Holiday Pros & Cons

Things I Am Loving:
* Being on holidays in the first place.
* Annual Leave Loading. God bless the public service!
* Finally being in Europe. It's been a while in the planning.
* Starting to plan the next trip...
* Striking a happy Helen/Mike balance of planning, decision-making and going with the flow.
* European pillows. The big, fat square variety.
* Continental breakfasts. So civilised!
* Finding Lush shops all over the world. Being able to find them just using smell.
* Using Lush bath bombs all over the world.
* Everyone else speaking English - makes life SO much easier.
* Under-estimating the exchange rate in my favour, and having more spending money left than I thought.
* The prospect of going Birkenstock shopping in Frankfurt.
* Being able to say basic things in other languages - danke schoen!
* Looking forward to becoming one of those annoying people who have been in a city/country for 6 hours and tell lots of "Oh, when I was in [city/country], I [insert annoying travel anecdote here]" stories.
* Getting a new Mozart Loves Prague t-shirt to replace the one bought for me about 14 years ago, which has served me well but is now dying.
* Being in a place where it is normal to have a physical history more than 200 years old.
* Being in a place that, despite it's long history, is still very geographically young. The rocks are all still pointy, they haven't been around for very long!
* A fabulous, easy-to-understand public transport network.
* The option, albeit never taken, of using a mini-bar. I'm tempted to get a little fridge to have in my bedroom or under my desk at work, I love them so much.
* Drinking Belgian Beer in Belgium.
* Taking Belgian Beer from Belgium back home. Drinking Belgian Beer from Belgium at home.
* Too many other small things to count...

Things I Am NOT Loving:
* Getting motion sick on the plane and up-chucking steadily for 23 hours.
* The prospect of getting motion sick on the plane going home; upchucking for another 23 hours.
* The prospect of upchucking for 23 hours while traveling alone and my honey is still in London.
* European pillows that are neither big nor fat but are instead stupid and flat.
* SFH weather, sweating like a pig in 95% humidity for days on end.
* Not being on holidays any more; going back to a normal working life. Aaahhh!
* Being VERY sniffly while on holidays. Having a travel partner who is also very sniffly, which makes him snore like a combine harvester.
* Constantly having to buy tissues, water and hypo food.
* Constantly having to do blood tests. My fingers are starting to spontaneously bleed.
* Shared bathrooms. Don't do it - just don't.
* FRICKIN' EUROPEAN CHAIN-SMOKERS!
* Frickin' stupid and out-dated European smoking regulations. Do the words Lung and Cancer have no meaning for these people?
* Not having the free use of a washing machine. Paying hotel rates to have someone else wash my smalls. Paying hotel rates for someone else, having washed my smalls, to then put a g-string on a clothes hanger. Paying for this privilege.
* Lots of other small, annoying things that in no way come close to out-balancing the good stuff.

Lots of love, H