vacation!

This week's ABCWednesday letter is V. After seeking out the Voortman's cookies, all that is left is Violet's Vacation (though I really want to say 'holiday', which rolls off the tongue more naturally) Anyway, my vacay also conveniently allows me to weasel out of next week's W. Whew. Interestingly, I have an X, Y and Z all ready.

But at the moment, my mind is totally on the vacation plans. Next week, I will be on a voyage aboard a cruise ship. (my virgin cruise, so to speak) One of the ports we will be visiting is Valencia and one of the things I am most excited about is going to the Lladro factory. From what I have read about this free tour of the making of the valuable, exquisitely made porcelain, it is a fascinating couple of hours even if you are not into figurines of porcelain. All the reviews from such sites as TripAdvisor were glowingly positive.

You need to book these tours ahead, so I emailed my preferred language and date. And got a prompt reply, with an apology, that all tours that day were fully booked. Damn. But the email was so personal and polite, offering other dates, etc that instead of letting it slide, I wrote back and explained about the cruise ship and one day in Valencia, la la la, not quite sure what to expect in return. Maybe a wait list of some sort? No. What I found out was that it was my ship that had booked the day's worth of tours. So, I could pay $50 to the cruise ship for the free tour, or satisfy myself with seeing only the museum and showroom. And gift shop. I found this turn of events to be most vexing. I vented long and loudly to my friend Xup who is travelling with me (though not interested in this tour) and she volunteered her indignation on my behalf. But, I continued with the email exchange, thanking them for their correspondence - really, I expected merely a form letter type response. Three days later, news came that I could get on one of the afternoon tours. Victory!

I may need more euros to buy a souvenir Lladro....