I’ve lived in Melbourne my whole life and I’ve never been to Eastland. I’d heard of it, of course… a mythical shopping centre nestled somewhere far, far away. Then David29 fell in love with a girl who lives near it and it became his default shopping centre. So yesterday, all of his groomsmen and his Mum made the trek over there to buy the suits for the wedding.
I’ve had a break from the Little Adventures***, so this is a way of dipping my toe back in the water. First I was working, and then I was travelling. Now I’m working again – but only for 23 more workdays. Then the Little Adventures will be back, baby!!!
This post is not so much about going to a new place. This is a post about celebrating an event that’s new to me. It’s not every day that a Mum gets invited to their son’s wedding-suit-shopping day.
And here’s the son. This was a big job that has finally been ticked off his list. He discovered pretty quickly that trying to get people together for one simple shopping trip is pretty much like trying to herd cats. His best mate Dan was travelling in South-East Asia and only arrived back 2 days ago, while Evan26 is leaving tomorrow for Adelaide, where he’ll be performing his new show for the Fringe Festival there.
Sunday HAD to be the day.
This is Dan and his girlfriend. He and David29 have been mates since year 8 at school. These two are staying with me for a few days until their Air B&B is ready in Melbourne. It’s been so lovely catching up with Dan. He went to live in the US for a few years so now that he’s studying in Melbourne, it’s lovely to see him again.
Evan26 and Ryan28. It’s not often that I get to have the whole ‘set’ of sons with me in the one place, but Sunday was one of those times.
Tom31 and Evan26 (again.) These were all taken in the food court after the shopping was done. The boys looked dapper in their black suits and I think they’re all going to scrub up well on the day.
The night before, David29 and Izzy came over for dinner to meet Alena, Dan’s girlfriend.
We all ate together, then I retreated to the couch to play games on my laptop while they sat around the table playing a silly board game. It made me so happy to hear the laughter and talking that was going on between the four of them.
The words on David29’s hoodie say it all, I think. This is a friendship that has (and will) pass the test of time.
***I began Little Adventures when I retired. The idea is that I go somewhere new or do something new to me every month. After all, when I’m not working I definitely have the time!
I’m writing this on my 13th workday. This is the time when coming to work every day begins to seem less of a novelty and more like a chore. I’m not at the stage when I’m dragging myself to work – give it another week LOL – but I’m groaning at the sound of the 6:30 alarm and starting to get back into the habit of doing the ironing on Sundays and thinking about which easy meal to make at the end of the week so I don’t just get takeaway because I’m tired.
The pictures on my desk are turning into a really good spirit lifter. I’m pretty sure that when I’m in the middle weeks they mightn’t work as well, but for now they’re a happy reminder of why I’m doing this.
My classes are still lovely and are making me laugh. I’m enjoying teaching medieval history to the year 8s – the class I have is 8T… imagine how many kids we have here? – and although they’re right at the end of the letters, they’re a beautiful group of kids. Traditionally, that’s not the case.
Where I’ve been:In an endless round of home to work to home to work to home…
Et cetera.
Where I’m going:In an endless round of home to work to home to work to home…
Et cetera.
But I got paid last week. It was a little more than I was expecting. That was good – my flights to Heathrow and Dublin are all earned!
I’ve seen Maya Angelou on Oprah, way back in the day when I was at home with 4 small boys, so I know who she is. I know she’s way famous in America, but she’s not so much of a thing here. It occurred to me that I should maybe read her memoirs about her life, because why not?
On the link I just posted on her book, I see that she has 7 memoirs. Yikes…
What I’m watching:The beautiful summer day through my classroom window.
It looks nice out there.
What I’m listening to:Last week’s audiobook.
I’m still ploughing through the audiobook I mentioned last week. I’m not loving it, but I’ve only got 3.5 hours left, so I’ll get it done. It’ll contribute to my “Earn your rates back by reading” total.
What I’m eating:The last of the plums from my tree.
I was taking them to work, 3 at a time, to eat at recess, but they were starting to get too ripe. On Sunday I stewed them and now they’re part of my breakfasts instead.
I’m not wasting them – mainly because my tree went to all the trouble of producing them, but also because they were my Gran’s favourite fruit, so I think of her every time I eat them.
What I’m planning:what to do if my wedding dress doesn’t get here.
No, I’m not getting married! I mean my outfit for David29 and Izzy’s wedding in April. It’s been 5 weeks since I ordered a silk dress from China. I’m getting slightly restive about how long it’s taking…
Who needs a good slap:The Australia Post delivery driver in my area.
I ordered some heart medication for Silver, Jenny’s dog, from an online company because it works out cheaper than getting it from the vet. While we were waiting for it to get here, I simply gave him some of Jeff’s heart pills, as they’re on the same one and the same dosage.
On Friday, we got a leaflet in the letterbox saying that it would be dropped off at the post office on Monday because no one was home.
Except Ryan28 WAS home. None of the dogs barked, which meant that the person didn’t even try to deliver it. So annoying. The last thing I want to do when I get home is to go to the post office.
What has made me smile:Watching Izzy watch David29’s video.
We had Izzy’s kitchen tea last Sunday. I’ve never been to one of these – I didn’t even know that they were still a thing – and it was a pleasant surprise. We ate, drank and played some games. One of the things they did was to give David29 a list of questions about their relationship and he had to answer them on a video. Any time Izzy got an answer wrong, she had to take a drink.
They were expecting a simple question and answer, but David29 went above and beyond. He drove out to locations and filmed his answers. he had costume changes and props. It was very funny.
Even with the lamest of jokes, Izzy was sitting on the floor in front of the screen laughing herself silly. They’re definitely on the same wavelength.
What’s top of my mind: How much money I spent last year.
For some reason, I didn’t keep up with my annual expenses chart last year. The end of August was the last time I’d looked at it, and then of course, once I realised this, I couldn’t face the arduous task of totting up months of figures.
Until I had a couple of periods off at work. I had no marking and I’d prepared all my classes, so I grabbed my iPad, pulled up the calculator app, and got to work.
In the end, it only took a little over an hour. My ‘no-spend’ chart made short work of it – everything was there. I already knew it’d be a spendy total… Antarctica, even with the absolute bargain I got with the cruise, isn’t a cheap destination, while giving 15K away to help a son get into the housing market is always going to hurt the bottom line.
