It’s time for a rather epic Meerkat Muse! A lot has happened in the past couple of weeks, starting with a busy Wednesday, two weeks ago.

Preparing

It was a hectic day, Wednesday the 21st. You see, my wife, daughter and I were heading up to my parents, and we wouldn’t be home for a week. The start of proceedings was a visit to a new Stevenage restaurant, a Thai place called Banana Tree. I cannot complain as to the quality of the food, though the service was a touch slow. Spicy was the word of the day, with a chicken dish laden with chilli!

It was an early night, because of an exceptionally early start in the morning, 3.30 am to be exact! It’s the sort of early start that renders this meerkat more or less catatonic, but it had to be done, if we were to catch the early flight to Sicily!

Whilst the UK weather has generally been good, the morning of the flight was quite chilly, and as we boarded the plane it actually started to rain! I can’t say I was too upset to be leaving the drizzle behind! The flight itself was around three hours, though our 7 am departure became 7.30, owing to unknown machinations. Still, this was hardly disastrous. In the meantime, the flight took us over some spectacular mountainous terrain:

As the plane approached Sicily, the imposing Mount Etna loomed in the background:

Etna truly dominates much of the view of this Italian island.

The Holiday

The first day was a largely quiet affair. We arrived in time for a hectic lunch, and followed this up with a quick dip in the pool. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we also had an early night.

On our second day, the whole family took a morning trip out to the local town of Naxos. Here we encountered numerous typical tourist shops, selling trinkets and souvenirs, along with a rather expensive-looking wine shop! The views were spectacular , and the heat was incredible. It has become an effort to peel off my shirt after going for a walk! Honestly, I’ve sweated from places I didn’t know I could sweat from!

Day Three saw my wife, daughter and I return to Naxos, pick up a float, and take a quick peek at the beach. The hotel has its own private beach segment, which has its advantages! Our brief glimpse was marked by being accosted by several pedlars of various wares, including sunglasses, shoals, and massages!

One troubling theme had started to develop. On day two, I wound up with a really sore right eye, to the extent that I could barely open it. I figured I’d gotten splashed, or I got sunscreen in it, or both, but either way it was a distinctly unpleasant experience. The situation got better overnight, but on day three, following a dip in the pool, and some splashing from enthusiastic nieces and nephews, the issue returned with a vengeance. What this meant for day four was the real possibility of visiting a pharmacy. Woo! However, come the morning, and following a strict practice of avoiding getting my face wet, day four saw no eye issues.

Day Four was meant to involve an evening excursion to go dolphin-watching, but the group received a text in the morning, advising it had been cancelled, due to forecasted bad weather conditions. To be fair, being out on a boat in bad weather doesn’t thrill me! Consequently, it was a lazy pool day instead.

Day Five consisted of an early trip to the beach, where this meerkat spent a fair bit of time floating around in the sea. It was lush, to put it mildly, and as ever, a humbling experience. The Mediterranean Sea is maybe not a raging tempest (most of the time), but as a tiny speck in the water, I felt a sense of majesty and scale that reminded me to respect the sea. The water was also lovely, temperature-wise, though the sand itself was spicy hot! After a languid afternoon we set out as a group for the town of Taormina. This involved an interesting bus ride, up winding roads better suited to a Bond-style car chase! It would also be fair to note that the law of the road in Sicily is ‘the bigger the vehicle, the greater the right of way’. Maybe that’s harsh, but it fits with what I’ve seen! Taormina is a beautiful old town, with buildings going back centuries, including some incredible old churches. There is also an Ancient Greek outdoor theatre, but we missed out on seeing that as we got our timings wrong!

There are also loads of very, very expensive shops, featuring designer handbags, watches and more. You know these places are expensive when they have armed security guards standing watch outside! Having picked up a few bits and pieces from the cheaper shops, the group sat down to dinner at a random restaurant, whereupon I got to indulge in one of my favourite things: ricotta ravioli. This was, quite simply, divine. What I did have to note was how oppressive the heat was, even into the evening, though perhaps the considerable amount of walking we did explained why everyone was pretty exhausted, come the time for the bus back.

Day Six delivered one of the most exhilarating, beautiful and terrifying experiences of the trip. The group – minus my parents – went out on a glorified speedboat to go dolphin-watching. Everyone had a seat, except me! I was perched on the side of the boat, rather anxious for the entire time, but it was certainly an enjoyable experience! The boat’s pilot described some of the coastal sights and also fed us pizza and Prosecco, before taking us further out to sea. Would we be fortunate enough to spot the dolphins?

The answer was an emphatic yes, though they were hard to snap, due to their pace. They would leap out of the water a couple of times, and they were as graceful and brilliant as dolphins tend to be. Leaving aside the chaotic nature of the ride, I’d do it again!

For our final full day, the plan was, quite simply, to do very little. Everyone paid the pool a visit, and I continued to try and work on my tan. I think I’ve gone from milky white to a creamy colour. After lunch my wife, daughter and I ventured out in search of the nearby train station (yes, I am a geek, no, I don’t care who knows it), and found a local supermarket. Here, we gathered up some intriguing crisps and some pasta to take home. We also took a glance in a nearby clothing shop, where the lights kept flickering, due to a looming thunderstorm!

After dinner, my wife, daughter and I retired to our room for an early night, as we had an early start the following morning. Oh, check out some of the dessert options!

Whilst the flight home wasn’t till 11.50, we had to get up, dressed, fed, and catch the transfer bus to the airport, and of course run through all the usual airport shenanigans prior to boarding.

The thing about airports is that they are often chaotic, and yet by the same token, there’s a lot of boring sitting around! Ah well, it is what it is. The flight home took off late, to the tune of nearly an hour, and once we landed, it was a case of getting home, and then ordering in food, because no one was in a fit state to cook!

How would I rate Sicily? Very, very highly, though the Mediterranean culture of late meals and even later nights clashes with what I am used to. I cannot hack the idea of going out at 9pm for dinner! Still, all in all, it was a good break. Full confession, getting back into my own bed was a moment of pure pleasure.

Home

It was fair to say that the weather back here in Blighty was not too bad. Whilst Sicily regularly hit temperatures of 30C and above, it was 22C when we landed, which is not unreasonable. What was less reasonable was having to return to work, but it’s hard to escape the inevitable!

Work

As of the start of September, I have a new regional manager at work. The previous regional manager is a man I consider to be a friend, having known him for nine years, so we’re going from the familiar to the very unfamiliar. I have no idea what this new regional will be like, but I do know that there is going to be a lot of work ahead, as a member of the team is set to leave in mid-October. With luck, we will get someone in to replace them. Indeed, we need to, because otherwise there is the prospect of a lot more lone-trading, and I for one don’t care for that becoming a regular theme.

The return to work on Saturday was painful. I was, in a word, knackered, and there was a ton of cleaning and preparing to do. What a way to be welcomed back! This continued into Sunday, all to prepare for the new regional’s Monday visit. With all of the hectic scrambling to be ready, there existed the distinct possibility I’d personally miss his visit, as I had an appointment on Monday morning that I could not get out of.

Still, all in all, I think we did a good job of preparing the showroom. There are some rough edges, but it’s a living environment, so to speak. Customers are in and out all day, and it’s impossible to have it be perfect, so all we can do is our best stay on top of things, and go from there.