Monday 4 July 2011

Will it last?

Starting to get excited about going on holiday. Thinking about it, we're very lucky. Those born pre-1950-ish didn't have holidays unless the family was pretty well-to do. On this website, we're told that holidays began in the sixteenth century with royal progresses around the country. I think that's stretching the idea just a tad.

The Grand Tour is quoted, and I have no doubts the nobility enjoyed them, but I'm sure there are many working class families who never got their annual trip to the sea or the mountains, much less packed a suitcase and set off for Paris for le weekend, or a sunny fortnight in the Mediterranean as we do today. I remember one holiday in my childhood - a week at Lytham St. Annes, near Blackpool. Evidently there had been an earlier one, but I contracted mumps, so Father and brother went off on the planned week on the farm near Carlisle and mother stayed at home with me.
But these days we all expect a holiday as a right, and usually its a holiday abroad. How long will it last, this jetting off on pleasure trips across the globe, when the world is in recession, oil is running out and pollutants mess everything up? Maybe not as long as we hope.

On a more upbeat note, I enjoyed the last of Scott & Bailey on ITV last night. As a female crime show, it hits all the right notes for me, and I hope they begin a new series right away. Intelligent women, who can do a difficult job and still get caught out by men promising the earth and producing nothing. The interrelationships are beautifully done, especially between the women.

1 comment:

Laurence Brown said...

I have few friends who still don't get time with the annual holiday, I personally like to work hard and the travel (hard) for two times in an year

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