Over on Tara’s blog this week the theme for The Gallery is Friends. This picture pretty much sums up friendship to me:
One of our wedding presents in 2008 from my parents was flights and use of their villa in Barbados (and dinner at The Cliff but that is whooooole different blog post).
During one cocktail hour in a great little beach bar we overhead a couple talking. Mr B (on the right up there) said “I know that accent” and interrupted (as he does).
After whittling it down from Northern England, “I know that but where”, South Manchester, “I know that but where”, Martin said “a little village called Mobberley”.
Turns out it was about five miles from where Mr B grew up and that they knew lots of the same people, and lots of the same drinking establishments in Wilmslow.
We kept bumping into Martin and Rowena (his gorgeous wife) during our holiday and shared many a beer and rum cocktail with them.
Didn’t swap any contact info, not sure why really but we never got around to it.
Fast forward a year and we took the children out for the first time, drive from airport to villa, dump stuff, shorts on, down to the bar for a cocktail with sunset and who are standing at the bar?
Yep. Martin and Rowena had finally moved out a few months earlier and were now living in Barbados. We almost cried when we saw them again.
They made our holiday. They took us to beaches we might not have otherwise seen, introduced to other people (who had kids of similar ages) and now no holiday out there is complete without them being around. It will be our fifth trip this year and I cannot imagine a holiday with out our local friends being there.
We now keep in touch when we are back and have since found out that there were lots of friends in common and Bruce’s mum knew the house that Rowena had lived in etc. Much chatter!!!
When Mr B gets that first bottle of Banks in his hand and is chatting with Martin he is finally on holiday.
How lovely to go on holiday and meet (and then see) new friends like that.
I remember walking down a street in Portugal once and literally crashing straight into a really good friend. Neither of us had chatted for a while and had no idea we’d be going to the same country on holiday at the same time, let alone the same resort. Small world, as they say!!!
BTW, trying to conceal my jealousy of the parents with a villa in Barbados *puts cushion in mouth*
Jealous on TWO counts
a) your husband looks like Bryan Adams
b) parents house in Barbados!!!
But what a lovely post, and they sound like lovely people. I hope you have a fantastic holiday as your tweet a few days ago made it sound like you needed one.
Hahaha… Bryan Adams, not heard that one. Been told a) Curly Watts from Corrie or B) Matt Damon
And yes, its a gorgeous villa. Available to rent if you are ever in need 🙂
Thanks for the kind words
How fantastic to go and holiday and make a friend like that.
Just love that story. Love how we make such amazing friends along the way without even trying or thinking about it. Lovely
what a lovely story of friendship so amazing how friiendships can be created like that x
Wow! How meant to be is that?? I to am from just down the road from Wilmslow – must talk to you more often!
I just love stories of chance meetings like this – if you think they’re ‘chance’? I like to think of them as ‘destiny’. What a great post 🙂 Thanks for linking up, look out for next week’s theme!
That post almost made me cry, it was so warm and so *chews over for the word it feels like* right. 🙂