Holidays

It's been a while since I talked about holidays.  (I'm waiting for some photos, hint hint mother.)  Also, it's not really been the time to think about the holidays - when you are sat watching the pouring rain or harsh winds through the window, you don't want to think about hot summer adventures, past or future.

Lately though, things are starting to stir the wanderlust in me again.  The summer is slowly but surely arriving and as my favourite blogger has gone on maternity leave, I've been trawling through her archives for my daily fix and came across this little report on a trip of hers.

It got me to thinking, I love lists...I love holidays... but it' not something I often combine.  For starters, Nico would stop travelling with me pretty quickly if I didn't leave my to do list at home but also, a break is a break for me.  However, there are usually some things at the back of my mind that I know I want the trip to be built around.  For example, when we went to Amsterdam, I knew I couldn't miss the Anne Frank museum or the Van Gogh Gallery.

However, when I look back on that holiday, the memories that shine the brightest are the completely random ones - the amazing meal we had when we ducked down a side street to escape the crowds, playing chess on the tablet and sipping wine at a streetside cafe while the heavens poured down around us, and sitting on the canals to eat cheese and sausage for breakfast. 

I think it's the case that some of the best memories I have from any holiday were unplanned experiences that can never be repeated - seeing bambi footprints in the Harz, coffee in a deserted Trump Tower Starbucks at 6am, discovering a new rioja over tapas on Las Ramblas.

While there are certain things I want to experience on my next holiday, - our honeymoon in Edinburgh - Edinburgh castle, good food, visiting a distillery... I know the best memories will be those I can't even imagine yet and most of all, getting used to married life.