So yeah, I was prepared for the total. Let’s hope that no other children want to buy a house this year! I’ve already paid for much of my England/Ireland trip, but all of that will be covered by the work I’m doing now, so with a bit of luck, my number crunching in January 2024 will leave me with a smile on my face.
We can only hope…
Where I’ve been:to my pumpkin vines.
I had no success for years at the old house when I tried to grow pumpkins. It was infuriating because everyone who grows veggies crow about how easy they are to grow. However, once I started putting pumpkin seedlings underneath the fruit trees in my front yard orchard, it was a game-changer.
This year I’ve planted Bunnings butternut pumpkin seedlings and they’ve taken off. I can’t see beneath the leaves on the seedlings that are towards the back, but I’ve spied 5 or 6 plump pumpkins happily growing.
I love pumpkins. I’m looking forward to the harvest.
Where I’m going: a kitchen tea.
Izzy is having a kitchen tea before the wedding. I’ll be picking up Mum and driving to Izzy’s place on Sunday, presumably to drink tea and eat dainty foodstuffs like a lady.
Normally I search for books from the library and put them on hold, but this was one I selected when I was quickly browsing the shelves. She’s described as “Britain’s Stephen King’ so I’m looking forward to seeing what it’s like. So far, I’ve just read the introduction.
I’ve caught the odd episode of this over the years, but when I was looking for a feel-good show to watch, I saw this on Stan and decided to give it a go. I’m absolutely loving it.
My Mum is an artist and I have inherited none of her talent. To see the way Anh is able to produce such incredibly lifelike portraits in such a small amount of time, while he interviews his subjects is incredible.
Stan has series 2 and 3. Imagine my joy when I pulled up this link for you when I saw that ABC iView has 6 series of it! Writing this blog just keeps on giving.
I finished the audiobook I was listening to last week, ‘Mrs England’, and thought I’d listen to another novel by the same author. This one is about the Lancashire witch trials. I know nothing about them, so I thought I’d give it a go.
What I’m eating:Plums from my tree.
I’m still bringing satsuma/blood plums into work to eat at morning recess. 3/day. Yum!
What I’m planning: Nothing.
There’s nothing much on the horizon at the moment. That’s ok.
Who needs a good slap: Netflix.
Ever since I moved to The Best House in Melbourne, I’ve been paying the top tier for Netflix subscriptions. It’s now $23/month for 5 screens. This allows myself and my 4 sons to all have access to it.
Now that Netflix is rumoured to be cutting off memberships who don’t log into their account from their home screen address once a month, this may change.
There’s no way the boys will pay for Netflix memberships of their own. And there’s no way, if this comes in, that I’ll continue to keep paying for screens I won’t use. I think Netflix will find out that they’ll lose a great deal of money with this decision. I’m sure there are many families and groups of friends just like us.
What has made me smile:The kids’ reactions to today’s Dad joke.
They love it. See below:
Dad joke of the day:
If I have twin girls, I’m going to call the first one Kate.
What’s top of my mind: How UNretired people don’t have a clue.
I was sitting at my desk today and a couple of people were talking about a colleague who is apparently going to retire soon and is very unhappy about it. She said to one of my friends that “I don’t know what I’ll do all day.”
They were nodding away, saying, “Yes, what will she do all day? She’ll have no clue.”
And, “I don’t want to retire. In my scenarios of when I win Tattslotto, I always think of my husband retiring but not me.”
“Well, exactlly. What would I do all day? I know how she feels.”
Ugh. I was all, “I know I’m here now, and some people might say that I’ve obviously got bored and come back to work, (which is BS), but honestly, retirement is GREAT! There’s so much to do… the days are always filled and you have total freedom to be yourself and do whatever you want to do. Tell her she’s going to love it.”
Where I’ve been:Chopping up pictures for my desk.
I’m a woman of my word. I said I’d cover my desk with pictures of where I’m going to be going and so I have. In the interests of accuracy, I stuck a piece of paper over the ‘Britain’ part of the title, because I’m only going to England and Ireland. Scotland and Wales will have to wait for another trip.
It’s already working. Some people have come up with a smirk, saying, “Thought you retired?” I walk them around to my desk, point at it and say, “Yeah, I retired. But you know me… I can’t ignore the lure of a “free” trip overseas! Five weeks in England and Ireland in September.”
That shuts them up.
Where I’m going: Costco.
We’re running out of the raw meat patties that I feed the dogs, so it’s to Costco I’ll go! I’ll also grab a slab of eggs while I’m there. They may be slightly more expensive than Aldi but it’s more convenient to have a tonne of eggs in the fridge.
There used to be years when I’d ignore the convenience factor and I’d go for what was cheapest. Nowadays, I usually still go the frugal route, but I’m loosening up the rules a tad.
I’m really enjoying this one. You know how when there’s a plucky band of teenagers fighting the forces of evil – think ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, for example – and they go to school and mingle with all of the ordinary kids? This novel explores the situation from the point of view of the normal kids – the ones who aren’t in the thick of the action but who still live where all of the drama takes place.
Each chapter begins with a paragraph summarising what’s happening from the core of the plucky kids’ experiences, sort of like a plot summary of a tv show. Then the rest of the chapter follows what the ordinary kids are doing.
It’s great. I have 2 English classes tomorrow, so 2 x 10 minutes wide reading will just about finish it off.
What I’m watching: Australian Survivor.
They really have to be careful about the level of danger in the challenges they get the contestants to do. In the first episode two people were injured… one with a broken collar bone. She had to leave the game.
Unfortunately, the person that had only minor injuries was a contestant I hate with a pure volcanic passion – he’s such an absolute wanker – so he’ll be coming back into the game. The producers were probably lucky that no one snapped their neck. The Australian version is a lot more gritty than the US one.
I’m about halfway through this Edwardian gothic audiobook and I’m loving it. If I have to have a commute, this is a very pleasant way of dealing with it.
What I’m eating:Carmen’s Protein bars from Aldi.
I bought a packet of these to keep in my desk in case I needed something to eat at recess.
They’re awful. So SWEET.
This will motivate me to eat a hearty breakfast each morning so I don’t have to eat one.
What I’m planning: I can’t say this week.
Tom31 told my ex-husband about this blog a while ago. Apparently, A is interested in FI/RE as well. I have no idea if he pulls up this blog to read.
But just in case he IS reading… A…Don’t freak out, because no one who reads this blog has a clue as to who you are IRL. I’d like to say to you: please let the boys’ half-sister come to David30’s wedding. She was so looking forward to it and so were the boys. If she comes, it’s something they’ll all remember with gratitude and love.
