back to work woohoo

it was weird to return to England which had dropped virtually all covid restrictions. london public transport and many others have set requirements about using masks still though. not sure why Boris dropped the mask rule. its such a small thing with known benefits. traveling with a mask on for 15 or so hours straight is NOT fun, nor is a shorter period in a hot metro for instance, but except for those, i dont mind. so i think i'll keep using it when it seems beneficial or is considerate towards others, but drop when it seems less useful (no close contact, spacious or outside). i guess ill just see how things go. but it does seem incredible that the country is open, like, i could have a houseparty?! i think soon we will.

so i calculated our return from St Lucia was 15 hours; 2h bus, 8.5h flight and 1h train+bus plus the waiting periods and whatnot in between. well worth it. when we left, we were expecting to quarantine for 10 days upon return, but there was already talks about dropping it for double vaccinated and im glad it went through and we dont have to. totally would be worth it though for 3 weeks in the caribbean. i was looking at doctors face when we went to airport check-in for when he would realise where we are going, but the desks didnt display  the destination and the staff did not mention it so it wasnt until we leave the desk with our boarding passes that he saw it on there. lol. i had thrown him off by talking about pesos and whatever, since he too knew that Cuba was one of the possibilities. honestly i was originally looking at Antigua but my passport has less than 6 months left on it so. St Lucia is just open to everyone with something resembling a passport, and willing to get covid tested before arrival.

St Lucia is a green 'paradise' island (judging by the looks, not life expectancy or something). 50% of the working population works in tourism one way or another so i can see how it's so important for them to keep things going despite the pandemic. they try hard to keep covid numbers down and it seems to be working. the people were lovely, like more so or differently than i expected, in a very chill unassuming way. 

we stayed in this one resort for 3 weeks, with covid a package holiday was the only reasonable option really. so i picked a big all inclusive (Hideaway Royalton) and hoped we would not get bored as we couldnt travel freely around the island, just excursions and a few covid certified restaurants. the hotel itself had 6 restaurants, sports bar, outdoor bar, 3 swim up bars, ice cream and coffee 'shop', food truck and a few other things to keep us interested. evening program was varied and outdoor buffets made a difference too. i LOVED the pools cos they were warm enough, like i could just walk in without hesitation. the sea water also filled my hopes and expectations being around 27-28c. and the hot tub was actually HOT. pretty amazing.

i can defo tell which of the following were taken with my new Canon...

we made some british friends on the trip and joined them in the sports bar to watch eurocup final. well that did not go super well.

behind the hotel

nightlife

cabana with minipool

one of the infinity pools

swim up bar from the other side

my favorite bar, sitting in the deep chairs looking at the stars was chill.

the stage hosted all kinds of program and bands. very often i heard this one specific song; Jerusalema by Master KG& Nomcebo Zikode (spotify link).

when we went on an excursion they were playing it on the catamaran - which was more like a party boat, they were giving us rum punch before 9am - and got everyone to join in on the dance. its not something i would normally listen to but in that tropical environment, under the sun, having a little tiiiny break from covid, i enjoyed it... one of the best days ever.

my tan lines now though... jesus. actually its not the tan lines, its the tan itself that is the problem. im just not a fan. but impossible to prevent.
 

when we arrived on saturday there was an anti-vaxx march going by our house, just lol. my 2nd vax was a relief. i had a few headaches but it responded to painkillers and my arm was sore for a week but those are non-issues, so i feel like i got away with nothing. yay.