I guess we won't see Berlin or Paris or London this coming Holiday Season.
We've made two appointments during the time period we usually go. We didn't go last season due to covid but we had hopes that this year would be different.
It's not.
Perhaps it's even worse.
Documents needed. Masks. Do this. Don't do that. I'm NOT doing that.
Be safe.
How the hell can we be sure?
Oh, we could go to London and do some of our fun Christmas things like window shopping at Selfridges or having a meal at our favourite Oxford Street Pub The Three Tuns. The question is- if we were exposed to this new strain of covid or the next we'd have to stay another 14 days in a hotel at our expense.
That would break the bank.
Worst scenario- we get covid 4.0 and we'd have to stay in a hospital and accrue medical expenses.
None of this sounds like a good plan.
I know I'll miss the Holiday Spirit conjured up when we've gone in past years. The shopping at Primark
for clothes especially. It's a must when visiting Oxford Street at Christmas. We'd fill a Primark shopping basket with new things- even though we had no need of yet another shirt or pair of socks.
Primark is remarkably inexpensive and yet the store always has the latest in fashions. Hanging in my closet from past years is a grey duffel coat that cost me 30 pounds. The one with the oblong wooden buttons you slip through a small hoop, then turn to secure.
There's the leather jacket that cost 35 pounds. At the time I bought it, I didn't need another leather jacket but I couldn't pass up the price!
In my closet you would also find shoes and numerous styles and colours of shirts all bought for 10 pounds or less. This stuff lasts way longer than the six dollar T Shirts at Wally World!
The tragedy is because of covid we are waiting for next year unless a big miracle happens between now and the first of November. I'd be happy going for an extended weekend instead of the 10 days or so that usually makes up this excursion.
I would love to know I'd be strolling along the Champs-Elysees in Paris ogling the Christmas lights or checking out the Christmas Market. Buying some little thing and having an afternoon coffee at Le Depart de Saint-Michel.
~heavy sigh~
Not this year.
We had even contemplated starting our Holiday Trip in Berlin. Visiting an Aunt and then taking the train to Paris and then the Eurostar to St. Pancreas in London.
Again, not this year.
Damn.
Damn covid and damn those unvaccinated who are fueling this 4th wave.
The numbers tell the story.
Up to 80% of people hospitalized or in ICU's here in British Columbia are unvaccinated.
Our daily numbers are as high or higher than the wave prior to this past summer.
So the Mister and I are not about to sacrifice our health and safety and head to England- or France, because of the uneducated un-jabbed.
Only this past week we were talking to someone we have known for a few years who works in a busy store here on Vancouver Island only to discover this person is NOT vaccinated. This person is absolutely convinced they will NOT get covid nor pass it along to someone else.
They believe it's all a ruse perpetrated by the government.
They read it on the internet.
Huh, must be true.
Give me strength.