Who needs a good slap:Whoever put the class lists together at the campus I’m at.
A small part of me was hoping that the classes I’ll be teaching this term would be awful, so that I’d never do this again. However, I’ve met three out of the four classes I’ll have. They all seem really nice.
I mean, don’t get me wrong. This is good news. But it’s not making my obvious need to learn to say “no” to the school any easier!!
What has made me smile:The elderly dogs I’m looking after.
It’s now been a week and a half, and after a very traumatised few days at the start, Silver and Elizabeth have slowly settled in. Silver follows me around all the time, whereas Elizabeth will keep her distace but settle at my feet whenever I sit down.
Yes, I’m glad I have hardwood floors. You can imagine why…
Yes, I wish that they didn’t bark so much. (They’re learning to chill though, which the neighbours would be pleased about.)
But all in all, for two old dogs who have never been away from their Mum in their lives, they’re doing extremely well.
I’m sitting here at my desk in the staffroom on the students’ first day back after the summer holidays. Most of the staff are either in the year 8 meeting in the gym or they’re sitting with their year 9 form groups in the form rooms. Me? I was lucky enough not to get a form, so I have an extra 2 periods to prepare for the term ahead.
I’ve always wanted to teach history because, as anyone who has read any of my travel posts of the UK knows, I absolutely LOVE history. When I retired at the end of 2020, I thought that dream would never come true. Well, Fortunate Frogdancer tends to get what she wishes for… part of my teaching load is a year 8 and year 9 History.
The year 9 one is Australian history, with an emphasis on issues that are current today, sort of linking the two and seeing where they originated from. Year 8 History is going to be wonderful… Medieval. Oh yeah, babyyyy!
We’re going to have fun. Just look at the medieval pictures I’m using in this post!
The year 8s in English are doing creative writing this term, so again… totally my jam. I have 2 classes.
I’ve covered my desk with pictures of England and Ireland, so that when I get sad about my freedom being snatched away – which we all know is going to happen because I love the retired life so much – then I can dump my laptop and books on my desk, straighten up, gaze at where I’m going to be going in September ad say, “Oh yeah! THIS is why I’m doing this.”
I have to look after Future Frogdancer’s mental health. It’s only polite.
Seeing as this is a FI/RE blog, I’d better dive into what’s happening with money this year.
Last year when the stock market fell just as I was ready to harvest some profits, (dammit!) I was able to stave off tapping my cash bucket for a whole year by using a mixture of dividends and wages. I’m really pleased I did this, even though I dearly missed the freedom of a fully retired life. In effect, my cash bucket of roughly 3 years’ of expenses has now been stretched to 4.
This year though, I decided to tap it for the first time. I worked too many days last year and after all, that bucket of cash is there for a reason. I’ve pulled out a year’s expenses. and have topped up categories in my spreadsheet. My health insurance money for the year is full, as are my rates, insurances and my car rego/service.
I feel comfortable when I know that these big expenses are ready for the year.
When my dividends come in, I’ll be putting them to one side, probably to help pay for my Canada trip next year… unless of course another child decides to get married or buy a house. Plans change, after all. I’m fortunate that I have a career that enables me to get good money for casual work if I decide that I want some extra cash for something-or-other.
I’m putting every penny that I earn from this term’s work to pay for my 2023 trip. It’s astonishing what a difference it’s so far made in my attitude. Last year I was working to help the boys with wedding and house-buying stuff. Yes, it’s worthy but argh!
This term’s work is all about me. Windsor Castle is positioned directly above where my laptop screen is and I think it’ll be very helpful. Henry VIII is there. Waiting…
I’ve still avoided catching covid and you can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll be teaching in a mask. In fact, the only time I remove my mask when I’m at school is to eat lunch. Strange that eating a meal is the most dangerous thing I do each day! We have air purifiers in most of the rooms and they’re always turned on when I walk into the room. I’m hoping that I can avoid covid, especially long covid. I’m meeting more people who have it and it sounds awful.
It’s nearly morning recess and I teach after that – year 8 History – so I’ll sign off and read over my lesson plan. This trip in September had better be worth it!!!
Dad joke of the day:
My Dad suggested I register for an organ donor card – he’s a man after my own heart.
Remember last week I was saying that I was looking after 2 dogs for my friend Jenny while she was off getting a knee reconstruction?
I’ve tried several times to call the hospital to talk to her to see how she’s getting on, but I either can’t get through to the ward, or when I do, they say there are no individual phones for the patients and they can’t give out any info over the phone “for privacy reasons.” I left a message on the only time I was able to get through to a nurse on the ward, asking her to pass along to Jenny that her dogs are missing her but are doing fine and are now part of the pack. I hope she got it.
But yeah. It’s been a week. No one can talk to her, short of me driving another 7 hours in a day to go up and visit, which I really don’t want to do…
It’s amazing to me that in this day and age, if a hospital patient doesn’t have a mobile, then they’re effectively cut off from the outside world. I’ll be trying again today. I might ask if a nurse could send me her own mobile number via text, and then I could call at a prearranged time so Jenny can actually talk to someone other than hospital staff. I can’t think of how else to find out how she’s doing.
Where I’ve been: To the tyre place.
Argh. After replacing all four tyres last year, on Tuesday night on the way to see Evan26 in a play, I got a flat. Thank goodness it was opening night, so I was able to see him last night instead.
That’s why this Wednesday W is being sent out on Thursday. I was busy.
Where I’m going:School.
Yep – term 1 starts tomorrow with a student-free day… then the onslaught starts on Monday. Today I’ll be cutting out pictures of England and Ireland from the brochure I got from the travel agency, so my desk will be COVERED in them to remind me of why I’m doing this to myself.
Now that I’ve wrapped up my ‘Earn your rates back by reading’ challenge for 2022 – 2023, (which had a finish date of September 2023) I’m feeling way ahead, so instead of reading a library book I’ve picked up a book Dad passed to me that he liked. It’s about an elderly couple, one with dementia and one riddled with cancer, who decide to drive off in their camper van for one last vacation.
There’s a movie with Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland which I think is streaming on Stan, so I’ll probably watch that on the weekend after I finish the book.
Evan26 is currently acting in a play called ‘Thrive’, which is of course on the other side of the city in Footscray. I had a ticket for Tuesday night, but halfway there I got a flat tire. The RACV obviously had a busy night… they didn’t get to me for nearly three hours! Thank God I had an iPad with podcasts with me.
