Saturday 31st July
Woke to 'persisting rain' bugger! We left home around 9.30am after giving the kids copious amounts of advice and reminders, none of which they would have cared for or remembered (which was confirmed when we got home!). Hit a little traffic along the M25 but whats new! The clouds had a least started to break up a little. We decided to grab breakfast at McDonalds.......NOT my favourite place but cheap and we knew this weekend was going to cost! Tummies full we found the hotel (been there lots of times doing karate so wasn't hard to find).
Tony on the balcony of our room!
Pulled into the carpark and looked around for a space to park a Ford Focus C-Max that wasn't going to be sat next to a Ferrari, Porsche, Range Rover or other flashy sports car - this can be hard on any given day at this place. We finally found the right reception after walking into the events entrance first to find a huge Indian wedding taking place - congratulations Nisha & Russell your wedding music amused us for most of the afternoon! By now there was broken clouds and sun was shining which it continued to do for most of the day.
We were told we had been upgraded free of charge to a Deluxe Room (thanks to our friend Paul being Head of Security for the hotel) and we went upstairs to drop our belongings off before going to the spa. OMG the picture does NOT do this room justice. The bed was HUGE, a 42" plasma screen TV on the wall, Bose docking station for ones iPod....and the bathroom........Tony had to drag me outta the room for my massage!
Looking up at the bridge that forms part of the long driveway upto the hotel
Now you all know I was apprehensive about this, had to fill in a questionnaire that was longer than my MRI checklist! It did ask about cancer/chemotherapy so I knew I would be asked about that beforehand. Taken into the ladies changing room which had a few trophy wives hanging out (literally - yuck lol) got shown my locker and how to operate - bloody hell, hold your card against the handle wait for the light to turn green, apply a little pressure ......blah blah her lips were moving but I was no longer listening I was screaming inside my own head - HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There were slippers a bathrobe and 'some paper underwear' but I didn't have to wear them if I didn't want to. A few private changing rooms which I headed straight to away from the perfect toned bodies of the trophy wives who's husbands were out on the golf course. Took the paper underwear out of the packet and had to stifle a laugh.......they were........PAPER G-STRINGS......OMG no way, I am keeping my Bridget Jones' on thank you very much. Put my stuff into the locker and managed to lock it, wohoo technological whizz kid that I am. Headed off through the mirrored (just look straight ahead Debs) corridors with peaceful floaty music playing.
Walking along the canal to the next bridge
Came to a petite Indian looking lady called Rangini...."Debbie?" yes, hello blah de blah.......taken into the massage room. Asked all about the chemo/cancer....told brief story and about my bolts of titanium (if you write it that way, it almost sounds like a superhero's weapon dontcha think lol). She said I was to lay however was comfortable for me. Asked what area's I wanted worked on, said she would avoid scalp and for her own health & safety I said to avoid my feet LOL Chose which oil I wanted (lavender & frankinsense) and she left the room for me to hoist my wobbly bits up onto the table and cover up. I told her the world was not ready for me to wear that paper g-string underwear and she kinda whispered, "I've heard they are really uncomfortable".......uncomfortable.....they'd need a deep sea diver to find them on me!
Well, everyone was right.....that massage was a 40 minute slice of heaven. She was very good at her job, very attentive, kept checking I was ok and generally made me feel like a queen. I left that room more relaxed than I have been in, well I don't know how long. I managed to unlock my space-age locker and retreat back into the private changing area......I don't do group changing! I met Tony back at reception and he had been for a swim in the black marble pool (which he said is kinda freaky because you can't tell how deep it is) and then into the steam room. He was over the moon because he weighed himself in there and has lost 8kgs. I shall be so pee'd off if he's lost more than me while I have been so good on my healthy eating plan and he still drinks fizzy drinks and eats biscuits by the packet!
Wandering along the canal in the grounds
Anyway, we left the Sequoia Spa and went for a little walk around the grounds (which has to be done in stages as its vast!). Stopping off at the Stables Restaurant to have a drink outside. When we finally got back to the room and I saw my hair.........quite a lot of oil had managed to find its way in and I looked like a greasy hippy!!!!!!!
