Birthday | Whimsical Eclecticist

The last post I made here was when I returned from my trip to Byron Bay Bluesfest at the end of April. So, guess what the occasion is this time?

I’m going to Mares Vivas music festival in Portugal next week!

That’s right friends, I’m a total nomad this year. Why? Well, because I can be, of course!

I mean, my lecturers aren’t as deliriously happy about it as I am, but they’ll live… and I’ll live happier.

Admittedly, there is a partial occasion for the trip. I turn 30 this month. And if I’m going to ‘grow old’, I’m sure not going to do it in Melbourne. I’m going to do it on the other side of the World. In the sunshine. With fine food, wine and music.

If you’re wondering what made me pick Mares Vivas, I’ll tell you. If you aren’t wondering that, I guess you’re about to get a clean version of TMI (Too Much Information).

It started as a daydream. A whimsical flick through the pages of the internet. I wondered to myself, “Where is Joss Stone touring the rest of this year? She said at Byron she was doing a World tour. Where does that entail?”

The first place I found was Switzerland. Her show in Switzerland was sold out.

The second place I found was at Mares Vivas music festival, on the banks of the Douro river in Porto, Portugal. The interwebz told me the festival was three days, the 17th – 19th of July. Perfect timing, since my birthday is on the 22nd. The Prodigy were set to headline day one, and Portishead and Joss Stone were headlining day three. Well then, that sounds pretty dreamy. Maybe I’ll have a cheeky glance at the price of flights.

Cool, they seem legit; maybe I could get away with just under a week there.

A week later (last week) and I’m sitting in the travel agency booking a two-week deal through Portugal and France with the lovely girl at the desk who is just too hard to say no to.

And this Monday I fly out. Porto for a week, Marseilles for my birthday (when I’m seeing Herbie Hancock in concert) and then a train up to Paris for the last 5 days. Brilliant.

Bring on the sun… and Joss Stone.

Today’s Daily Prompt challenge… http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/07/27/daily-prompt-orderly/

Create a short story, piece of memoir, or epic poem that is 26 sentences long, in which the first sentence begins with “A” and each sentence thereafter begins with the next letter of the alphabet.

Admittedly, Rachael could think of elsewhere she’d rather spend today. Birthdays had never felt like a special occasion to her. Celebrating seemed overly self-indulgent and she hated ever making a fuss. Despite her protests however, her boyfriend Xavier had dragged her along to the Zoo. Even though it was just the two of them, it still felt to Rachael like there was a fuss being made.

Friday, and there was almost nobody around. Giant crowds would be here the next two days, so she was thankful to at least avoid those. Hundreds of visitors to share the day with was much better than thousands. In Rachael’s mind, this day should not be like any other. Just because it was her Birthday didn’t mean she had to endure people. Kids were the worst too, so the Zoo seemed like one of the dumbest places to visit.

Lounging about would have suited her much better. Moreso than walking all day. Not that she wasn’t grateful. Only Xavier was truly worth spending time with. Problem was, he felt she should converse with others, too. ‘Quit expecting me to act like normal people’, she would tell him. Rarely did he really try to force it on her though. Special occasions mostly. Today, for example. Unrelenting, Xavier had invited others to join them. Vehemently, Rachael had persisted those people stay at home.

Walking all day must have taken the fight out of her now though. Xavier led her to one last enclosure and she smiled. ‘You saved the best for last on purpose’, she said as she gave him a knowing look. Zebras approached her and now she couldn’t stop grinning, finally glad that she gave in to Xavier’s plans.