Back home again

And so back to dull reality. I am kind of happy to be home - no bed is ever as comfortable as my own, and it's nice to be re-united with the cat and the sewing machine - but we were very spoiled on our holiday and it's hard to go back to domestic self-sufficiency. The friends we stayed with have a fancy house with lots of staff ... I very quickly adjusted to having my meals cooked for me and my clothes miraculously reappearing washed and ironed. Leaving us time to lounge in one of the selection of outdoor spaces, looking a bit like this, where we read books and drank beer. Every morning the pillows were re-aligned and freshly plumped.

The boys spent a lot of time in the pool and raiding the drinks fridge (a walk-in drinks fridge! boy heaven). Their first experience of an Asian holiday is a bit different to mine - and most of my generation - dodgy backpackers hostels, crowded bars, banana pancakes and having exactly two t-shirts and three pairs of undies in your small as possible backpack!!!

Not to mention such historical oddities as travellers cheques, tiny little towels and never ever ringing home because it cost a week's wages. And Poste Restante!!! The joy of arriving in a new city and seeing if there was any letters from anyone in poste restante, because that was the only way you could be in contact with family and friends. My god, it sounds positively medieval, like we were off on the crusades or something.

To top off this luxury fest we were upgraded to business class on the flight home for reasons that are still unclear ... I don't think I'll ever get the boys back into economy. They didn't notice proper linen and cutlery (I did), but they thought endless chocolates on a tray were the bees knees, and when we turned their seats into lie-flat beds and tucked them in with a blanket their eyes nearly popped out of their heads.

Yes, definitely back to the mundane and humdrum for us. Who wouldn't miss eating breakfast at this table every morning.