Wish you were here

The flight, ah yes the flight.
What can I say about it that justifies truly my feelings about it.
It wasn't the worse journey I had been on, at least I don't think it was
It was prompt. Well organised, we were called to boarding at the designated time, and boarded swiftly. Everybody found there seats and we took off fairly close to the allotted time.
Once on board the crew gave their standard spiel on emergency procedures, and before the luxury flying vessel had levelled off, the seat belt sign was extinguished, and the mad rush to the toilet ensued. Well it wasn't really that mad, June and I excused ourselves past the lounge wear wearing young man in the aisle seat, and walked the few uphill paces to the cubicle.
When did the phrase " Lounge wear " go from meaning dark coloured two piece gents' suits, to Primark styled man made fabric, matching casual pants ( as in trousers, and I use the word loosely, just as they are) and hooded top? His was grey, hers was lime green. This is in no way meant to be disparaging to them, they seemed nice enough, and their 2 kids were quiet and well behaved. The youngest one, a female of around the age of 7 or 8, slept for most of the journey, whilst her older brother, him with the star and lined hair cut, read The Diary of A Wimpy Kid, for practically the duration.
There were quite a few children on the plane, most of which, after an initial rumpus of excitement on taking off, we're quite quiet.
Since it cost us over £8 for a tea, a coffee and two small boxes of Pringles, the snack as opposed to the sports shirts, it was understandable why some people resorted to pack lunches, ala, the golden days of train travel minus the thermos flask, or more appropriately, packed suppers, as it was a very late evening flight.

Still that was a bargain compared to the £31.75 I paid for a Lamb burger and chips, four pieces of falafel and chips, and two glasses of wine in on of the departure area eating establishments.

Anyway I digress; The compact and bijou interior was sufficiently warm so the aromas of certain individuals would waft it's way towards our, thankfully, partially blocked sinuses.
Sadly there was no on board entertainment by way of a movie, so I had to content myself with thinking about how some of my fellow passengers might have come to the conclusion that the attire they were festooned with, was appropriate for visiting a Moslem country. Or even for going about the streets of our own land. At least the scene was not quite so challenging as witnessing hoards of, mainly young people in groups of ten or more, not the obvious school trips, getting ready to fly to the destinations of Spain and Greece.

The gauge of the people on Thomson's Flights can be generalised by the fact that one or two alighted the plane carrying bottles of vodka and other alcoholic beverages, notice the plural being utilised, and the cabin crew, no longer called stewardesses, were also selling scratch cards, indicating the possible jackpot prize of £5000 that can be claimed on arrival back home at the end of the vacation. Not too handy that.
One thing I noticed though, is Thomsons cater for a wide range of clientele, judging by the signs on the plane by the loos. The one on the left said' "Lavatory," whilst the right hand sign stated, "Toilet."
I am, of course, being deliberately facetious as there was no rowdiness or otherwise off-putting behaviour being participated in by the passengers, although June did get a tad irritated by the antics of one medium sized child in the seat behind her, bashing the back of her seat at semi regular periods.
I myself did have the temerity to place my smoking jacket and Panama Hat in the, genuinely spacious overhead luggage hold. It truly was the first time that I have had time, without jostling and elbow bashing to prevail myself of the useage of said storage paces.
We flew over places we had been before, Oxford, Monaco, Corsica , Manchester, not in the order, and places that I have only seen from the air, The Alps, and places I have never been to nor seen, Southampton. Onward over Tunis to our destination in Tunisia.
All irrelevant really, as it was dark, as it usually is at midnight/ 1a.m.in this part of the world and the lights that were seen from 37,000 feet could have been anywhere. Well not anywhere, as in the north east of Scotland it would still be light.
We landed safely, and yes one or two sad cases actually did applaud, as they did when the cabin manager gave her closing, "don't stand up until the plane comes to a halt," speech.
Passing through customs and passport control was painless and way, as was finding our inward coach, coach K, which was sitting in the car park next to coach B and N. as you may have surmised, they were not in alphabetical order.
At the moment if writing, June is somewhat annoyed with herself, She has forgotten to pack her white, evening clutch bag. I foresee a new purchase saving to be made.
Eventually arriving in our hotel room just shy of 4 in the morning, cue Faron Young tune, to find our welcome pack of, bowl of fruit, bottle of wine, bottle of water, and two plated salads, resplendent on the small table of our junior suite.
Towels bedecked with flower petals and leaves and folded in the shape of a swan, sort of, bedecked the footstools at the bottom of our bed, to which we adjourned to swiftly after unpacking and eating, for the four and a bit hours sleep we needed before rising for breakfast.
The view from our balcony of palm trees, with the sea visible between them just yards across the lawn and pool area, was a splendid way to bring life into our still tired eyes.
Time then for some exploration of our surroundings.

We have now gone and booked 4 x 1/2 hour spa sessions, starting today with an Indian Perfumed massage, preceded by some sort of mud all over body treatment. This will take place just before dinner, which is in just over an hour from now. It will be a bit of a drag to shift ourselves from the poolside double lounger, which in itself is no more than 100 meters from the beach.
Anyone that know me, will be aware that I am not overly good at sitting doing nothing, but I do believe that I may have occasion to try out good elongated spells of laziness during our 2 week Sojourn here in North Africa's smallest country.
A country where the waiting staff and shop owners in the hotel seem to express a fondness for whisky.although one splendid fellow indicated that she drinks his lover ice and with the addition of Coca Cola. Now I myself have no penchant for the amber liquid, but even I know that the addition of the America , fizzy soft drink is tantamount to sacrilege.
But, again I digress, but I am allowed to do that, as it is my vacation and my journal.
Wish you were here? I am sure you may, but don't take this personally, I am enjoying the fact that I know nobody here apart from June.
See you here tomorrow