Another Day (for me and him) In Paradise!

After my late night musings of the other evening I am now back to blogging during the day time. Hooray! 

So, we are in Mykonos and having a fab time. The weather remains wonderful albeit windy at the moment as I sit here by the pool after a swim. This morning we went to Mykonos Town by bus. We spent several hours walking through the streets, stopping for a frappe in the square by the harbour where the cruise ships are docked and generally mooching about. It was hot. 33 degrees of hot and shade was most welcome from time to time.

We caught the bus back to our resort and stopped on the beach for a beer and a sangria. This evening we have a meal at one of the many restaurants here and then I believe there is the small matter of an England football match to catch up with. 

We seem to have booked ourselves into one of the more happening places here more by luck than judgement. The weekend saw masses of youngsters arrive and enjoy the beach and the sun beds while music played long and loud. Saturday was 8 hours of house and drum and bass music...apparently as I have no idea really but that was what we were told!..... and Sunday was much more relaxed but just as loud with music culminating in a live band on the beach. They were not bad! 

While we were not expecting such entertainment...and whilst some people here are not very impressed as the music is loud most of the time....we have got used to it and actually quite enjoy it. I have to say that it's all over by 10 pm anyway apart from the band which finished at 11.30pm. Would I prefer to not have the constant musical accompaniment? Yes, I think so. When we venture off site and go to a beach down the road where there is no music it is nice. It must be an age thing.

The quiet beach is where we ate the other evening and where there was a gay wedding on the beach at sunset. The setting was quite spectacular. We were very surprised to see that Simon Callow was one of the guests. He was very involved in the whole event it seemed and his wonderful recognisable voice could be heard everywhere.

After the recent fundraising events that have taken up so much of my time, this break has been a real tonic despite the health worries of the other night. Sunshine and relaxing and spending time with my hubby has been just the thing to recharge the batteries. Of course, I am already thinking of next week and what I have to do when we get home when I should just be doing nothing but that's me!

So, for now, I'll sign off with a couple of pics of my view right now.

XXXX

Xxxxx

Medical matters in Mykonos aka what happens in my head when I'm knackered!

Crikey! I didn't realise it had been so long since I last added anything to this blog. I feel a bit guilty if I'm honest. Still, no time like the present so....

I am in Mykonos with hubby. We have been here since Wednesday evening. We are staying at the Lady Anna. It's a clean, spacious beach hotel. The staff are very friendly and helpful. The hotel has a pool. The clientele are a mixed bunch...young couples, families, older ones like us and made up of various nationalities. 

The weather has been wonderful thus far. It gets windy in the evenings but that is really quite pleasant as it takes the heat of the day away. We have both been good about the sun after years of sunning ourselves at every opportunity. We pace ourselves, we cover up after a little while in the sun, we use lots of sun cream and we wear hats....much to the horror of our kids but they aren't here and I'd rather look like mad hat lady than get sunstroke or a burnt scalp!

I'm actually typing this at 1.30 am local time as I went to sleep, woke up sweating in our air conditioned room and have been unable to get back to sleep which is annoying. I haven't slept properly yet since we got here so I know I'm tired. Ridiculous! There is something amiss with me but I'm not sure what at the moment. I think it's just the change of environment. I have already had a horrible migraine which didn't respond in any way to paracetamol and ibuprofen. In fact, I have taken all of my supply and brought more. In the end hubby got a lift to a local pharmacy from one of the hotel staff and got me two very strong tablets. The first one did the trick and I felt much better after a few hours. It did mean that I spent most of our 2nd full day feeling nauseous and in pain and dozing on and off in our room while the Euro 2016 football matches were being shown on our tv.

Today I have felt much better and enjoyed getting out and about. However, I have been bitten 4 or 5 times on my legs by mosquitoes and 2 of the bites are looking infected. They are oozing and red. They don't hurt but they look horrible. I have antibiotic cream with me from home so I'm hoping that will keep another visit to the pharmacy at bay. While I was in the sea today I felt something on my leg and looked down to see a small fish nibbling at the bite on my right leg! It made me jump and felt weird. I'm not sure if it was doing any harm but it put me off going back in the sea and I waited until we returned to the hotel before swimming in the pool where there are no fish!

I also have a swollen and sore gum on my lower right jaw too. This is not that unusual but if I was at home I would use a mouthwash and it would go away. I don't have any mouth wash here so I'm not sure what to do. I hope whatever is causing it will put itself right and it will clear up on its own. 

All these little things along with the profuse night time sweating in an air conditioned room and the general weird feeling around my head where the migraine was is making me feel uneasy for some reason.

I need to work this through here so that I might be able to get to sleep so forgive me for going on a bit. I have had little sleep so I am not thinking clearly. I would imagine that my body also needs me to sleep and isn't able to do its job properly if it is knackered. My worries about all of the things that aren't quite right are making me think that there is something bigger going on but I really don't believe that there is. The sweating may be from tiredness, the sun despite me being careful, and maybe dehydration despite me drinking little alcohol and loads of water. 

