I came to a decision yesterday – I thought hard about what I was going to do on my ‘spare’ day in Brussels, got out the Paris guide book, thought about the places I didn’t make it to last time, and the places I want to go back to, and decided I would definitely go. I still have my card of the Eiffel Tower and the caption: ‘The only things I’ll regret are the things I don’t do’ above my desk. So, I went online to book the ticket – but then I found that the fare quoted was only one way, and that a return fare would cost twice as much, almost as much as it cost me to go from London. So, it seemed a bit daft. Then I went to the Eurostar site to try and find the trips it offered me when I booked my ticket, to Bruges and Ghent. But I couldn’t find that either – maybe you only get to it when you actually book. So, I will stay in Brussels after all, but I’m going to have a good look at the guide book and find some places I haven’t been and things I haven’t done before, rather than just mooching around aimlessly as I usually do.
Someone at meditation last night referred to the question: ‘What would you do if you only had a few weeks left to live?’ I think I would set off across Europe by train, maybe visit all my friends, or at least the main ones. Maybe take the Orient Express, or just head off east. Go to Prague, definitely, and Budapest, I can feel an itinerary forming in my mind, maybe go further, into Central Asia, possibly the Trans-Siberian Express... But, for now, I’ll content myself with planning a trip to Brussels.
At tea break last night, I got talking to a lady who hasn’t been coming to the group for long, only since the full day session in February. She had recently split up with her partner when she started coming, and now lives on her own. She spoke very positively about it, as a new beginning – I guess she is a few years older than me, though not much. She asked me particularly about my work situation, but then she said, ‘What about the rest of your life, how is your personal life?’ and my initial silence said it all I guess. The long standing members of the group know all about the cat business, they supported me though it. But it was strange talking about it again, explaining it to someone else. I take it so much for granted, I forget how bizarre it actually was, from the point of view of someone who doesn’t know us.
Well, forget that. Friday today, and, amazingly, Hubby is home, not driving down to Basingstoke for the first time in ages, though I didn’t know until I got back at 10:15 last night. I’m hoping (naively, I know) that the weather might be fine enough to get the barbecue out – it will be first time this year, if so. The last few years we have started our Friday evening barbecues at Easter, but maybe we'll enjoy it more because of the anticipation - deferred gratification, and all that