What Greg did

It's been 9 months since I last had any time off work, so this last week has been a balm for jangled nerves that I didn't even know were complaining. It's been quite a novel experience as well: it's the first week off I've had since Zara and I got together almost 12 years ago that I've spent essentially without her - alone. Cue lost, puzzled bewilderment. I was able to fill my days quite adequately, but there was a continual sense of something missing, something not quite right. I think I've had a tangible awakening to the truth in the adage, "A joy shared is a joy doubled." Thankfully, these solo vacations will be rare things indeed. I don't think I'm too fond of them.

That said, I've enjoyed the time immensely (just not as much as I would have with Zara by my side). It's been a mixture of work (applying for and getting my visa for our trip to Budapest in April, learning a smattering of Hungarian to get by while we're there, checking my work email to make sure nothing goes awry), play (going to see Edward Scissorhands with Zara, catching the excellent Good Night and Good Luck and the less excellent Syriana, a lovely lunch in a Persian restaurant) and sheer indulgence (my first experience ever of sleeping until midday, an entire afternoon curled up under a blanket watching the Oscars). It's been an effective tonic for my work ennui, at least for the two weeks until my next vacation - Zara and I are off to Budapest for our anniversary! (You may have guessed that from the visa and Hungarian comments)

It's our 5^th, and the first year since arriving in the UK that we haven't had the need to be in South Africa, so we finally have funds to do what we've wanted to all along - see Europe. Our first thought was "Rejkjavik" but the extortianate travel and living costs dissuaded us so we planned on somewhere like Prague instead, and ended up with tickets to Budapest. Another first for Zara and me: a week holiday abroad that involves just the two of us. No family, no friends, no obligations, no compromise, just what we want to do when we want to do it. We have plans to wander castle catacombs at night by oil lamplight, witness the atrocities of the secret police at the Terror Museum, warm ourselves in one of the many thermal baths, stroll around the rose and Japanese gardens on Margaret Island and, most importantly, just wander around soaking in the people and the culture. We only have a week (only 5 days, in fact, but we're pretending) but it's the most exciting thing we've done in ages, so it really doesn't matter.