Check out, check in, and don’t forget the new shorts

I remember with fondness our family holidays to hot getaways such as Greece or Portugal when I was growing up. Obviously today I wonder if the exchange rate was more favorable given the current Euro crisis but that’s just because I’ve become old and boring. At the time I was much more focused on the new set of summer clothes and shoes that we were always allowed before we set off. Newcastle is a cold place so a trip to buy summer clothes was a noteworthy event indeed. This shopping trip to Northumberland Street and Eldon Square in Newcastle was always a big event and often ended with a trip to McDonalds before we all trundled back to the car parked in the Relate car park. This (and invariably getting up in the middle of the night to go to the airport) is what really told me that a holiday was upon us. However when you live in a hot place such as Biarritz you typically already own shorts and flip flops. That said as I packed my suitcase for Gran Canaria the absence of any special shopping trip to get an article of summer clothing or two really prevented me from feeling like it was a real holiday. So less than 24 hours before the flight took off I whisked myself off for an hour or two of summer retail therapy. Two pairs of short, a pair of swimming trunks and some new flip flops later, and I was finally ready.