At the end of this post, I mentioned looking forward to mine and RJ's holiday in Italy, and this innocent little remark caused some comment and discussion (mostly behind the scenes).
It made me think about what constitutes a "proper" holiday for me.
Let me try and explain - or else, skip this post and wait for the next one.
England - and by that I mean mainly Yorkshire - is not a holiday for me, but a necessity. It is necessary for my wellbeing, for my mental health, if you want, to spend some time every year in the country I consider my second home, seeing the people that are just as much family to me as the blood-relations here in Germany, even though technically speaking we are not related at all, and our original link - my husband Steve - died 2 1/2 years ago.
In England, and with family and friends there, I feel so much at home, so welcome and so at ease that it simply does not feel like "being away" from home, even though I go to places I have not seen before every time.
A "proper" holiday is something else for me; it means (again: for ME! It might be entirely different for other people) really going AWAY from familiar surroundings, discovering different places, different sights, sounds, smells and tastes, speaking a different language (not always) and then, at the end of it, enjoying to go back home and return to the "at home" feeling that I love about both my town here in Germany and Ripon in Yorkshire.
The holiday RJ and I went on together was spent in Riva del Garda, a small town on the northern edge of Lake Garda. We had booked ten days in a hotel and stayed only a week, deciding to break off because of the weather taking a turn for the worse as well as the hotel staff and service going continuously downhill in the course of the second half of the week.
We did a lot of hiking and spent a day in Verona and one in Sirmione; we went dancing on the piazza at a huge street party in the heart of the old town centre of Riva, had delicious meals and generally a really good time - and we wanted to leave while we still had more good than bad memories.
There will, of course, be pictures of some of the places we explored and accounts of what we saw, did and ate.
In the meantime, I am still officially on vacation and will take up work again on Monday.
Hello Meike:
ReplyDeleteWe are so disappointed to learn that although you clearly enjoyed your time in Italy it did not, for a variety of reasons, quite meet all your expectations. That said, we do hope that you have had a pleasant week at home with still the weekend to look forward to before a return to work on Monday of next week.
Hello Jane and Lance,
Deleteindeed I have had a pleasant week and there is still all of today and tomorrow to look forward to, and since I like my job, going back to work on Monday is perfectly alright with me, too.
What a lovely post. Hope you have a great time in Italy.
ReplyDeleteI too married an Englishman, and I feel exactly the same way about England that you do. When I step off the plane, I slip into my English persona (if you will) and become a different person. My English inlaws are so gracious, so welcoming, so much fun, and always seem so genuinely (I hope!) glad to see me that we keep coming back. We weren't able to go to England this year (various reasons, too long to explain here) and I have really missed it. But thank goodness for the internet, and emails, and blog entries, and facebook entries so that I can keep up with some of the family activities, at least vicariously.
Have a great time in Italy, and enjoy the sunshine. xoxo
Thank you! I have been back from Italy for almost a full week by now, and only on Thursday, the weather finally turned back to summer.
DeleteNice to learn you feel about England the way I do!
I am glad that you had a nice time in Italy for at least the first part of your trip. Sorry to hear that things went downhill - sounds as if you did the right thing in returning home. I hope you enjoy the rest of what has now become a "staycation." They can be nice too.
ReplyDeleteYes, Jenny, I am one of those people who can really relax at home, without thinking of a million things that "need doing"; therefore I enjoy being home as much as being away, if not more (at least sometimes).
DeleteSorry about the disappointing holiday weather. I hope it's better in Germany? It's AWFUL over here!
ReplyDeleteIt's been chilly and rainy here, too, but on Thursday the sun came back and I hope it'll stay for a while!
DeleteLake Garda is wnderful, though we stayed at the opposite end, near Sirmione. Sorry the weather and service forced you back home early, but at least this way the good memories outweigh the bad. I look forward to more about an area I fell in love with. :-)
ReplyDeleteThe Sirmione area is quite different from Riva, with the landscape being a lot more "open" and not so enclosed by the mountains. I think that contributes to better weather there. Yes, having more good memories than bad was one reason why we left when we did.
DeleteI understand what you mean. People are surprised that we don't "do" more when we are in England, but when you spend a lot of time visiting family and friends, that does not leave much time for sightseeing!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a good time in Italy but I am sorry if you started having problems there. Do a post and tell on the bad service, it will serve them right! :-)
We did have a good time in Italy, and I will post about some of it and probably also mention more about the bad service etc.; I've also been to the travel agency and told them. They are investigating now and will be in touch with me about this. Not that I really expect anything to come out of it, but if nobody tells them, nothing will ever happen.
DeleteMost people regard a change of location as being the same as a holiday. Whenever I'm in the UK people think that I go to New Zealand for a holiday. When I explain that I actually live in New Zealand for longer each year than I am actually in my Scottish home they find it puzzling. In fact these days I am more 'on holiday' when I am in Scotland then when I am in New Zealand. Of course life is just one long holiday anyway when one is retired.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to learn that the holiday experience was not as good as it could have been. Returning home seems to have been a very good move.
He he, my Dad always "complains" that he never has any holidays anymore since he retired :-)
DeleteYes, going home before everything turned too sour was definitely good.