So tonight I made another attempt, this time navigating a part of the city that’s almost totally unfamiliar to me, with a phone on 10% battery. Thankfully, Fortunate Frogdancer made it to the venue 3 minutes before the phone died.
‘Thrive’ is a verbatim play, which basically means that real people have been interviewed and then the actors have to use every word/pause/umm/’you know’ etc exactly how the person said. The play itself is looking at queer people’s experiences in Australia, with the people ranging in age from 24 – 72.
The actors were directed not to play an old character as ‘old’… you know, not hobbling around with a walking stick and having wrinkly make up etc. They had to speak the exact words but also bring themselves to the portrayal.
They also had snippets of the original interviews, so we could see how the original interviewees actually looked and spoke. I was sitting next to a couple and we started talking. Turns out one of them was one of the characters being portrayed on stage. She loved it.
It’s no secret that I love seeing my son up on stage, living his best life and doing the thing he loves best. I’m also lucky that he’s good at it! I’d recommend going to see this play if you’re within reach of Footscray. You’d better hurry though – there’s only 3 more nights.
I’m listening to an audiobook called Mrs England, which I downloaded when I was waiting for the RACV van to come. I’m around a quarter of the way in and I’m loving it. The woman reading it has the best English accent!
What I’m eating:
I’m entertaining at home a lot over the last week of the holidays, so I’m eating lots of salads, homemade pizza, bread and zucchini slice. I’m so glad I put that huge verandah roof out the back- it’s been lovely sitting out there on these beautiful summer days, eating food that has come ten feet away from the garden.
What I’m planning:Nothing much.
My trip to England and Ireland is pretty much at the stage I wanted it to be, with all of the broad brush strokes put in place. Apart from that, I have nothing much on the horizon just yet.
Who needs a good slap: Umm…?
I’ve been sitting here wracking my brain and I can’t think of anyone specific.
What has made me smile:
Look at the photo at the top of this post! Timo and Garrett from the Antarctica trip popped in to see me. After Antarctica, they saw a bit more of South America before coming to Melbourne. Timo is from Germany and Garrett is from Ireland, so I pulled up the itinerary of the Irish leg of my trip to see what Garrett thought. He comes from a small town near Dublin, so he had heaps of suggestions for things I could do and see. Turns out Tim used to have an Irish girlfriend so he had some good ideas too.
After a leisurely lunch under the back verandah, we wandered down to the Backyard Beach. It was an absolutely sparkling day. These guys are an absolute delight. They’re such great company- so funny and easy-going. That trip to Antarctica is the gift that keeps on giving.
Just before they left, they ate sun-ripened plums straight from the tree. Can’t get much more ‘Frogdancer Jones’ than that!
What’s top of my mind:My trip is coming together!!!
I was hoping that all of the broad brush strokes of the holiday would be settled by the time I started work next week and it appears that it’s all going to plan. In the past week, I’ve been able to sort out who I’m going to see and when and where. Plane tickets are done and the tour to Ireland is sorted.
Scott was terrific in booking the plane tickets to Dublin and back for me. Flight Centre doesn’t use budget airlines in the UK so I needed someone from there to do that bit. On Tuesday I was woken by my Whatsapp pinging at 7 AM precisely, with a message, “Aisle, window, or middle?”
He was obviously waiting for a reasonable time for me to be awake!
Now that the important bits are settled, we all have plenty of time to decide what we’re going to do day by day. It’s all very exciting.
Where I’ve been:to the travel agents.
On Monday I went down the street and popped into Flight Centre to book my plane tickets. I’m fine with booking tours etc, but I’m more comfortable relying on someone else’s expertise when it comes to the Tetris game of juggling airline schedules.
Me oh my – when they say that plane fares have increased they’re not kidding. It is costing me nearly double what it cost for the same airfare 7 years ago.
Where I’m going:Mooroopna.
Forty years ago, I decided to buy a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy. I contacted a breeder called Jenny. She put me through the third degree about what sort of home I was going to provide for a pup before she put me in touch with someone who had a litter of pups from one of her stud dogs. I appreciated the interview – I would’ve been deeply suspicious if all she asked me was about payment.
When I fell in love with Sarah, my first Cavalier, and decided I wanted to breed and show her, Jenny became my mentor. I was in the show ring for about 5 years and had my own breeding kennels, then when I started having human babies it all became too hard, so I disbanded my kennels.
Jenny and I stayed in touch. She very generously allowed the boys and me to adopt many dogs over the years. My boys were able to grow up with quality, purebred dogs with wonderful natures at a time when I could never have afforded to actually buy them a pet.
Well, time marches on. Jenny is now living up in the country with 2 dogs left. One of them is Poppy and Jeff’s mother, while another is a boy called Silver. While Jen is in the hospital for a few days, Elizabeth and Silver will be coming down to The Best House in Melbourne for a family reunion of sorts.
This is from the same author who wrote ‘The Girl on the Train’, which about half the world has read. I’ve only just started this one, but it’s off to a good start.
Oh! By the way – I’ve already ‘earned’ back my rates for this year ( September 2022 – September 2023) – have a look at the sidebar on the right. My next rates bill doesn’t arrive until August sometime, so now I’m just salting away the numbers to attack that one. I only thought I’d do this for one year but I’m still enjoying it.
And another thing – if anyone has a good book about Ireland – either fiction or non-fiction – please pop it in a comment. I have a lot of research to do about Ireland before I get there. I want to know exactly what it is I’m seeing!
What I’m watching: Junk.
Somehow, I got sucked into watching ‘Love is Blind’ on Netflix. I only have myself to blame. Don’t follow my lead, I beg of you. Save yourself!
What I’m listening to:PODCASTS!
I’ll be on the road for at least 6 hours today, so I’ll be able to rip through a lot of poddies that have been slowly accumulating. Finally, I’ll know what ends up happening to Belinda Blumenthal!
What I’m eating: lots of salads.
Ryan28 and I are on a bit of a health kick and we’re chowing down on salads. I make a couple of salads every two days and then we pick away at them until they’re gone. Then I make another couple and the cycle continues. I’m mainly cooking from the two salad books from Thermobexta , (she also has lots of free recipes on her site), and I’m loving my day off from cooking in between.
What I’m planning:How to decorate my desk when I’m at work.
