Up and at ’em!

A quick check-in here before I hop in the shower, put the final couple of things in my case and head off to the airport for our trip to Sitges Pride.

Thankfully, my sleep has returned to normal and I feel like a new person this morning. I’ll never cease to be amazed at jut how powerful sleep (or its absence) can be.

First stop will be Gatwick, then Madrid, then Barcelona. A slightly longer than required route, but it’s also about collecting points on the way there. We’ll be going with Iberia and it’s been a while since I’ve experienced their Business Class offering. Hoping for something nice!

Given the journey, we won’t get to Sitges in time to get to the beach. But we’ll definitely be heading into town for a cocktail or two and a wander around our favourite haunts. I really love the fact that it’s such a compact town, you can wander around it very easily on foot. And also that our hotel is located outside of town, so we can escape the madness and actually sleep at night.

Or, early morning. Whenever we eventually get back from our celebrations…

The weather there is looking great, so I’m planning on doing very little apart from lying in the sun on my favourite naturist beach – plus, of course, the requisite people watching and creating fictional back stories for all the characters we encounter.

I’n not exaggerating when I say that Platja Dels Balmins is one of my favourite places to relax in the world. Small, but perfectly formed, as they say. Friendly, clean and minutes from our hotel. I’ve had some wonderful days of relaxation there, sipping a cold beer and watching humanity wander past in all its naked glory. Plus a great place to go swimming.

When it comes to the beach, I’ve downloaded a ton of Audible content onto my phone, as I find it easier to listen than read when in the sun. Cue lots of walking up and down the beach, working on that all over tan. And for the flights? ‘Line of Duty’ series 5 on my iPad. I’ve only recently jumped on that particular bandwagon and I mainlined series 1 to 4 while @TheFrankFlyer was away in San Francisco recently. Time to finish it off!

(A slight related bonus is that last night, I discovered that I’ll be in Dublin for Dublin Pride later this month. I’m there to speak at a conference, so this is a happy coincidence. Guess I’ll have to pack my favourite Pride dungarees for that trip too!)

Better run…see you on the other side! 🏳️‍🌈