Back from our mini-vacation and back at work. The office was stunningly manageable; upon my return I found stuff to do, but not the overwhelming pile of emergencies and conflicting top priorities I usually find whenever I turn my back for a moment.

I think the break did us both a lot of good. I was very pleased that Alan truly enjoyed Barnsley Gardens, as opposed to going along with it because it was what I wanted to do. Occasionally I will ask him, "Are we doing what I want to do because you want to do that too, or because you're letting me have my way?" He usually answers, "Yes," or "A little from column A, a little from column B," and while it is nice that he's so accommodating, I worry a lot that he's not really enjoying himself. But this time, I know he liked it. He loved visiting the ruins, he liked our cushy room and its many amenities and I don't think I'll have to whine too much to get him to go back. :-)

One thing I want to be certain to mention: Barnsley Gardens is cheap at 3X the price as far as I'm concerned, because the entire time we were there, not a single soul disturbed our slumber in the early morning hours with the strident call of, "HOUSEKEEPING!". No one, after being asked to come back in an hour, pounded repeatedly on our door 35 minutes later while we were in states of pre- or post-shower undress, no one banged on our door in the afternoon, no one used a master key to barge mop-wielding in on us still snoozing...it is a small resort so maybe they spied on us and when we were spotted lunching at the grill or having a Coke in the beer garden, housekeeping was dispatched. In any event, every night our shutters and drapes were closed and our bed turned down, every evening our bucket was filled with fresh ice, every morning a paper was gently laid upon our porch, every day the room was cleaned and freshened - all without a single disruption in the rest we so badly craved. Maybe there are gnomes. It must be gnomes.

On our last night, we stayed here, having been told that there was no room at Barnsley Gardens available for that day. Of course, after Alan had found this place, reserved a room, we'd risen early to shower, pack and check out, the B-G receptionist tried to get us to stay longer as there were rooms aplenty, evidently. But by that time we'd lost the chance to sleep in, we were already packed and we'd have had to pay the B&B anyway for the last-minute cancellation, so off we went. NEXT: When in Rome...