I had a particularly stressful client engagement in Brussels, which involved 6 hours' sleep in 48 hours and falling up a set of stairs, then went to Barcelona for 5 days, three of them work. Unfortunately I caught a bad cold in Brussels, so even though I saw quite a lot of Barcelona (my poor partner joined me for the weekend and had the joy of dragging me around) all I wanted to do was sleep. However, the food was divine and... the Catalans understand coffee. Real short blacks with not a trace of bitterness and jugs of hot milk. Wheeee!
I spent the last week preparing for this week's trip to Hyderabad, India, again for work, which included getting various vaccinations, a last-minute visa application for which I hand-delivered the documents and organising some groceries for a colleage who has been seconded to the Indian office. His children miss weetabix minis and pasta, apparently.
I'm writing this from Dubai airport's Business lounge, as BA WTP cost more than Emirates Business class and Emirates doesn't involve any internal flights in India. My plane is running an hour late, but I can live with that, it just means I'll get to Hyderabad at 4 am instead of 3 am.
So far, the Emirates flight was well worth losing out on the BA miles. Seats aren't flatbeds, but you can stretch out and my gluten-free mean consisted of actual food. One of the male crew took one look at my very short bleached hair, said "Hello, friend" and flirted with me gently the entire flight (much to the confusion of the poor man next to me). I do love gay men.
Emirates Business Lounge Dubai at 11pm
Unfortunately I spoiled all this by getting a migraine a couple of hours into the flight, which I could really do without. I still feel shaky and the pain is dulled but still very present.
I am determined to do some baby knitting during our week in Norway, so, in a rather scattered way I ordered some yarns: Patons 100% cotton DK in Kiwi and Orchard, RYC Cotton Jeans in Hessian and Blue Jeans and Jaeger Aqua in Indigo, all from
I got gauge for Cristina Shiffman's baby kimono from Mason-Dixon Knitting perfectly before I subjected it to the dryer, but I'll have to adjust the pattern to cope with the inevitable shrinkage. I have the yarn, the needles, the swatch and the pattern with me, but between the migraine and getting 7 hours sleep in the last 48 hours, I think casting on might be beyond me right now. Pity.
Good intentions
I did manage to find a perfume I sort of like in duty free (Azzaro Visit), but I'll be coming back through here at the end of the week, so I'll see how I feel about wearing it for a few hours before buying it. The perfume I really liked has been discontinued (Body Shop Beleaf) and I'm looking for a replacement. Visit seems to be developing a sweeter scent with wear that isn't what I'm looking for.
