Holiday blues...

As we prepare to set off for a 10 day break in Madeira, on the same day that the last ever showing of 'Top of the Pops' is shown on UK TV, I thought that I would jump on the proverbial bandwagon for producing 'Top' lists, (e.g. "Top 50 things to do before you die..."; "Top 100 Pop Singles of all time" etc etc) and prepare my own "Top 10 list of previous holiday experiences" so that I'll have something to compare this holiday with others.

I should point out at this stage that I can't actually recall the proverb about a bandwagon, or for that matter know what a bandwagon is, but I will come back to that shortly.

I am hoping that "Holiday blues..." in the context of our forthcoming trip, will only refer to the skies over Funchal, rather than any any minor (or major upsets) during our stay, but we will see as we progress through the next ten days.

However, dear Bloggee, my friends at Google advise me that the answer to the question above is that .... a bandwagon is a wagon big enough to hold a band of musicians, which I guess passes the 'Ronseal test' - i.e. it does what it says on the tin!! - and apparently in past political campaigns, candidates would ride a bandwagon through town, and people would show support for the candidate by climbing aboard the wagon. The phrase has come to refer to joining a cause because of its popularity.

Now, whilst I'm sure that it's not wise to enter into political comment or debate on a Blog for fear of upsetting a proportion, significant or otherwise, of the electorate, I think that I just saw George Bush & Tony Blair passing by in a bandwagon....& yes there were just the two of them in it!!

I think that that may have been satire rather than political comment (or are the two the same?), which raises another question "What is satire & do Americans really not understand it?" For one answer to this, please see number 2 in my list below.

Anyway, here are my Top 10 previous holiday experiences, although not necessarily in the right order:

1. Seeing a "pod" of Killer Whales in Auckland harbour on the last evening of our holiday in New Zealand.
2. Floating down a slow flowing creek in the mountains of Pensylvania sat in an inflated tyre inner tube (this is a better version of American sat-tyre), with blue skies above, and copious amounts of wine and beer floating alongside us in a cool box.
3. Sailing along the Norwegian Fjords to the North Cape.
4. Sailing out of New York on Cunards Queen Mary 2 as dusk falls.
5. Scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef off Cairns.
6. Climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge with views of Sydney Opera House against clear blue skies.
7. Snorkelling off the beach at the Outrigger Beach Resort in Fiji.
8. Staying in a two person "Bothy" in Glenisla, with 100 deer coming down off the glen and into our grounds at dusk each evening.
9. Staying in a fantastic traditional french country house near Duras in France
10. Swimming with dolphins at Discovery cove in Orlando