When I was at the travel agents, I asked for a brochure on England and Ireland. I’m going to cover my desk with pictures so that when I’m unhappy at not being free, I’ll be reminded of why I’m doing this.
Who needs a good slap: …
Meh. I’m in holiday mode. No one.
What has made me smile:My notifications going crazy in the middle of the night.
Two nights in a row!
The first night was when Liga whatsapped the Antarctica group, saying that she was going to get a tattoo about the trip on her arm. The group went OFF, with suggestions ranging from a penguin, Ming’s yellow coat, a black panther, plankton or krill coming through. As you can see, she went with the map of Antarctica on her arm.
Then the following night, Scott sent through 11 messages and links about Essex. It was as if there was a fireworks display in my room! I was tired after being up the previous night with Liga’s conversation, so I left them until the next day.
I had such a lovely few hours, sitting on the couch the next morning going through all the links. We’re going to have a wonderful time.
What’s top of my mind: I accidentally agreed to work full time in term 1.
I didn’t say yes and I STILL got the job.
When I was in Ushuaia I was asked to work term 1 at a different school, teaching English and Drama full-time. I was so proud of myself when I said no. I was determined to never work full time again. My plan was that I was going to work 1 or 2 days a week, only accepting short-term contracts of 3 weeks or so.
Two days after I got back, I received a panicked message from the Daily Organisers at my school. They were all sitting in the staff Christmas lunch on the 2nd last day of the year when it dawned on them that they hadn’t covered a guy who was going on Long Service Leave for term 1.
They were beside themselves. It’s very difficult to find someone at this late stage of the year and unless I agreed, it was going to be a huge problem for the school. They thought that I was still in Antarctica, so they were googling what the time was there, and saying, “It’s 11:30. You never know, she might be looking at her phone…”
When I answered back straight away from my couch in Melbourne they were very impressed with the internet in Antarctica! But as I read the message I was torn. I was serious when I told everyone I wouldn’t do another long contract. I found the loss of freedom for weeks on end to be hard. But I could also feel for the Daily Orgs… And also, I was just back from an amazing and expensive holiday. Working for 10 weeks would give me the cash for another one…
Plus they were offering holiday pay or being paid as a CRT. Holiday pay, eh? Being paid 12 weeks but ‘only’ working 10? Hmmm…
So I typed back a message asking about which option would pay more. (I’m not a charity!) Then I thought that might sound rude, so I sent a smiley face after it. Apparently, they looked at each other, with one saying, “A smiley face? That means YES.”
Their next message was telling me that the holiday pay was the best way and thanking me for accepting. I stared at the screen in disbelief. I didn’t accept! I was just asking for information.
But I knew that I’d want to go somewhere in 2023…
So I let it slide. Friends and family have already told me that I can’t whinge about working. “You’ve done it to yourself!”
But I tell you what – I’m taking term 2 off.
Where I’ve been:Gardenworld.
Ryan28 kept the important things alive while I was gone. Himself, Poppy, Jeff and Scout. But my hanging baskets? Not so much. I’ve spent a month trying to revive them, but yesterday I realised that I was sick of looking at ugly.
Today I’ll be chucking out the old plants and making the place look pretty again.
Where I’m going:England and Ireland.
Woo hoo!!!!!!
An hour after I finished my Antarctica blog posts, I began researching where to go next. England is my soul’s home. It’s where my family comes from, (ranging from my paternal grandfather to 6 generations back on my mother’s side and everything in between), and I absolutely adore English history.
Now that I’m in a position to be able to travel every year, I can revisit England and also see other parts of the UK that I either skimmed through when I was there in 2015, or I missed altogether.
I thought of Ireland. Never been there… people say it’s terrific… it’d be fun to go from an all-white place to one of emerald green…
So anyway, I booked a place on this tour. If I’m going to see the place, I may as well see as much of it as I can. Plus I can catch up with my friend James, who I met on the tour to North Korea.
I’ll be in England before and after the tour, seeing my friends Corinna, Deana and Scott. I also want to sneak off to Windsor Castle to stand on Henry VIII’s grave. I was hoping to do that on my birthday, but Windsor Castle isn’t open then.
So the Ireland part is locked down. The English parts are still a work in progress. Who knows what I’ll end up doing and seeing?
What I’m reading:Really good books.
I ended 2022 with 120 books under my belt and I’ve started off 2023 with some cracking good reads. I can recommend:
The Way It Is Now – Garry Disher. A crime novel set on the Mornington Peninsula, just down the road from me. The author must live there because the descriptions of the place are utterly real in every detail. I’ll be hunting up more of his novels.
The Trivia Night – Lowe. This is an excellent summer holiday read. It’s in the vein of Sally Hepworth. It’s set in Sydney. Don’t read it if you don’t like saucy themes.
The Bullet That Missed – Osman. I know I’m late to the party with this one, the 3rd in the wonderful Thursday Murder Club series. This one was equally on a par with the first in the series. (Not that there was much wrong with #2…) I read this in a day and I count it a day well spent.
By the way… have a look at my reading challenge on the right hand side of the blog. My rates are due in February and I’ll be finished with the challenge of ‘earning’ back my rates money for 2023 before I’ve even paid them! Only one more book to go.
What a nice head start I’ve given myself for the challenge in 2024!
What I’m watching:my Netflix queue.
It was getting out of control, so I’m concentrating on whittling it down.
What I’m listening to:not much.
I mainly listen to podcasts and music when I drive and when I quilt. I haven’t been doing much of either since I got home.
One fringe benefit of working is that I’ll be able to catch up on all of my podcasts during the commute.
What I’m eating:Plums from my trees.
I thought the rainbow lorikeets would get them, but I was able to pick some sun-ripened plums for the first time from my little orchard. The Satsuma plum (my favourite) has quite a few, while the Santa Maria plum produced two plums. If I divide the cost of the tree between the plums, the Santa Maria plums are worth $30 each.
What I’m planning:Holidays!
Not just mine. Liga from Latvia/Antarctica is coming to Australia this year and we’re going to catch up. So far, she wants to see the Opera House, do a 10 day hike and see me.
We just have to work out how these things will all fit together.
And as I’m sure you all know, she’ll be doing that hike without me.
Of course.
Who needs a good slap:The Irish tour people.
Guess how much the single supplement is????
Nearly one thousand Aussie dollars. Ouch.
They didn’t even offer the option of sharing a room. After having such a great time with Liga and Corinna, I might have considered it. But I didn’t even have the option. Rude.
