This morning he was off on army camp for a week, he'll be back for a night before heading off to Germany to stay with his exchange student's family, returning for another brief overnight stay before a few nights with his Grandmother and Uncle and Sister to celebrate her 21st...I remember when she was just four. Startling. He had told me camp is in Kent. That turns out to be Aldershot. Heaven help us, as The Boy is an A* Geographer...
We hadn't spent the weekend together...in fact this is the first time The Boy and The Cat had been left overnight by themselves...just for Saturday night. It was a big step, but given the state of the house when we returned, there hadn't been a Facebook party. So that was a relief. One small step for Mankind, one giant leap for parenting.
Saturday morning we had headed for Spain...to Asturias for a wedding. No one seems to have heard of it, which is fantastic because it is unspoilt by foreign tourists. You can fly there by Easyjet...and I would recommend it highly. It is quite startling countryside, beautiful craggy cliffs and beaches and mountains. We stayed in a hotel that had formerly been owned by a family who had made their fortune in South America...it was very grand. These houses are a feature of the area...many are just dilapidated, which is a tragedy...I feel a Grand Designs moment coming on! For lunch we had delicious sole caught that morning.
The wedding started at 6.00pm, and was a full Catholic service in Spanish, of course! I couldn't follow a thing, but The Cats Mum is a committed Papist, so knew roughly what was going on! The family were completely relaxed about the coaches taking us to the reception being an hour late, and quite relaxed about the caterer refusing to stop serving canapes until he was ready. The canapes included octopus, but I am assured it wasn't Paul the psychic octopus from Weymouth who lives in Germany had been correctly predicting the outcome of World Cup matches. We eventually sat down for the meal as the clock struck midnight, having already consumed a quantity of the local cider (always poured from a great height to aerate it) and a Peruvian cocktail (the bride is half Peruvian). We danced until four, returning to the hotel at 5...the last coach of revellers made it back at 8.00, leaving many people still dancing!
We flew back to Blighty in the afternoon, which was a shame because it would have been nice to see THE football in Spain, but in all honesty we were somewhat exhausted and anxious to spend some time with The Boy before he disappears. Naturally he had decided to spend the evening with his girlfriend...he returned in time for bed.
So looking forward to seeing The Boy again in a week's time.
