For those wondering/caring about the sponsor of this trip, today is when it may make some sense. But first, we were awake earlier than is normal and we still hadn’t fully adjusted to this new time zone. We made best use of the time by heading for a buffet breakfast again, but to be fair I had mainly fruit today. I did enjoy how the honey on offer was literally dripping from a honeycomb. Nice touch.
I had for the last few days been troubled by some pain in my gum. For those who inflict all my posts on themselves you will know that just before we went away I had to go to the dentist for some work to reconstruct some tooth that I lost (getting old is crap). At the back of my mind I did hope that this would not lead to a similar issue that I had on a previous holiday after flying. On that occasion it was the flight home that caused an infection/abscess in my gum. It does seem that if you have folks messing with your teeth before flying it does leave you open to these risks.
I was doing the natural thing of hoping it would all go away by itself and ignoring the pain for now, horrified at the thought of having to find some kind of treatment whilst away.
To distract me further Louise dragged me to the shops and she purchased a pair of orange flip flops. This was understandable as this was a clear gap in her meagre holiday shoe collection back in the room.
Anyway, we headed to the beach today knowing that there was some rain forecast for later.
When the clock struck a reasonable time we ordered a cocktail. A couple of Miami Vices.
I had a brief dip in a very rough sea, perhaps a sign of the incoming weather and after that we Facetimed Rebecca back home.
The rain came at 12.30 and we timed it perfectly at the sign of the first drop to be walking into the Seaside grill just as it lashed it down.
One thing we did notice on this trip, compared to our other “Secrets” experience was the language barrier seemed to be more of an issue. Of course, speaking no other language than English (aside from being able to fluently order Black Forest Gateaux in German) this was not a complaint, but more of an explanation of how I ordered soup but ended up with Cerviche.
I was not 100% certain what that was but suspected it was fish. Indeed it was and maybe even raw fish but in the spirit of he who dares wins I ate it anyway and it was fine. I won’t be rushing to have it again, but it was an experience.
Louise just had two starters and I had a Cuban Sandwich after my fish. That was delicious.
The rain was heavy and persistent so we took our time finishing our meal.
We left the restaurant around 2pm and walked back to the toom under brollies. We then sat out on our balcony under those same brollies bemoaning whoever decided not to put a roof on the balconies on the top floor.
Once the rain cleared we headed down to the pool.
At this point my gum was becoming a real problem.
We changed for dinner and left the room at 7.30. I went to reception to change some larger dollar bills into ones and fives for tipping and headed to Castaways, the steak restaurant. In hindsight perhaps not the best choice for someone who was dentally challenged.
We had to wait for a table with a drink during which time we got messages from Emily back home that she was hearing noises in the house and the dogs were spooked. We Facetimed with her and it seemed the noises were sounding like coming from the roof which was odd. Once she felt reassured and I’d messaged two sleeping neighbours to keep an eye out she felt a little better and tried to go back to sleep. Is there anything worse than getting a call from one of your kids who is scared and you’re thousands of miles away and can’t directly help? We went to eat.
We were a little distracted during the meal but we had a salad and Grilled Provolone.
We both then had a New York Strip. We did wonder if there was some kind of potato famine on the island as they were in very short supply both on the menus and on the plate throughtout the trip.
The food was fine but the service not the best but to be honest at this point my gum was the only thing on my mind. We started to watch one of the shows on tonight but I had to admit defeat at this point and go in search of medical assistance. We went back to the room and I called the front desk who immediately despatched a golf cart to pick me up.
It was there in about two minutes and I was whisked to the on site doctor and seen immediately. She was around 14 years old and after a few questions and credit card swipes issued me with lots of drugs, but most importantly the sweet, sweet Amoxicillin that would be the best purchase I had made in quite some time.
I walked back to the room, took a lot of drugs and went to sleep.
Till the next time…..
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