So now it was time for my bath, they have all White Company soaps, shampoos, conditioners, body lotions........it smells divine. The humongous roll top bath filled rather quickly and I just about got my little legs over the side. I could have swam in that bath which felt more like a flotation tank to me being such a shortass! Tony thought it was highly amusing watching me trying to rinse shampoo out without drowning while he had a shave.
reminded me of Kezzerbird x
All dressed up and somewhere to go, we headed to the Stables Restaurant, the most casual the hotel offers. We were seated and handed the menu, now I aint posh and almost choked at the prices......quickly looking for the cheapest meals......and I really don't like fish of which there was a lot. Tony knew what I was thinking and said relax, its our weekend, I am having the Scottish Ribeye.....why don't you have the same. I had climbed down off the ceiling and agreed, we never splash out on ourselves.......find it hard when you have kids and always something to pay out for - haircuts, shoes, uniform, trainers.......you parents know what I am talking about. The dinner was disgustingly delicious, the steak sauce must have contained a thousand calories on its own! I couldn't eat a dessert I was stuffed, but Tony being Tony and continuously reminding me he had lost 8kgs....ordered a chocolate tart and icecream with two forks LOL I was secretly hoping he'd order the meringue & summer berries (my favourite) but nope! I had two mouthfuls and decided that was wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too rich for my taste. We took the long walk back to our room through the water gardens which are beautifully lit at night.
Sunday 1st August
Scene one Act two......and its our 18th Wedding Anniversary and what time do I wake up........7 bloody am! Went to the loo and came back to find Tony was awake too. We opened our cards (by that I mean from my mum & sister) we were so busy Friday we both realised we had forgotten to buy one and laughed and said.....shall we not bother and laughed and so it was done! Tried to watch the news on TV which was VERY difficult to work, we had gone to watch a movie we took with us .......NO not one of those, it was Scary Movie 2 lol but we couldn't figure the darn expensive complicated DVD player out and gave up after watching the trailers 3 times! Today we both tried out the fabulous shower (seperately) and after Tony had his, he said "did you try the massage setting"......."nope, could just about turn it on, but then I had a professional massage yesterday!".
pretty flower within the walled garden
By 9.30am we were ready for some breakfast and boy we were not disappointed (well my diet was) we ate in the Glass House which is a buffet style but one the Hotel Inspector would have been blown away by. There was everything and more you could eat for breakfast and some things I didn't even know people eat for breakfast!!!! We took our time and like most commoners, made sure we well and truly filled up so it would last us until we were booked in for lunch with our friends at 3pm lol. We waddled out of the restaurant, back to the room and changed into some comfortable shoes and started another walk around the grounds in glorious sunshine (although some dark ominous looking clouds in the background).
We just had time to go back to our room and freshen up (we had been given a late 5pm checkout) and Tony went off to meet Paul and teach the Karate Kids lesson on the manicured tree lined lawn within the Walled Gardens, me I stayed in the room and watched the start of the Hungarian F1 race on the huge screen lol Of course, as soon as I got to the Walled Garden and inserted my room card to open the wrought iron gates I knew they wouldn't work.....normal checkout is midday and it was just after 1pm.....yep my key was inactive. So I stood around like a lemon and unwanted guest until another family came along and went in and tagged along!
glass sculpures in the flowerbeds, I wish I could have fitted one in my suitcase....loved them!
Met up with Tony, Paul and his wife Shiela and we made ourselves comfortable in the conservatory while the guys did 'their thing" ......a very easy thing £75 for an hour teaching karate to any of the hotel guests kids that want to try! They finished at 2.30pm and by the time they had changed, it was time to head back to the Stables and eat again (oh no LOL)...unfortunately they had sold out of the roasts (bugger bugger) but I ended up with a parma ham, rocket & parmesan pizza and bloody huge and lovely it was too. Great food, good company and a perfect way to finish our 18th Wedding Anniversary weekend.
ermmmmm me!
Got home and there were quilts on the sofa's, teabags spilling out of the the china teabag thing for used ones, drink stains on the counters and only one out of the three kids home! Back to reality with a crunch. So inbetween typing this epic up, I've been putting the washing on as its sunny, trying to play catchup!
view down the water gardens
Thought for today:
Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end.
Author Unknown
