Two smug ladies, be careful what you wish for

We had a nice leisurely start to our Saturday morning – bit of a lie in, breakfast, then packed and got a taxi to the Oberoi Grand. The weekend we had so been looking forward to was about to begin.

We arrived at the hotel, checked in, and were shown to our room by a lovely young lady who probably thought we were a bit odd – not tourists, yet we were babbling on about this being our holiday – yet we were only staying for 1 night. The room was lovely, everything was clean and fresh, the bed was sumptuous – so much so that we were afraid to put our feet on it – and the shower had such good pressure that it could take your head off!

Look at those beds... look at those feet...

We had no trouble in finding the swimming pool – this is where we were planning to spend most of our time - and we soon made ourselves comfortable. That’s pretty much when things started to go pear shaped.

I have been developing a bit of a rash since about Thursday – nothing of any great note, but linked possibly to a slight temperature now and again. I lay in the sun for about 30 minutes and realised that my whole body - and for some reason my knees and elbows in particular – had turned Bright Red. I could see the people beside me looking at me in a rather peculiar fashion and who can blame them – I wouldn’t have wanted to lie beside me. Alison is made of stronger stuff, doesn’t mind how unsightly I am, and lay on the next sun bed quite happily – the only problem was that she wasn’t always there. A couple of nights ago, we had had dinner in the place where Cliff Richards first started his singing career and her tummy hadn’t been the same since the chick pea dhal. Things were not going according to plan!

We soon decided to move into a sheltered area out of the sun, and as we did so, the overcast sky opened and we had a torrential downpour for the next 20 minutes – very soothing on the rash I might add, but not conducive to the rest and relaxation we had planned.

Look at that rain... look at those knees!!

We had decided on our mini break for a number of reasons – to do some shopping, sightseeing, bit of a swim, bit of a sunbathe, a nice meal with a nice glass of wine (neither of us has had wine since we arrived) and even maybe a massage. In the event, neither of us felt up to eating or doing anything at all so we spent the evening in our room watching repeats of Ab Fab and Blackadder.

We had a good night’s sleep with only one or two nocturnal bathroom visits, then packed and left for home. We were given a very warm welcome back by Kokon and Minnie and I can’t tell you how good it felt to get back into our little apartment. It was great to be back in the Ballygunge area where we live and leave behind the beggars and other things which grow up around a large international hotel. The hotel itself had been full of business people and such a huge contrast to what Alison and I have been experiencing so far.

As I sit on my bed writing this blog, I think of the kids who tease us and joke with us and often make us weep at their sheer generosity of spirit and I know where I would rather be!

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