandals so I could look posh in Rome. I gave these a trial on a dog walk about a week before we went. It was a disaster. I didn't have time to sort the blister out before it burst in an ugly and painful way. The week before we travelled I did everything I could to speed up the recovery, but it was stubborn. I packed the offending shoes, but wore a different pair and packed a million plasters. The only problem was that it was so hot that the other pair of sandals rubbed against the plaster and made the blister area worse.
On my way back from the Colosseum I looked everywhere for a shoe shop but couldn't find one. Then I saw a pharmacy and went in to get some more plasters. Low and behold there in the shop were some shoes. Remember - this holiday was meant to be low cost - so I looked at what was on offer - they were all expensive because they were orthopaedic sandals. So I picked a pair that were more like flip flops - even these were 35 Euro, but I'd literally seen no shoes - even flip flops anywhere else.
On day 3 - wearing the new sandals, even with plasters pre put between the toes, the shoes practically crippled me. Agony - so I headed back to the pharmacy to find a pair of sandals that were light enough not to be too hot and strappy enough that they didn't touch my sore toes or the original blister area. There amongst all the sandals was just one pair that ticked all these boxes, just one pair. I put them on and angels started to sing to me. I turned to the lady 'how much'..... 75 Euros she replied. I could have wept!
I sat there for 10 minutes weighing things up - in the end I decided I'd get them. I was unlikely to be able to afford Rome again for years and if 75 Euros was between me and getting full enjoyment it was an investment worth making. And thank goodness it was the right decision, I haven't taken them off since I bought them (well I did to shower and sleep obviously), in fact I'm even wearing them now. They are not very pretty, but if anybody looks at them with anything other than love and admiration I may attack them as they are my new best friend.
On our last evening we decided to go up some steps around the back of our hotel (well about 5 minutes walk from the back of our hotel). We walked about 2 minutes more and rounded the corner. There in front of us was the Colosseum all lit up in lights. Stunning. The thing is for the past 3 days we'd been walking for at least 25 minutes to get to the Colosseum, when all the time it was literally just behind the hotel! Our final meal was at cafe by the Colosseum. A lovely view, but the food was disgusting - on the plus side it was also cheap! Which is a good thing because one way or another it had been a very expensive trip.
The next morning we got back on the tour bus. We had intended to do a full tour of the city, but because it was early it kept stopping at every stop for 10 minutes in the hope the bus would fill up. So in the end we got off and walked back to hotel to pick up our bags.
We said goodbye to the lovely hotel and headed for the station. Once at the station we purchased 2 adult tickets and a child ticket to the airport and hopped on the train. When the guard came around he asked how old son was and in unison we both said 13. 'But you have purchased a half' said the guard. 'Yes he's just 13' we said. 'A child is 12' said the guard 'that's a 65 Euro fine'.
My eyebrows shot into my hair as I thought about yet another huge unexpected amount of money going out. We were lucky - the guard was really kind and said he'd allow us to just upgrade from a child to an adult ticket. I suspect he sees this a lot, where different countries count different ages as a half.
After that we got to the airport and on our flight all quite happily. It was very strange having our passports stamped - the first big change I've seen since Brexit because we haven't travelled in Europe before because of COVID.
Once back in the UK we got back to the car - all a bit tired and factious. Then as we went to drive out of the parking area (we'd bought official Gatwick to avoid problems) the barrier didn't go up and it said we owed £110! By now it was late and dark and we were not in the mood for this. We reversed out of the spot and into a space and I checked our information - we were all paid up there was no reason for this. Husband got out to see what he could find and I resigned myself to us having to pay the money and I'd fight it later. Then husband discovered a magic button where we could talk to somebody.
I'll not go into the ins and outs of the exciting conversation - but my analysis is that the groovy registration recognition at Gatwick is actually manual. In that we were leaving at about 20:00 and I had a ticket that said we were leaving at 23:30 and this seemed to confuse the barrier until we told somebody our booking reference!
The next day was actually sons birthday - the grand old age of 14. I spent the morning unpacking and slowly doing the things I do when it's somebody's birthday. I put up the stars in the dining room and decorated the table before going to pick up the dog from a friend. Then our Tesco shop turned up and in that was a cake, I drove to the nearby post office to get a helium balloon and slowly things came together.
Then I cleaned the house. I paid particular attention to cobwebs as we haven't had a cleaner now for a month - just me doing the cleaning - the one thing I haven't touched is cobwebs. It's got to the point that when I've been on camera in meetings at work I've had to keep my camera at a particular angle to hide the funfair of cobwebs that can be seen to my left.
In the evening we sat down to a meal of party food and in front of son I'd put a party cannon that I had purchased ages ago and we hadn't used in case it freaked the dog out. Turns out that nothing freaks the dog out. You could fire a gun next to her ear and she'd yawn. So the enormous party cannon spewed out huge amounts of confetti everywhere (seemed like a good idea at the time). The thing is it also showed lots of invisible cobwebs that I hadn't got rid of. The confetti was all hanging mid air - a bit like the candles you see above the tables at Hogwarts! Right now it's still hanging there - at least I know where the missed cobwebs are when I clean next week.
Anyway, that was my week - I've probably lost you by now anyway as there was so much to write - and this was the abridged version. Tomorrow is work again - I'm dreading it. As I mentioned there was confrontation before I went off. I'm not looking forward to it all raising its head again and frankly I'm getting closer and closer throwing in the towel. I promised 2 years, but 2 years isn't until 25th January. Though I think it's worth holding on to see what happens this winter as I think lots of companies will go bust with the issues around energy etc. However, the longer you stay in a job the harder it is to leave...... what to do?
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