After a lovely night’s sleep, we had a slow start to the day — and now that we were in the villa, it was an egg-free breakfast. I opted for good old-fashioned oats from Publix, topped with a banana, which hit the spot perfectly.
I caught up on things back home before getting ready for the day. Karen decided she should have her daily walk around the pool before we went out. I’d paid the exorbitant fee for pool heating specifically for this purpose. Pool heating really is a money spinner for villa owners — it never makes the water hot, but it does just take the edge off the chill. I also knew Neil would appreciate it once he arrived.
The only issue for Karen was that the pool isn’t exactly Olympic-sized, and the deep end is too deep for her to walk, so she ended up doing endless little loops instead.
Our plan for the morning was to visit the regular Sunday Farmers’ Market in Celebration. We were pleased to find parking straight away and wandered over to Karen’s most favourite Starbucks in the world. It was very busy — at least 50% of the clientele were British. I eventually grabbed a table outside, and we sat basking in the sun and the surroundings for about 45 minutes while we enjoyed our drinks.
We then wandered around the market. While I enjoy the stroll and the atmosphere, I do think that 90% of what’s on sale is tat that would be destined for a skip. I don’t need to buy someone’s homemade sauce, dog biscuits, or especially jewellery. I feel like saying, “Stop trying to foist your hobby onto other people — and if this is your only source of income, you probably need a real job.” Several times, Karen remarked that Ellie could make half the stuff there, and make it better.
The only thing that caught Karen’s eye were some autumnal wreaths for front doors, but they’d have been totally impractical to try and take home.
We contemplated having lunch in Celebration, as many others were doing, but decided to head back and eat some of the food we already had waiting in the villa — mainly because no one was selling “Craske” sausage rolls.
On the way back, we stopped at the Formosa Island Winery. It’s a lovely spot, and we briefly considered staying here for lunch, but after glancing at the menu, we decided that $60 for a couple of omelettes and cold drinks was a bit steep. Instead, we treated ourselves to a bottle of local blueberry wine — an expensive indulgence for us, but we’ve had it before and it’s worth it. We’re saving it for another day.
Lunch by the pool was simple but perfect. I told Karen that the gator in the lake seemed to be eyeing up her tuna roll, which made her eat it rather quickly — just in case.
After a bit of chilling, it was time to head to the airport to pick up Neil. I’d been tracking his flight since the early hours, and he was due to be landing roughly on time. It all depended on how long immigration and baggage claim would take before he would emerge so we could meet him.
We waited in the South Cell Phone Lot for him to get in touch. As ever, this bit stresses me — I always want everything to go smoothly for him, and I hate not knowing exactly where he is in the process. Eventually, he called and told us where to find him. The pick-up was smooth, and it was genuinely lovely to see him again. I think he was pleased to see us too, though Neil being Neil, he didn’t exactly say so.
Back at the villa, he showered and unpacked before launching into a long rant about the rot within Carrow Road from top to bottom.
I checked my emails to see if Mr. Attanasio had replied to me, but sadly there was nothing — perhaps he was just busy implementing my suggested reforms.
Around 6.30pm we headed to the Outback on the 192 for dinner. It was busy but we got a table straight away. The food was as good as ever, though the service was a little scatty.
Neil was understandably tired, so we went straight back afterwards. Karen discovered a “Shark Tank” channel on TV and was amused to spot some products we’ve since seen in shops — proof that a few of them must have done well.
We decided to save our “posh” blueberry wine for another evening and instead opened a cheap 1.5-litre bottle I’d picked up from Publix. It wasn’t great, but I’m sure we’ll manage to get through it over the next few days.
Neil was first to retire, claiming two of the spare bedrooms for himself, and not long after that, tiredness hit me too. I headed to bed before I fell asleep on the couch.
It had been a good day, and it was lovely to finally have Neil with us. It would have been even better if Barry and Ellie were here too — but you can’t have everything.
