Well......I guess the short answer is NO.
But we did avoid the scouse git and his wife, as much as was possible, and we didn't really have much in the way of chat or banter at meal times.
As for Joyce and her hubby, well, they were 'bearable'....not as obnoxious as the other two....and they were on our coach.
On the Tuesday we woke up to a very grey morning......it was hard to tell what the weather was doing.
On closer inspection it was raining.
Ma observed that it was still early, yes, it was before 7am.
Ma recited the old adage 'Rain before 7, fine by 11'.
We were off on a mystery tour. Liam, our driver wouldn't tell us where we were off to...he said he didn't know, as he hadn't opened the secret envelope yet......he said he had to have a hearty breakfast before he could even look at the envelope......we were undecided as to whether to go on this trip.
We went and had breakfast, under the evil glare of that woman......who complained again.....not enough tea('there should be at least two pots for six of us')...not enough butter, didn't like the thin shred marmalade, the egg was hard in the middle, the toast was too brown.......Oh for goodness sake woman give your gob a rest.....that is what I wanted to say, but held my whisht.
Ma thoroughly enjoyed her breakfast and conveyed this to the waitress.
On leaving the breakfast room I bumped into Liam again....he had opened the envelope and we were off to............Brixham.
I asked Ma what she wanted to do....she said that we would go......so that is what we did.
It was still raining, but only softly......it didn't take long to get to Brixham.
When we had been talking about where we thought we might be going, Ma had bet we would be going to Buckfast Abbey....and I had said that we would be going to either Brixham...or Paignton Zoo.
I said if it was the zoo, I was going to trade her in for a monkey
...or a bag of monkey nuts.
When we found out where we were actually heading, Ma called me a smart ar$e for guessing it right......I told her that even smart ar$es have cracks in them.....she laughed.
We have been to Brixham a couple of times before, but in the sun......we have sat on the harbourside with a bag of chips......we have sat on the harbourside with an ice cream......but today we wouldn't be doing any sitting as the rain had come on much harder.......there were two coaches of us let loose to spend a couple of hours.
I ran Ma round the shops in her chair.....we kept our eyes peeled because we didn't want to bump into our dining companions.........eventually we decided that a nice cuppa and a slice of cake would go down very well.
We were in this lovely coffee shop with our brew and a very large slice of home made Victoria Sponge when scouse git and his wife looked in the window.......I picked up a copy of the Independent and took great interest in some article or other until they passed us by.
The last thing we wanted was to be entertained(or not) by these two inviting themselves to sit with us and have a coffee.
We lingered in the coffee shop until it was time to go back to the coach.
We weren't going straight back to the hotel, we were being taken to Trago Mills.
Most coach tours take you to one or other of these shopping complexes. They tell you how cheap the stuff is, and how we'll all come out laden with bargains.It doesn't happen.
Trago Mills was a bit different, it had a huge shopping area, selling all manner of things.....but it was also geared up for family entertainment too...trampoines, go karts, a petting zoo, water fowl, places where you could get something to eat......and also fresh local produce.
I don't usually like these places, but it was much better than lots of these shopping outlets.
The time passed quite quickly and before we knew it, it was time to head back to the coach.
We were back at the Hotel for 3.45......this was our half day excursion.
Our full day was to Sidmouth and Exeter.
When I got back to the hotel, I checked my camera for the following day. The battery needed charging........I could not find the charging lead.
I remembered that I had made an effort to sort out all the different leads in my travelling bag....trying to cut down on the amount of leads I bring with me. I figured that I must have taken out the lead and left it at home.
Drat, drat and double drat.
I went down to reception and asked if they might by some mad chance have the kind of lead I needed.
The girl on the desk was very helpful and let me sort through a box of leads that had been left by previous guests......alas, most of them were phone leads.
I went back upstairs kicking myself.
Hang on it was only earlyish.......I could walk into town and buy a new one.
I went into the room and told Ma that i had had no joy in my search for a lead, and said I was going to go for a walk.......put my coat on and headed for town at a brisk pace.
