Our Honeymoon - 3rd time lucky?

 

This Summer Mr C and I will be celebrating 10 years of marriage! Did I mention that already? I’m sorry, I know I keep banging on about it but I am really quite excited. Our lives have changed so much over the last ten years. 10 years ago I couldn’t drive, it was 4th time lucky for me! Yep, let’s just say I suffer from test anxiety very badly! Every time I had a test my knees would knock together so badly that I could barely change gear.

 

A lot really has changed. We have lost loved ones, had two children, lived under the threat of redundancy, suffered redundancy, watched friends get married, moved house etc. The list is never-ending. It’s only when you stop, take a pause and a moment to reflect that you can really appreciate how far you have come and what you have now.

 

I do feel very lucky to have my little bonkers family.

 

When in Rome

 

In those 10 years it is fair to say that we haven’t had many holidays abroad or in the UK. When we first got married money was tight but we were determined to have a honeymoon. We had three wonderful nights in Rome where we stayed in a lovely b&b on the edge of the city. However, the honeymoon didn’t get off to the best start when the taxi driver managed to pull some David Blaine type magic trick and stole most of the little money we had. Yep, it kind of left a sour taste in the mouth and for the rest of the holiday we were paranoid that we were going to be robbed again. We ended up having to put everything onto our credit card. The trip still had many highlights. It was in Rome that I had the best tiramisu I have ever tasted in my life! We spent a lovely afternoon on a piazza, basking in the sun, watching the world go by as we sipped on the local beer. One night we were desperate to find somewhere that was cheapish to have our dinner. We stumbled down an alleyway to find a small restaurant where the locals were queuing to get in. We took that as a good sign and it really was. The table was rickety, the crockery and cutlery mismatched and the wine came in a chipped jug but the food was amazing.

 

 

Maldives disaster

 

As much as we had enjoyed Rome it didn’t quite feel long enough and as such we were determined to have a longer trip away when we could afford it. In the next year we both secured promotions and we were both working very hard. As such we decided to treat ourselves to an amazing holiday in the Maldives at Christmas. We stretched our budget and we could just afford 7 days. On the day before we were due to fly out Mr C purchased a reduced Cornish pasty from a very well-known supermarket. The pasty was clearly evil as it made Mr C very poorly. He spent most of the night vomiting, hugging the toilet, crying and hallucinating. Still the next day he was still poorly but feeling better and we reasoned that it was food poisoning so he must be over the worst of it. We arrived at Manchester airport to find it clothed in heavy fog. Luckily, we had allowed ourselves plenty of time. So much time that we had even paid for lounge access at Gatwick. Ha, ha!

 

However, the plane time kept getting pushed back and back due to the fog not shifting. All the while Mr C was still making frequent trips to the toilet. If we didn’t make it to Gatwick in time we would miss our connecting flight. I had made several phone calls to the holiday company explaining our situation and they had reassured us that a lot of other people were in the same boat. We were then informed that the plane in Gatwick had been delayed taking off so we should be fine. Finally, we boarded the plane. We had an hour before we needed to be on the other plane. We asked the air stewardess if they could ring ahead and we asked if the plane could be held so that we could board. We were told that there was nothing they could do. We finally landed at Gatwick and passed the plane we needed to be on as it taxied for take off. Gutted is not the word. Mr C at this point just wanted to go to bed.

 

 

We were the told that there was a plane flying out first thing the next day and that they could put us on it. We took it, it meant that we still might make it to the Maldives for the Christmas Eve dinner. That night we spent it at a Yotel. I’m sure you know but a Yotel is a very small hotel room and the bathroom is basically in the bedroom. That night I heard and smelt things coming from my husband that no honeymooner should have to witness….Poor Mr C.

The next day we were excited to finally be getting on our way. However, on check-in we were informed that the plane had been delayed by three hours. This then turned into 6 hours and so on. All because they needed some part for the engine. I guess I should be grateful that they realised this before we were in the air. Then they were sending a driver to Luton to get the part. Then the driver was on his way back but stuck in traffic on the motorway. We should have boarded the plane at 10am we ended up boarding it at 10pm. We sank into our chairs to then be told that the plane would be going via Manchester.

 

I. Kid. You. Not. We were heading back to Manchester I could have cried.

 

 

I was so distraught by this that I did the only sensible thing any woman would have done - I bought a bottle of cheap champagne! Mr C had one glass and it didn’t agree with him as he was still feeling delicate. So I spent the very early hours of Christmas Day in the air, drinking warm champagne as Mr C snored next to me. Not what we had envisioned but hey-ho we were on our way. We might have missed Christmas Eve dinner but it was still going to be amazing. When we finally arrived we could not believe it. It was paradise. Mr C was just starting to feel better. We had 5 days of paradise and we were not going to think about the two days we had lost. That night we sat on the beach under the stars and we toasted our future. I didn’t dare tell Mr C but I was now feeling a little poorly.

 

 

The next day I didn’t need to tell him how I felt as it was very obvious that I was poorly. I was burning up, I had full on flu. I was on a tropical island and I couldn’t get warm. An island that has no medicine, not even a lemsip. The only they had was tiger balm which I covered my chest in liberally. It did nothing. Any idea of this being a romantic honeymoon part 2 quickly evaporated. I spent the whole 5 days shivering under a towel on the beach. I was the only person to leave that island looking paler then when I had arrived!

 

Honeymoon part 3

 

We are hoping that it will be third time lucky. My parents have very kindly agreed to have the girls. Mr C and I will have 3 nights child free. Where the plan had been to spend it in London we are now booked to stay in a rather lovely country hotel in Suffolk. I am so excited. It is the rather gorgeous Ickworth House. We can’t wait. I am hoping for lots of long romantic walks, lovely food and floating in the swimming pool. You get the idea. Excited doesn’t even come close! Then the plan is to pick up the girls and head to Yorkshire. We will be stopping on the way to break the journey up and then we arrive in Ilkley where we will be staying in the lovely Ilkley Moor Cottages. A chance for us all to catch-up with friends. We stay there for four nights before we then head over to Manchester to catch-up with Mr C’s family and hopefully I will catch-up with some of my old university friends.

 

That is the plan for honeymoon part 3. What could possibly wrong……..?