Adventures of the Rain Goddess

15/03/2026

So we are back home after our party weekend away. Rotterdam is a great place and I am looking forward to seeing more of it when we go back next year.

Saturday went so quickly.
It started obviously with breakfast and then Roj and Catweasle went on a guided tour of the ship including engine room ( which was included in our room rate) whilst Rick and I drank coffee and put the world's to right.

We then decided to go into Rotterdam for something to eat. And the only way to do it was by water taxi, an experience in itself, rapid, bouncy, and not easy to get on and off. 🚤🚤

After a small walkabout, with it beginning to rain, we headed for the nearest eatery, and then headed to the party, which started at 5pm. This time by Uber. There are so many waterways in Rotterdam it really is quite a challenging drive.

Now the party itself. It is my club winterparty and it's the first year at the new venue. Immediately you walk in the room you are surrounded by friendship. Dutch, Belgian, Swiss, Luxembourg, German, French, Scottish, Finnish Polish, Gibraltan and English ( I've probably missed a country). 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇧🇪🇨🇵🇩🇪
All there to have a good time, with good food and a great band. I didnt take many photos but I know there will be plenty for me to look at. I just wished I'd taken more photos of Roj being terribly British amongst the European culture of kissing and hugging.😁😁
My role was to be raffle ticket seller along with Yvonne Louise . Something we are quite successful at.

We eventually fell out of the door in the early hours and Uber'd it home. 4 passenger taxis are definitely a squeeze but it was definitely a giggle.

A smooth journey home, and earlier train caught, and home allowing the others to wend their way home.

An absolutely fantastic weekend. Thanks to everyone who played a part in it.

13/03/2026

Another weekend and another road trip. Off to Rotterdam to party. Train already delayed by 1 hour so it's a good job we aren't on a deadline, but it's cutting into drinking time.
Picked up a couple of hitchhikers on the way.

06/03/2026

Out for the afternoon. Coffee cocktail for lunch🍹🍹. The joys of a coach trip.

4.4 ⭐ · Theater production in London, England

04/03/2026

First outing of the year. Pleased to say I wasn't as rusty as I thought I would be. It was foggy when I left and it's still foggy when I got home, but it was a good ride in the sunshine. Good ride and good company.

01/03/2026

Evening with Elvis watching
EPIC.
Going to Gracelands bought it to our attention and it really was like seeing Elvis in concert. Great music and showed Elvis as the true performer he was.
Great film.

17/02/2026

Thanks for being a top engager and making it on to my weekly engagement list! 🎉 Michelle Dropsie Rowland, Harry HD, Maureen Shipley, Stephanie Wills, Roger Manning, Tracy Russell, Hazel Pike, Fran Spence, Colin Lewis, Sally Judge

15/02/2026

And so the holiday comes to an end.

We woke up to heavy rain, and a real miserable day so I guess we have been so lucky with the weather.

A short trip to the airport and a painless check in and security. The airport is incredibly relaxed and there are live musicians throughout the airport. We are currently listening to country style ballads, and earlier there was a jazz trio.

We have had amazing time and made lots of memories together. I totally recommend Audley Travel for a tailored tour.

15/02/2026

And the finale.

15/02/2026

They were the vocals on Toy Story.

15/02/2026

Whispering Bill Anderson passing through whilst we were on the tour.

15/02/2026

So this afternoon we visited the Grand Ole Opre.
We had a backstage tour booked for 4.15 so got an uber at 3pm... It was so busy around the venue the cabbie muscled his way through the traffic to get us there. It would appear that there was a huge Wild Turkey Farmers Convention going on.

I've just googled it and it sounds riveting

The 50th annual NWTF Convention and Sport Show is held February 12–16, 2026, at the Ga***rd Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN, serving as the premier gathering for wild turkey enthusiasts, conservationists, and hunters. It features over 500 exhibitors, hunting seminars, auctions, and major conservation, hunting heritage, and wildlife management discussions.

I'll tell you why it's relevant later.

Our backstage tour was interesting as they were getting ready for the show. We were shown lots of photos of famous singers, who meant absolutely nothing to us, but we smiled in the right places and pretended we knew everything.

We then collected our tickets for the show and went to find somewhere to eat. Because of the convention it was heaving so we opted for a burger king from the food court.

Where are our seats said Roj...so I got the tickets out only to find that they had yesterdays date on them😳😳. Looked in our pack on my phone and yes...we should have been there yesterday.

So back to the ticket office and explained, and they managed to find us 2 tickets with no extra charge. Phew.

So into the auditorium and ready for the show. We started off being the only ones in the row.....then a party arrived and wanted our seats, the steward checked our tickets, but we agreed to move up so the party could be together...Then another problem with the seats and we ended up being moved because of the party. So much apologies and we were moved to an upgrade seat. Which wasn't bad as we should have been there yesterday.😁😁😁

The show started and was also live broadcasted on radio. We both decided we could have done with subtitles on the screens for when they spoke as we couldn't understand the southern drawl.

However we enjoyed the music and the atmosphere. They were certainly accomplished musicians.

Now I mentioned the convention.. At the interval they had the award winners come on stage. It was like something out of Monty Python, as they came on making different Turkey noises. One had won 17 years running. It was so bizarre.

Its fair to say it was another great experience, and has finished our time in Nashville wonderfully.

Time to come home tomorrow.