Which one to have first eh?

First thing to say is that we found the canary, it was yellow and the only one in the zoo.  That was the zoo we went to on Monday, the day before we left to come home.  The zoo - Oasis Park - was a mere free bus ride away of only an hour.  We were up and ready on Monday morning ready for the zoo.  We waited patiently for the free bus as others hung around the front of the hotel too.  All quiet at this point, although you can never tell what's going to happen on a trip.  We got on the bus and ended up sat in front of "the stupid couple with the screaming baby".  Young parents, another one on the way and a baby who just wasn't very comfortable being on the coach.  The baby screamed all the way to the zoo and the parents just confused it even more.  The conversation from behind us went along the lines of...

Is that a hill or a mountain?

I'm not sure he said - I think it's a mountain.

She said - it's not a hill is it - as you can roll down a hill as it has grass on it.

We got to the zoo and started to wander around.  All in all it was good.  There were plenty of animals (as there should be in a zoo).  I've never seen so many camels - somewhere must have been missing them!  There was the single yellow canary, plenty of Lemurs and some Hippos.  All the pictures will be added to my Flickr at some point - cos I used my newish camera.  Love to take those pictures!!

The day flew by and by the next morning we were on our way back.  There was the "people watching" at the airport, the passing passengers who were too old for their clothing choices, the angry British people complaining about having to pay for their luggage and shouting at the check-in lady and the lady doing surveys on a handheld tablet.

After a bit of duty-free shopping and a wander around the shops, we queued to get on to the plane for the next session of "shop before landing" with Ryanair.  The flight was full.  The crew were mostly Polish and a big girl who stomped down the gangway.  The flight was just as expected, the selling of whatever they could - cigarettes, scratch cards, perfume, overpriced food and drink and whatever else I missed.  The seat belt sign went on again and the air hostess tok over from the pilot whilst he went for a wee (as per the outbound flight).  All normal until we started to descend.

The crew made their preparations to land at Luton.  They asked people to switch off their phones, put their seats in the upright position, put their seatbelts on and close their trays.  All but one person complied with this.  There was a guy sat three rows ahead on the other side of the plane who when asked to turn off his iPhone by a polite member of cabin crew multiple times refused waving the handset at him with it switched on.  He was asked twice more and the guy got angrier and he swore.  The cabin crew walked away and gave it five minutes.  They went back to check on whether he had switched it off - still very polite and the guy refused and just made a scene.  The lady wandered to the back of the plane and came back a minute later and told the guy someone would take his details on the ground and she walked away.  It felt like the Captain had forgotten to ask the cabin crew to take their seats for landing.  I could see the runway out of the window when he asked them to take their seats and about 10 seconds later we landed.  When we got to the ground we had to wait a while before we got off.  I looked out of the window and there was a welcoming committee for the guy who hadn't complied - good I thought - he deserved it.  Next time he might comply with the rules.

The only issue I've had all week is trying to work out what days it is having not gone back to work until Wednesday - I think. 

It's Saturday and lunchtime already. I've spent the last few hours drifting in out and of consciousness trying not to be harpooned whilst laying on the beach in my 'Ken' trunks. The sun is hot and the wind is well windy.

This morning's excitement consisted of the maintenance guy having to open the door after breakfast as both door cards don't work and neither does the cleaner's. I watched as he got in using his master door card and the proceeded to hit the back of the door lock to fix it - it didn't work!

Just in case anyone wants to know - I've not found any canaries yet, but the search is still on. I fancy an ice cream, but I can't be bothered to go get it. Oh well - turn me over in half an hour and I'll do the other side.

You got the last post, so the plane must have touched down in sunny Fuerteventura after the Ideal Home Shopping Channel flight where every announcement was a preview to the next collection of items you can buy.

During the flight the seatbelt sign went on. Turbulence I thought - my guess could'nt have been any more wrong. The air hostess, the one with the splattered stains up the back of her uniform, was stood outside the cockpit door looking at the door. I kept looking as I wondered whether she was going to get something from the pilot. After a few minutes the door opened and a pilot who looked about 15 came out. He said some thing to the air hostess, they giggled and she entered the cockpit whilst he went for a wee. In my opinion, asking the air hostess to cover flying the plane while you go for a wee can't be normal practice, but when they swapped back the fasten seatbelt sign went off again.

I know you can't wait for the next installment.

So it comes around again so quickly. Five days off work (weekend included) - a short break to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands. Question for you.. Do they have canaries in the Canaries? I'm not sure to be honest, I'll let you know when I get there.

It all starts with a late night, three and a half hours sleep that actually seems less, a bad bad snooze on the alarm, packing in the morning and getting to Luton in a just in time type of way. I don't like it, but packing the morning of travel certainly does focus your attention and provides you with lighter luggage!

Travelling via Luton and the luxury or Ryanair isn't as bad as you think. Luton is a clean and efficient airport with smiley staff and a clockwork type of feel to it. Ryanair and the first come first server approach to gaining a seat is a little to e desired, but still not any less room than going 'coach' on any other airline. The trolley dollies are hardly dollies and even the trolley is no where to be seen. A hostess looking like she used to be a he with a painted on expression wandered past me holding three packets of cigarettes offering them for sale - you don't get that on BA! The only unpleasantness is the man with long legs kicking me under the seat (wonder if he can read this over my shoulder).

Assuming the plane lands as I write this offline at 30,000 feet I let you know how it goes.

We had a Quiz and Pizza night at work today. We did okay - somewhere in the middle - not great not bad.

I say we let the others win. Honest!

Frankfurt's Messe is a large exhibition complex consisting of eleven different halls. On at the moment is Christmas World, Paper World, Creative World and Hair & Beauty World. The main reason for coming to Frankfurt was Christmas World. Now I know that it's not something you would do everyday, but it's on annually here and worth a look if you like baubles, trees, tinsel and fake snow. Surely there's something on the list for everyone? To be honest, it's an eye opener. I didn't realise how many different types of trees, baubles and tinsel you could get. There's one thing though - the people who buy 'Christmas' in the UK need to get over here as there are some really useful items that could help make Christmas hassle free! I'm now cleansed and have stopped unknowingly humming Christmas Carols in January. That is all.