Major and minor misadventures

A month ago, my friend and I went to the Pickled Fish for sublime Kerula Prawn Curry (as was well documented in my blog!) as she was leaving the next day for a cycling holiday in Holland with a few other stops before and after. She has now returned to regale me with tales of adventure and misadventure.

The first misadventure was that, while we were devouring dinner that night, she should in fact have been at the airport! When she arrived at the check-in counter the next day, full of the joys of life and looking forward to her trip, she was asked what name she had booked under. Uh-oh! They then broke the news that she had been a no-show the day before and that her ticket for all seven flights she was booked on for the duration of the holiday had accordingly been cancelled.

Well, the look of panic and dismay on her face must have been of such proportions that the airline bent over backwards to accommodate her and she was placed on every flight, albeit a day late! And in window seats!

The adventure went smoothly, with the group covering about 50km a day on bicycles in Holland, until one day, after suffering in a particularly strong headwind, she decided to rather catch a train to The Hague for the last 25km or so and meet them there. First of all, she only had enough coins for herself and was unable to buy a ticket for the bicycle, so she was in a froth of anxiety for travelling with an illegal bike (!) but was fortunately not caught out. Then she got out at the wrong station and got completely lost trying to find her way to the hotel.

But worst of all, she took a tumble in the street, right outside the poshest hotel in The Hague and landed in a heap, tangled in her bicycle with 2 panniers! Actually no, even worse, the smartly dressed dollybirds who worked in the hotel rushed out to pick her up and took her inside, fed her copious amounts of tea and attended to her every need until she was ready to resume her journey. Needless to say, she didn't want to damage her reputation even further by asking for directions after that!

She looks pretty good for having gone through all that - her adult children are asking her when she is going to start acting her age and not her shoe size (a very petite 3!!).

I can only think that would be a dreadful shame! She sure knows how to live life.