Friday, April 11, 2008
Dear "Holiday" Diary
Flew out from Gatwick not really bothering how Charlton get on while I am away on holiday. I will miss three games while away, but the season is over...isn't it?
Saturday 5th April
Arrive safely. Turn on phone to see if I have any bon voyage texts that didn't arrive before I flew. Leave phone on. Go out to dinner without wondering how Charlton have performed. Get back to room after dinner and a few beers to find message telling me that Charlton are “2-1 up with seconds to go.” Get a little excited, and wonder who might have scored. No further message confirming final score...it could be a long wait as I turn the phone off.
Monday 7th April
No phone signal since Sunday morning and not seen any newspapers either, so don't know yet if Charlton won all three points at Plymouth. Our guide today is a Chelsea fan he tells me...I told him I support Charlton; I think he knew who we are... After the trip, I wished him and Chelsea well and he said good luck to Charlton too, so at least he remembered who I supported!
Tuesday 8th April
Still no phone coverage, and none expected for a few days yet. Out for an early morning walk; the guide today said he was an Arsenal fan; I said I supported Charlton - again,not sure he knew the name... I told him Arsenal would win nothing this year; he told me their Champions League result from Anfield the previous night which confirmed my summation was right. He asked me if I watched games on TV or went to see them live; I told him I had a season ticket at The Valley, and had seen Charlton beat Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United, the teams he said most of his countrymen supported. He asked how much it was to see a game in England and I told him – it was probably about two months salary for him!
Wednesday 9th April
Starting to worry about how I will go on not knowing the scores during this end-of-season nothing-to-play-for series of games. Is it Southampton or QPR on Saturday? Realistically I'm probably more worried about the number of mosquito bites I am getting and the local infestation of armour-plated crickets - yuk!
Friday 10th April
A fabulous couple of days with a couple of Charlton analogies...first, out on a long hike yesterday, we saw a spitting cobra;it was black. As we saw it and all jumped to attention it turned on its heels (or belly) and scuttled away scared. Spitting cobras or spouting cobblers...it reminded me of some of Pards after match comments, where he maybe said something he shouldn't and left the press conference rather quickly regretting his actions, much as the cobra had in slithering toward us. Today,after setting out early on a long drive, we got stuck in a sandy damp river. Much as Charlton's season came to stuttering halt mid-season, we were left standing, literally,waiting for help to come along. We had tried to dig ourselves out of our hole, but needed a helping hand to eventually move forward. The basic issue was we had been unprepared for this sort of terrain,and were helpless, much as the Addicks were back in August... After a nine-hour drive (including the two-hours we were stuck in the river bed...) I'm hoping that the Wifi connection in this hotel works. If it does, you will be reading this soon...
: 5:35 pm<< Home