What has made me smile:The Best House in Melbourne.
From the moment the taxi pulled up at the hotel to take me to Ushuaia airport, my luck ran out. I was running low on Argentine pesos, so I asked the receptionist to confirm that a taxi would take a card instead of cash. I already tried Uber, but none were available.
I got to the airport, then had an argument with the taxi driver when he wouldn’t accept my card, OR all my Argentine plus Chilean pesos for the fare. There was a lot of “I don’t speak Spanish; this is all the money I have” and lots of Argentinian head shaking and muttering.
Finally, he relented and took the two types of pesos – I grossly overpaid him but I didn’t care – and I grabbed my suitcases and went into the terminal. It didn’t matter that I had no cash for Chile – in a few hours’ time I was going to be in and out of Santiago airport in an hour. I’d filled my (once pee bottle, now water) bottle with water before I left the hotel and eaten a hearty breakfast, so I could exist on plane food until New Zealand.
I strolled in, walked past a café and there, with his side to me, was SamFrank. Ugh. After the taxi driver thing, I was in no mood for more bullshit, so I turned my head and pretended to be very interested in a shop as I walked around the corner and found a seat. There was NO WAY he didn’t see me, but he clearly didn’t want to talk to me either. Phew!
I whatsapped the group. “SamFrank is here at the airport. We both pretended not to see each other.”
Corinna messaged back: “He’s probably right behind you.”
Turns out Ming was on Corinna’s flight into Buenos Aires, both in the same row. Ming was still in her yellow jacket. It was nearly 27C.
Everything on my itinerary was going to plan. I was in and out of Buenos Aires airport like a dream. It was when I hit Santiago that it all went to shit.
If I’d just had carry-on luggage, everything would have been fine. But my plane landed at the same time as around 47 other planes and I had to queue for over an hour to get my suitcase. When I got to the check-in counter to get to Aukland, they wouldn’t let me board, even though I was there an hour and a half earlier than the plane was scheduled to leave.
It was one in the morning. I was ropeable. They put me on a flight that was leaving 24 hours later. They told me I had to go to Air Argentina to get them to book a hotel room because my previous flight was late. (It wasn’t late, so I knew they wouldn’t help. It was all the fault of the airport itself.)
It was the middle of the night. My eyes welled with tears… and then I remembered my Australian travel agent’s stuff-up.
In a previous version of this trip, I was supposed to stay in Santiago for another night and day. That had changed. But she forgot to cancel the booking at the Pullman.
Fortunate Frogdancer made a brief comeback, right in the nick of time. WHO JUST HAPPENS TO HAVE A ROOM BOOKED IN A CITY WHERE THEY’RE UNEXPECTEDLY DETAINED?????
Me, that’s who. My tears dried instantly. I walked downstairs, haggled with a driver who would accept a card payment, and then I was whisked to a luxurious bed for the night. Check-out was at midday, too, which was a bonus.
Next morning I had a huge breakfast, then secreted three bread rolls in my pockets. I was going to get to the airport (after I had a nap in my room until midday) and I was going to do a Tom Hanks in the terminal. Goddammit – I wasn’t going to miss that plane again!
I had 3 bread rolls, 2 packets of peanuts from previous flights, 3 packets of chocolates from the ship’s welcome package, and my huge wee bottle was full of water. I had my iPad with plenty of books. All of this was more than enough to sustain me while I waited 12 hours for the plane!
By 2 PM I had my precious boarding pass. I found a seat, put my suitcases in front of me, pulled out my iPad and began to read. Two and a half books later, my flight was called. I made it up to the boarding gate… where my flight was delayed for 3 hours.
I got to Aukland with 40 minutes to board. When our carry-ons were being checked, mine was pulled out.
“Stand over there, I’ll check it shortly,” the guy said.
Five looong minutes later, he pulls out my tube of sunscreen. “Oh, it’s 100g. It looked bigger on the x-ray,” he said.
Bloody hell.
I make it onto the plane and fly to beautiful Melbourne. I also picked up a mighty fine deal on the duty-free as I went through. 2L of gin for $60. Not bad.
At the airport, I sat myself down on the Skybus and asked if it went to Frankston. No. I had to get off at Southern Cross station and get a train home. But it was ok; this was my plan B. I had my Myki with me in case this happened.
When I got to Southern Cross, I couldn’t see a Frankston line train scheduled on any platform. Weird, but oh well. I’ll just take a train to Richmond and swap from there. No problem. I love dragging these cases around.
Richmond. Every other train line in Melbourne was running through, but not Frankston. FINE. I’ll just take a Dandenong line train to Caulfield nd jump onto the Frankston line there. Sheesh!
To pass the time, I sent penguin videos to people, letting them know I was back.
I roll into Caulfield station. I hear a garbled announcement, “Buses garble arble Mordialloc.” Bloody hell, was I ever going to get back home?
They were doing works on the Frankston line. Buses instead of trains between Caulfield and Mordialloc. Lovely! I needed an automobile to make up the whole ‘Planes, Trains’ set. I wheeled my suitcases to the back of the bus and sat there as we made the long trip down Nepean Highway to Mordy station.
Then, after a long wait, I rode the train to my station. I wheeled my suitcases the short way back to my gate. I was home – only 27 hours late.
I clicked the gate latch. Poppy and Scout went NUTS. Ryan27 let them out and the three of us had a rapturous reunion at the front gate.
I went inside. Tom30 had come over to see me and he was sitting on the couch with Jeff sleeping on his lap. I let Jeff smell my hand. Three deep breaths, then he sat up, blinking and looking around. Then he saw me. Another rapturous reunion.
The boys said they were pleased to see me, too, though they didn’t follow me around like the dogs did, not letting me out of their sight for days.
Home!
This, my first trip overseas in 4 years, has tested me physically and mentally. This is the first time that I’ve travelled by myself, without a friend waiting for me at the other end.
I don’t speak or read Spanish, and both Chile and Argentina are Spanish-speaking nations. I knew I’d be fine on the cruise, as English is the language used there, but getting there and back had its challenges that I had to solve by myself, or with the help of new friends or kind strangers.
How fortunate I was to meet such lovely people in my YPT travel group. I was the oldest person in our little group by far, yet they embraced me into their lives and we experienced this whole amazing thing together.
I was definitely not expecting this. When I saw, from our Facebook group, that everyone was in their 20’s and 30’s, I downloaded 22 books so that I’d have something to occupy myself with when we were onboard.