The head discomfort is probably an after effect from the migraine. This is usual for me after a nasty episode. I can feel where the pain was for a few days afterwards sometimes. 

The painful and swollen gum is probably from food caught in between my teeth that I haven't got rid of when I've brushed my teeth. Hopefully that will feel better in the morning.

The bites should be on the mend now but if they do not improve they will definitely need looking at.

In the back of my mind, and I know that I'm only thinking this because I'm weary, I am concerned that something is going to happen to me and that I will need medical treatment. All this worry simply because I havent got to a chemist to buy the things is need to get rid of these niggles.

I think that, in the morning, I will need to find the chemist and get what I need for my head, my bites and my gum. What a sorry state of affairs😔 I think it's called health anxiety!

Xxxxx

The one where we saw Bruce and Busted and took on the The Guildford Triathlon!

Hi....I think the title of this blog post tells it's own story. Yes, yet again, it's all been a bit frantic over the last few weeks. If you add to the above one daughter moving house as we speak and another finding a new house and hoping to move at the end of July and son's birthday you will get a feel for how things have been.

However, let's move on. Firstly, our trip to Madrid and our Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band experience. We have seen The Boss many, many times and have never been disappointed. In fact, he puts on an incredible show every single time. Four of us flew out to Madrid and had three nights there. We had a wonderful time despite me almost passing out in the street on our first day. Never have I seen myself look so pale. Not so sure I have ever felt quite so rotten either to be fair.
The weather throughout our stay was glorious. We ate paella, drank sangria, walked for miles every day and saw some fabulous sights. I also nearly knocked myself out while taking a photo from in a rock formation that I had to crouch down to get into. After I took the photo I just stood straight up and cracked my head on the ceiling. Ouch! would cover it.

                                               Sangria and beer. Cheers!

Supertasty paella

The offending 'cave' where I hit my head

The concert was held at the Bernabeu stadium where Real Madrid play their home games. We were looking forward to to visiting the stadium but have to say that we were disappointed with the outside of the place. The stadium from the outside was grey and unwelcoming but we were there to see The Boss so it didn't really matter!

Grey and uninviting

Onto the gig and what can I say? 3 and a half hours of pure joy and exhileration. Bruce Springsteen is 67 years old and he was incredible. 3 and a half hours of being the front man with no break. He never has a support band. When you buy a ticket to see Springsteen that is what you get and it's bloody marvellous. We will keep going to see him for as long as he is touring or for as long as we are able. His music speaks to us as a family and all of our children have memories attached to his songs...Pony Boy is my song for Jack, Rosalita is hubby's song for Rosie, the whole The Rising album has emotional memories for us for so many reasons.
You never know quite what songs you're going to get at a Springsteen gig. This gig was special and he finished with a rousing encore including Twist and Shout which I always, always love followed by a solo acoustic stripped down version of Thunder Road which gave me goosebumps.

Still two hours before the start of the show

A litre of beer? Ok then

All I can say about Springsteen and his band is that they are incredible and if you ever, ever get the chance to see them play please make every effort to go. You will not be disappointed. It's a life affirming experience.

So, after an eventful time in Madrid we flew back home and got ready for the coming weekend which involved going to a Busted concert followed by taking part in the Guildford Triathlon. Just your average kind of week really!

When it came to the Busted gig, I would quite happily have sold the tickets and not gone. There was lots to prepare for for the triathlon, I didn't want to drive to London because I hate it and the trains stop running before we can get to Waterloo. It all seemed so overwhelming and stressful. However, hubby stepped up and offered to drive us and I was very relieved as was my daughter who was desperate to go to the gig as Busted were her guilty pleasure when she was younger.

We got to the o2, had pie and chips, grabbed a drink and headed for our seats only to hear Wheatus, the support band, playing their last song 'Teenage Dirtbag'. They sounded amazing! We stopped in the doorway and saw them on stage and we all sang along...'I've got two tickets to Iron Maiden baby. Come with me Friday. Don't say maybe....' etc etc. Fabulous!

It was only then that we realised that we had really good seats for the show. I had got the tickets on presale so long ago that I had forgotten all about it. We had the best seats that we have had for a gig in a very long time and it was great.

As for Busted.....they were so good! They put on a great show full of energy and enthusiasm. The sound was perfect and our view was the best. I'm so glad we went. As for my daughter....she had the time of her life so it was worth it just to see how happy and excited that she was to be there.

The Busted boys back on top form

And then it was on to the triathlon bright and early the following morning. I have a whole separate blog about that if you want to read about the whys and wherefores of it all. It was a wonderful experience and we raised a lot of money for a very worthy cause on behalf of some very lovely little people.

https://triathlonforphoebeandsam.wordpress.com

and  our fundraising page is still open if anyone would like to add to our total.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/phoebeandsam

This is just a very brief look at what has been going on. It's been stressful, exciting, unforgettable, emotional and the rest.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of the last couple of weeks...family, friends, Bruce and the band, Busted! It's been amazing!

xxxxx