To be continued.
But we did avoid the scouse git and his wife, as much as was possible, and we didn't really have much in the way of chat or banter at meal times.
As for Joyce and her hubby, well, they were 'bearable'....not as obnoxious as the other two....and they were on our coach.
On the Tuesday we woke up to a very grey morning......it was hard to tell what the weather was doing.
On closer inspection it was raining.
Ma observed that it was still early, yes, it was before 7am.
Ma recited the old adage 'Rain before 7, fine by 11'.
We were off on a mystery tour. Liam, our driver wouldn't tell us where we were off to...he said he didn't know, as he hadn't opened the secret envelope yet......he said he had to have a hearty breakfast before he could even look at the envelope......we were undecided as to whether to go on this trip.
We went and had breakfast, under the evil glare of that woman......who complained again.....not enough tea('there should be at least two pots for six of us')...not enough butter, didn't like the thin shred marmalade, the egg was hard in the middle, the toast was too brown.......Oh for goodness sake woman give your gob a rest.....that is what I wanted to say, but held my whisht.
Ma thoroughly enjoyed her breakfast and conveyed this to the waitress.
On leaving the breakfast room I bumped into Liam again....he had opened the envelope and we were off to............Brixham.
I asked Ma what she wanted to do....she said that we would go......so that is what we did.
It was still raining, but only softly......it didn't take long to get to Brixham.
When we had been talking about where we thought we might be going, Ma had bet we would be going to Buckfast Abbey....and I had said that we would be going to either Brixham...or Paignton Zoo.
I said if it was the zoo, I was going to trade her in for a monkey
...or a bag of monkey nuts.When we found out where we were actually heading, Ma called me a smart ar$e for guessing it right......I told her that even smart ar$es have cracks in them.....she laughed.
We have been to Brixham a couple of times before, but in the sun......we have sat on the harbourside with a bag of chips......we have sat on the harbourside with an ice cream......but today we wouldn't be doing any sitting as the rain had come on much harder.......there were two coaches of us let loose to spend a couple of hours.
I ran Ma round the shops in her chair.....we kept our eyes peeled because we didn't want to bump into our dining companions.........eventually we decided that a nice cuppa and a slice of cake would go down very well.
We were in this lovely coffee shop with our brew and a very large slice of home made Victoria Sponge when scouse git and his wife looked in the window.......I picked up a copy of the Independent and took great interest in some article or other until they passed us by.
The last thing we wanted was to be entertained(or not) by these two inviting themselves to sit with us and have a coffee.
We lingered in the coffee shop until it was time to go back to the coach.
We weren't going straight back to the hotel, we were being taken to Trago Mills.
Most coach tours take you to one or other of these shopping complexes. They tell you how cheap the stuff is, and how we'll all come out laden with bargains.It doesn't happen.
Trago Mills was a bit different, it had a huge shopping area, selling all manner of things.....but it was also geared up for family entertainment too...trampoines, go karts, a petting zoo, water fowl, places where you could get something to eat......and also fresh local produce.
I don't usually like these places, but it was much better than lots of these shopping outlets.
The time passed quite quickly and before we knew it, it was time to head back to the coach.
We were back at the Hotel for 3.45......this was our half day excursion.
Our full day was to Sidmouth and Exeter.
When I got back to the hotel, I checked my camera for the following day. The battery needed charging........I could not find the charging lead.
I remembered that I had made an effort to sort out all the different leads in my travelling bag....trying to cut down on the amount of leads I bring with me. I figured that I must have taken out the lead and left it at home.
Drat, drat and double drat.
I went down to reception and asked if they might by some mad chance have the kind of lead I needed.
The girl on the desk was very helpful and let me sort through a box of leads that had been left by previous guests......alas, most of them were phone leads.
I went back upstairs kicking myself.
Hang on it was only earlyish.......I could walk into town and buy a new one.
I went into the room and told Ma that i had had no joy in my search for a lead, and said I was going to go for a walk.......put my coat on and headed for town at a brisk pace.
To be continued.
