A Celebration!

Here's me last Thursday after work at what is becoming our favourite wine bar in Ludwigsburg. The picture was taken by my sister. What was there to celebrate? Not my birthday - that's towards the end of March. Not me winning the lottery - I have never played in my life. Not me landing a huge new contract with a client, either - I am busy enough as it is.

Maybe you remember that I have mentioned before that "our" cottage, where my sister and I have been staying for many years when in Ripon, was sold last year. Although we understood the owner's reasons perfectly, we were still very sad. Our last stay had been in 2019; back then, we had no idea that the pandemic was going to hit us all and make our usual Yorkshire holiday impossible for two years.

This year, we really, really, really want to go. We miss family and friends there, and of course our favourite places - which included "our" cottage. My sister was looking at alternatives and found a few; we liked them well enough and were prepared to book something, even though none of it felt like "ours" immediately. As an afterthought, my sister checked AirBnB for accomodations in Ripon. And guess what...

...OUR COTTAGE IS BACK!!

It is still called Matchbox Cottage, and the new owners have not changed the general layout. Even my bed is still the same, and one of the armchairs in my room. The kitchen is largely the same, and the bathrooms are as they were (they were completely redone only a few years ago).

At first, we could hardly believe it and were checking, and checking again, to make sure it wasn't an old entry on AirBnB. No, it's all current, and up to date... and we are booked there for two weeks, the second half of July!

I have already notified our family and friends, and now we need to plan the actual journey. Also, we need to have passports made; our perfectly valid ID is not enough to enter the UK any more. But it's all going to work out, I am sure of that, and finally, we will be back in OUR cottage in Ripon!

It was slowly getting dark when we left the wine bar, but the palace grounds were still open, and so we crossed them and walked up the long tree-lined street that leads south in a straight line all the way to another, smaller palace in Stuttgart. Of course we did not go to Stuttgart, but went west at the top of the hill towards our respective homes.

Now, days later, I still have to pinch myself to make sure I have not dreamt it all!