The TLFs favour a late September summer holiday.
I love that sentence. It sounds like the enormous TLF clan decamps to its summer residence in the country a la Jane Austen, where servants will have spent several weeks, preparing for our arrival. The reality is of course that TLF books two weeks off work (hooray!) and we go away for a bit and then we spend some time in Blighty functioning at a very welcome quarter pace of our usual lives. Kulture and fine wine/beer and much eating feature significantly, regardless of location.
September is attractive because school holidays are over, so it’s cheaper, everyone else is back at work and can pick up the slack/pieces/work (delete as applicable to your own workplace). It is also safer; TLF’s tolerance of children belonging to anyone other than friends and family is limited but compared to Mr TLF I’m like Mary Poppins in a football shirt. The thought of Mr TLF in an airport or heaven forbid in a plane during peak summer school holidays is one that brings me out in a cold sweat.
September is therefore our summer holiday month and always serves us well. The only fly in the vacation ointment is that the football season has started and regardless of years of lobbying and campaigning the FA are not keen to implement a ‘TLF summer holiday break’. Still it’s a small price to pay for temperatures of 30 degrees, fine food, views to die for (thank you Madrid) and the finest tarts ever – of the pastry kind, (thank you Lisbon).
Tart!
Hotel mistakenly sent this to our room. They let us keep it. Tough gig.
I don’t like to suggest it was all about the food and drink…
And this year TLF clocked that if the Gods of Flight and EasyJet did the decent thing, we would be stepping off the Thameslink train back from Gatwick in time to catch most of the Mighty Saints’ 2nd round FA Cup qualifying game against Whyteleafe.
Until that is the FA intervened 48 hours before the game, booting Whyteleafe out of the FA Cup due to fielding an ineligible player.
Allegedly.
Appeal pending.
As you can imagine Mr TLF was gutted to hear this news – who doesn’t want their trip to Portugal and Spain to be topped off with a trip to Clarence Park? Ah well, at least Strictly started that evening to boost his spirits. And we will be playing that FA Cup game next week (quickly before the next round game which is due on Saturday 6 October), against Corinthian Casuals/Whyteleafe (delete as applicable once final appeal heard).
Ole! Fox