Holidays in Menorca

Holidays in Menorca

Cotton wool balls and carpets of green,

Seat belt signs, chicken or beef cuisine

The mother gives birth one by one,

Which baby is which, here comes the fun,

Climbing the steps, we await our tales,

Working our way through stoned walled trails,

The aroma rises up and pulls me in,

This big boy's adventure about to begin

Around the windmill and up the steep slope,

The next obstacle I set out to scope,

He's about my age, I'll go say hi,

Guten tag and eins zwei drei,

Going through the motions,

Time for calamine lotion,

The arms and the pages continue to turn,

Remember that cream Phil or you're going to burn,

The teeth come together and pack up those adapters,

These wonderful memories close this latest chapter.

Explanation

This one is about family holidays to the Spanish island of Menorca that I went to three times with my family as a kid - twice to the same place because we loved it so much!

Cotton wool balls and carpets of green,

Seat belt signs, chicken or beef cuisine

This describes the plane journey to get from Manchester to Mahon. I always think that when you push through the clouds that it's like being surrounded by cotton wool. As the skies clear a sea of green fields emerges.

The mother gives birth one by one,

Which baby is which, here comes the fun,

This refers to the baggage carousel at the airports. As the bags come through onto the conveyor belt, everyone realises that despite their best efforts to personalise their own bags that they ultimately all look the same - just as babies do to me!

Climbing the steps, we await our tales,

Working our way through stoned walled trails,

This is about the coach trip from the airport to the hotel. To a little kid, the steps up the bus are quite big and steep. As with these package holidays, there's always a tour guide to chaperone people and tell them information (and usually a story from their lives) during the trip.

The aroma rises up and pulls me in,

This big boy's adventure about to begin,

I remember where we staying that there were a couple of bakeries that sold delicious bread. It really was yummy (well it must have been if I still remember it 20 years later). I was sometimes entrusted to be a big boy and go collect the fresh morning bread. Magical smells and taste!

Around the windmill and up the steep slope,

The next obstacle I set out to scope,

Opposite our apartment complex was a crazy golf course which I played on quite a lot.

He's about my age, I'll go say hi,

Guten tag and eins zwei drei,

It's always nice for kids to make friends on holidays. I was no different. Oddly enough, I always used to make friends with German kids. The one I remember, probably because for a while we stayed in touch was a boy called Marcus. He was about the same age as me - so around 10 maybe? We got on pretty well and would go off swimming/playing golf etc! Guten tag and eins zwei drei is about all the German I learnt.

Going through the motions,

Time for calamine lotion,

I always used to suffer quite badly with prickly heat when abroad. Fortunately, I don't remember it stopping me from enjoying myself though.

The arms and the pages continue to turn,

Remember that cream Phil or you're going to burn,

Luckily, I didn't burn either. Probably because I was made to wear lots and lots of sun cream. So while I was swimming (arms turning) and my parents reading (pages turning), I'd be fully protected against the sun's rays.

The teeth come together and pack up those adapters,

These wonderful memories close this latest chapter.

As the holiday came to a close, the bags would be packed, filled with dirty washing and zipped up, complete with those special plugs you need when traveling abroad. And so ended the great holiday.