Turns out I didn’t need them. I’m only up to book 7. We had wonderful conversations, in-jokes and so much fun. These travellers are definitely able to look past the exterior of someone and deal happily with the person within. That’s pretty special, I think.
Everyone who knows me is aware that I don’t have a love for exercise. To me, going for a walk only makes sense if you have a definite purpose in mind, while as for going to a gym? Forget it.
There was only one walk that I didn’t do on the landings, and that was on the first day when I was still paranoid about my level of fitness. After that, I did everything that was put in front of me and I’m proud – and slightly surprised – that I accomplished every single one.
Of course, the Polar Plunge is the pinnacle of this. Even disgustingly healthy people opted out of that one!
A trip to Antarctica was always going to be special. It’s such a wild, desolate and relatively untouched part of the world. But when I add these other, far more intangible things, this is a trip that is vastly different from anything I’ve done before.
This is the reason why I focused so hard on retirement. There are so many amazing places to see and different things to do. I want to be able to see and do as many as I can before my time runs out.
I hope you enjoyed seeing Antarctica through my eyes. Let’s hope that it won’t be another 4 years before the next trip!
To end this series about Antarctica, please enjoy this fun video that Charlie from America made about our trip. Everything in here (except the orcas) I saw as well, but he’s much better at putting everything together.
The crew arranged all sorts of mini-lectures to help fill the next two days. An astonishing number of them are birders, so we heard all about what that entails. As you can see, sometimes they went into a little too much detail, as this action-shot of Liga shows.
We also had a lecture about the environmental impact of our trip, which was surprisingly interesting, along with the technology the Hondius has to help mitigate any damage we might cause.
Now that we were firmly in the Drake Passage, whale sightings were getting more common. Up until now, the only whale sightings I’d seen were of blows, fins and flukes from miles away, which make for some very unimpressive photos.
Imagine how fantastic it was when the announcement went out:
“ A pod of at least twenty humpback whales are around the ship, primarily on the starboard side. We’re slowing the ship down to make the most of this opportunity.“
Talk about being galvanised into activity!
I had my phone with me, but no coat, so I ran to get a spot at the lounge windows.
The whales were so close. They were feeding, so they were surfacing and diving, but only in shallow dives so they were repeatedly coming up to the surface.
I had my phone positioned just below my eyes and I was pressing the photo button every time I saw something… which meant that I had a LOT of photos to go through after this was over. It was the only way I could think of getting a balance between actually experiencing it all with my eyes as well as trying to get a record of it.
The whales stayed near us for around 20 minutes, I guess, which was ample time to get that “whale watching “ box well and truly ticked off.
Afterwards, Eneko came by as we were all talking and he showed me some videos that he took of the whales from the deck outside. They were fantastic- so much better than my crappy photos.
We spent the rest of the day in the lounge, where I may or may not have taken a nap. People were flicking through their photos to choose which ones they were going to submit for the photo competition, sometimes asking for opinions from others.
It was a funny day. I think we were all coming down from the absolute high which was Antarctica.
Eneko was persuaded by Corrina and Liga to play a game of poker with them, to teach them how to play better. Poor guy, he was really reluctant to do it, because he’s used to playing 10 games at a time behind his computer screen. I got the distinct impression that face-to-face poker games don’t have much appeal for him.
They were sitting near me and I tuned out as I was reading a novel, but I surfaced at one point to hear him, looking at Corrina’s cards, saying, “No, no, you shouldn’t play this hand of cards,” and Corrina, totally bewildered, saying, “But why not??”
He was trying to explain and I could see his brain trying desperately to translate from Spanish to English something that, to him seemed so obvious, but to the girls was a mystery. It must have been a long night for poor Eneko!
All of us had bought seasickness patches the night before, but I think we could probably have done without them. The Drake Lake was living up to its name as we glided on through.
Only one full day to go…
DRAKE LAKE DAY 2:
This is where Frogdancer Jones gets a prize in the photo competition that she didn’t even enter. Even I’m astonished at the amount of good luck that this trip has let me experience.
The Drake Passage was even calmer today than it was yesterday, which seemed a little unbelievable, but there it was. The morning was spent packing our bags, giving back our muck boots and generally coming back down to earth.
Corrina set up a WhatsApp group so we could share photos. We’ve been talking on it ever since. 🙂
After lunch we were all called to the lounge and Ross went through the photo competition entries. There were 126 spread out over the 3 categories and everyone had one vote in each category.
Earlier in the day, we made Michael, a guy we’d met on the cruise, submit a photo of polar bears he took in the Arctic a couple of years before, in the “Fun” section. It got a huge laugh, but sadly, didn’t make the final cut.
At around 5PM we all got a hell of a surprise. There, ahead of the ship, were lights. We were already approaching Ushuaia… 12 hours ahead of schedule. That shows just how flat the Drake Passage was during our two days.
Over our last dinner, the boys and I sat near SamFrank. Someone asked him what he did for a living, (he was back to being a colonel again) and then I asked him what he did for fun when he wasn’t working.
“Oh, I teach ballroom dancing. I do a lot of dancing. I also play the guitar – I play a lot of guitar so that I can train my fingers to have lots of sex with my wife.”
I glanced across at Baptiste to see if he was hearing this. His eyes danced back at me. We were both hanging off every word.
“I’m also learning to play the harmonica. I also like to throw dinner parties. Or just any kind of dinner party… I like it when people dress up. I think people behave differently when they are elegantly dressed. Before I met my wife, I always organised every detail. It used to take me the whole day to set the table, decide who was sitting next to who, and to cook the food. Once, a man turned up in a Hawaiian shirt and shorts. I made him go home and change.”
After the conversation moved on, I asked the guys to give me a playlist of the band that they both like – a German band called Rammstein. Morgan’s seen them play 47 times. It’s great music to listen to if you want to concentrate on something that you’re doing, because I can’t understand a word of the lyrics. I’m listening to them now as I type – a lovely song called ‘Pussy.’ It’s nice to see that German headbangers are fond of cats.
After dinner we all gathered in the lounge for the photo competition. Morgan had 2 shots in the final and Eneko had one. Not bad representation for our little group!
After the prizes were awarded, Emma, the ship’s doctor, beckoned me over.
“I accidentally submitted a photo in the Wildlife folder instead of the guides’ folder and it won the competition. I don’t feel right about accepting the prize, so I thought you should have it.”
