Meal Monday
I don’t know about you, but this time of year is generally when I reflect on the year that’s been, and across all Christmas' past really; in terms of what’s happened or what should have happened but didn’t or even how where I was impacted on how I celebrated the festive season altogether.
Take last year for instance. My family and I had Christmas lunch at the Melbourne Zoo. Why, you may ask?
Sadly, a year or so previous my brother’s marriage had ended, so we decided it was time to start a new tradition. After researching and reviewing all sorts of offerings, we decided on Christmas lunch at the Zoo. Not only is it a delightful place to spend a day, and perfect for the little ones, it was also a great way to put all the spending money to good use i.e. a “donation” to the Zoo.
Doors open at 10am. The 4-course lunch commences at 12:30, and generally lasts until about 15:00. The zoo itself closes at 17:00. And in between, we visit our favourite animals, ride on the large carousel, have the photo taken with Santa, and generally loiter with delicious intent. A lovely day is had by all. By the time we get home; we’re full to pussy’s bow, comfortably weary and well and truly festive.
The year before was when we tried to do the tradition of old (i.e. the big roast lunch at our family home), but with the makeup of the family now altered; it really was a bit of a disaster. By that I mean it was not the spending of the time with the family that didn’t work, as we usually have a good time together so it wasn’t that. It was more that the family members directly affected by the alteration were really rather sad, and therefore that impacted on all the participants. Trying to do what we have always done really wasn’t going to be the way to go, especially in the near future at least. We had to come up with a new tradition, hence the Zoo option.
Then the year before that, Daughter and I found ourselves in Zanzibar. What a different experience that was. Not only is Zanzibar a majority Muslim country, there was no real level of interest in the whole Christmas thing either. There was no special dinner to be had and there was certainly no quiet time as in it was business as usual. Fancy being able to shop to your heart's content on Christmas Day, unheard of in good old Melbourne town. In our part of the world, everything closes down completely, and apart from retail, really doesn’t fire up again until well after New Year celebrations.
And then to look at this Christmas coming, we’ve decided to head back to the Zoo. Sometimes when trying to relive a moment, it doesn’t always work, but we’re prepared to give it a go. At least the menu will be different, the animals to visit can be different, and there’s always the Zoo shop to visit on the way out! The beauty about going to something like the Zoo is that it’s a very pleasant way to spend a day if nothing else.
And then looking at next Christmas, Peru and Bolivia, and a little of Argentina, here we come! Yes, it will be our next big adventure. Given we are now very mindful of the timing of our long adventures with Daughter finishing primary school end of next year, and moving into high school after the long break. So we can't be away for the end of the primary school year, and we can’t be away for the start of the secondary school year, and we want to have the longest break possible to make the most use of travelling such great distances. The longest official break we can have is over the Christmas/New Year period. Using this year as an example, school finishes 18 December 2009 and does not recommence until 1 February 2010. For us, that’s the long break to best utilise.
What it will mean though is that we may very well be on an aeroplane Christmas Day, and that will be OK. That’ll be a different place to have Christmas lunch! Ho ho ho.
Happy Travels
the entrepreneurial mother™
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