The Holiday That Passed Me By

Well, to cut a long story short, I didn’t get much of a holiday. I left work at lunchtime on Friday as planned, but feeling very unwell. I sent Brett off to the Prado by himself while I tried to sleep off whatever it was. It turned out to be a revisitation of the malady that has plagued me, on and off, for over a year now; fatigue, headache, nausea, total loss of appetite, dry mouth, hot and cold flushes. I slept through Friday but was in a passable state on Saturday morning for the transfer to Sitges, although Brett was doing all the heavy lifting, while I shambled alongside.

The train journey was long and a bit tedious but the Spanish rail network is modern, clean and efficient so it was bearable trip. I even managed to eat some pasta on the train. I think I overdid it though on the section from Barcelona to Sitges itself as, once we’d settled into the hotel, I began to feel queasy again and by the time John & Rich arrived, I was in full relapse.

I passed on dinner that evening and basically stayed in bed in purgatory through Sunday, emerging only to see them off to dinner without me on Saturday evening. By the end of the evening my head had mostly cleared though and I went to bed hoping to be able to eat again in the morning.

Sure enough, this morning my appetite returned as I gently ramped up my food intake over the course of a ninety-minute breakfast. Still fairly weary though, so I spent the morning reading at the breakfast table (which was on the terrace in the shade next to the pool anyway) which turned into a pleasant social hub as John and Rich came by periodically to chat and, having napped some after breakfast, Brett came back to join me also.

Compared to previous occurrences, I seem to have recovered my strength fairly quickly and felt up to a brief spell in the Jacuzzi followed by a walk along the promenade to enjoy a late lunch with the boys. There was more reading to be done when we got back, although John & Rich went off to sun themselves by the pool, and we eventually retired to the room for a siesta before dinner.

After dinner we’re also supposed to be meeting up with a couple of the Chorus boys who are in town at the moment, so I fear I may end up indulging in a little alcohol after all…

Crouch End Johnny did come up with an interesting thought over breakfast though; knowing I’ve been abroad with work, he wondered if I might have picked up some foreign recurring bug – which would explain why no-one else I know seems to suffer from it. I do recall talk on my recent travel safety course that the London School of Tropical Medicine will do consultations with you if you suspect something of that nature, so I think I’ll give them a call when I get home rather than going to my GP and being told “oh, it’s just something viral, you'll get over it” again!