She handed me a penguin soft toy. Maybe I was being rewarded for my bravery during the blood nose episode on Petermann Island?
Liga bought a bottle of Prosecco and shared it with us as we all toasted our friendship. I really hope we run into each other again.
There was a bit more talk about Eneko’s nicknames for us. He let slip a day or two ago that his nickname for Liga was ‘The Black Panther,’ which really suits her. He said that he had a nickname for both Corinna and me, but he was too scared to tell us. Corinna, who was absolutely dying to know what hers could be, finally got a promise from him that he’d tell her on the last day. That would be tomorrow…
I set off to bed at midnight, but a couple of hours after that, some of the crew came up to the lounge and took some people out into Ushuaia to the Irish pub. Corinna didn’t get back until 4 AM. That 7:30 AM wake-up call for breakfast must’ve been hard…
I took this photo on the last night because I couldn’t believe that Ming was STILL wearing her polar layers 24/7, even when we were back in port. When was she going to shed the yellow gortex?
A DAY IN USHUAIA DURING WORLD CUP SEMI FINALS:
The mood was subdued at breakfast. No one wanted to leave.
Baptiste said at breakfast, looking sadly out of the window, “I just want to wreck the boat. Demolish it. If I can’t go back, then no one else should!” Trust me, it sounds better when it’s said in a mournful French accent.
As soon as we were off the ship and on the dock, the sky turned grey and the wind picked up. It was a bit creepy, as if our good luck with the weather only worked if we were on the ship.
Corrina asked Eneko for her nickname.
“No, not yet,” he said, gesturing back towards the sea. “There’s nowhere for me to run away here.”
“Oh my God, what IS it?” she shrieked. “It can’t be that bad, surely?”
Little did she know, but Eneko told the boys and me the nickname over breakfast. It was the ‘British Bear’, like Winnie the Pooh. I was ‘ The Australian Penguin.’ Now that I come to think about it, Eneko was always there when I’d fall down, get up and cheerfully waddle off again, so fair enough.
When we wheeled our luggage to the street, Eneko finally told Corrina her name. Unfortunately, he forgot to mention Winnie the Pooh and instead said it was like a grizzly bear. She was half laughing, half confused. I don’t blame her!
Today was the day when I realised truly how beautiful these people are. Some of them were due to leave Ushuaia that day, while some were like me and were staying an extra night. They all decided to walk with me back to my hotel.
Corrina took my carry-on bag and Morgan took my suitcase. We trundled through the streets of Ushuaia, passing a very hungover Garret and Timo, who were part of the late-night Irish pub visit with Corinna. I was chatting to Garret outside a shop and I mentioned that I could still feel the ground moving under my feet, as if I was still on the ship. “Really?’ he said. “I thought it was just my hangover.
Everyone dropped their bags at my hotel. Then we split up. Morgan and Baptiste decided to go to the nearby national park and do a 10 km hike. Liga wanted to climb a mountain track, while Eniko wanted to go to his B and B.
Corrina and I stayed in the hotel foyer, using the wifi to contact friends and family.
Scott from the UK let me know that after I’d left Australia, a woman was killed in a freak accident when crossing the Drake Passage. It wasn’t the Drake Lake, clearly. A freak wave hit the side of the ship and broke a window.
“I quickly googled the name of the ship but I knew it wouldn’t be you. You’re Fortunate Frogdancer!”
When the boys were about to return, we went to a restaurant and grabbed lunch. The four of us ordered, then sat on the wifi. On a whim, I decided to check my emails.
This was my first indication that the luck of Fortunate Frogdancer was starting to sputter and conk out.
There were2 emails from my travel agent. The first one said that I was leaving Ushuaia THAT DAY. What?!?
I fished out my printed itinerary. I leave tomorrow, according to this. So which one was correct? We tried calling the 24-hour help number ( not helpful… it was all recorded messages) and we tried checking in. Nothing was definite.
Then Morgan remembered that there was a shop on the waterfront for Argentinian Airlines and offered to take me there to sort it out. We said goodbye to Corrina and after the boys collected their bags, we walked to the shop.
I was feeling bad. This was their last couple of hours here, where they could be doing anywho there than chasing up my flight. We took our place in the queue and waited. After a while, I said to them, “Look, why don’t you go and find something more fun to do? I can see it through from here.”
Morgan looked seriously at me.
“ You are not my responsibility as tour leader anymore. That finished at the docks. This is a matter of friendship. “ Baptiste nodded.
Omg. Could they be any more wonderful? Morgan and Baptiste are just the best people in the world.
A couple of minutes later everything was sorted out. My printed itinerary was correct, and as a bonus, the nice man behind the counter also allocated me aisle seats for my first two flights.
After a coffee in a café, it was time for them to leave for the airport. They headed for the taxi rank and I headed back to my hotel.
That afternoon, Argentina was due to play in the World Cup semifinal against Croatia. Garret, Timo and a few other people decided that we should all meet at The Hard Rock Cafe to watch the game. I’d counted my Argentinian pesos and discovered I was running really low so I decided I wasn’t going to go. I lay down on the bed with a book…
… and woke to a message on WhatsApp asking where I was. I replied that I was running out of cash. No World Cup shenanigans for me!
Timo replied, “We have enough pesos between us to buy you a drink. Get yourself down here!”
As I walked out of my room, I saw the first Argentinian goal on the tv in the dining room. When I was halfway to the Hard Rock Café, I heard screaming from all over the place, so I ducked into a café to watch the replay of the second goal.
Turns out that they go mental whenever a goal is scored. It was so much fun.
By the time I reached the group, I was really hoping that they’d kick a third. I wanted to see the crowd’s reaction.
Afterwards, we stayed back for another drink and just as that finished, I turned and looked out the window. The street was jam-packed full of people. I raced to the door.
All the way up the main street of Ushuaia, people were walking, cheering and singing. It was wall to wall. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a happier crowd.
As you can see, the whole town was out. You can hear me at some stage saying to someone, “It’s bloody beautiful!”
After the people came the cars. I think everyone who lives in Ushuaia was there, celebrating that their team was now in the final. I said goodbye to everyone and made my way back home.
As I ate the leftover of the massive half-a-tart that I ordered for lunch ( frugality for the win) I could still hear the celebrations. They went on for hours. Clearly, this is a country that loves soccer. There was lots of noise for a while, but it was happy noise. It made me smile.
(Only one more post to go. The trip isn’t over just yet…)
