It begins

Well, the great Holt European tour has begun. It started with gorgeous converted barns by the side of a reservoir in Staffordshire, it ended with a day spent with old friends from school, and it had the Mariners away at Shrewsbury in the last game of the season and Macca's 753rd and final Town appearance in the middle. Excellent.

All in all it was a brilliant weekend. The cottages for the slackmeet were perfect (Shep did a great job of finding them) and it was so good to see everyone there. It's been a long time since we've all been together and I guess, realistically, it's unlikely that we will do ever again. Scary thought. Curry, football, pool, games, food, views, and Helen Baxendale in the next door barn. No, really.

Saturday afternoon was spent with the half of us going to watch Town at Shrewsbury while the other half took the kids to a farm. Shrewsbury's a really nice town actually. And Town played ok and scored an equaliser with the last kick of the game, while Shrewsbury confirmed their playoff place. Everyone went home happy. With the goal being so late and the game ending on a high I didn't have time to really dwell on the fact it may be my last Town game for quite a while. I really don't know how long it will be before I see Alan Buckley's black and white army play again. At half time I got a bit melancholy but I got over it. Am I really going to get up at stupid o'clock every Sunday morning next season to listen to the games? We'll see.

And then Monday, after Sunday and entertaining Helen Baxendale's children for a couple of hours on the football pitch, we drove up to see Andy and Heather in Chellaston. It was good to see them too. Can't remember the last time we saw them actually. The boys are both getting so big. Stephen is six now, and Christian is four. Where does the time go?

It all seems a bit weird, this saying goodbye lark. So far the people we've seen to say bye to we don't really see often anyhow, so it doesn't quite seem like anything different, even though we're moving to the other side of the world. Not quite sure when it will all kick in. Maybe when we start packing next Tuesday, maybe when I tell people at work, maybe when we say goodbye to people we see more regularly or my family. I don't know. We'll see.

Just a two-day week this week. Leg two of the European tour starts on Thursday when we visit Bints and Rene in Bucharest. We get to meet Neve, and there's talk of a chocolate fountain too.