Day 277. All roads.... (4/10/13)

Let's start on the previous evening shall we?

As I was driving home, in the dark and in the rain and in the night and in the wind (see, still channelling the stylistic oddness of the Shankly book when it takes my fancy) I realised that this time last year (October 3rd) J and myself were in the blazing sunshine of the Eternal City. We were at the start of three days in Rome to coincide with J's birthday.

We spent the first day wandering the streets, seeing the Colloseum, losing ourselves in the grandeur of the city. Unfortunately that meant literally losing ourselves, aware that we were somewhere near our hotel but not entirely sure where and not even approximately sure as to how we would get there.

And J had flu. Really bad flu. And we'd been up since 3am to catch our flight. By late afternoon J was asleep in the room and I was deliberately losing myself in the back streets around the hotel. I am immensely proud of the fact that my sense of direction is equally accurate wherever I am, I can get lost in any city on the planet within seconds.

The second day was better. The Vatican all day, flu symptoms subsided. We took a guided tour to the top of the Basilica of St Peter. We wound our way through a narrow corridor, narrow flights of stairs that took us in a circular route round the outside of the home of Catholicism, then suddenly we took a turn through a doorway and found ourselves back inside the building, high above the altar, the scent of incense rising toward us. It was a magical moment, totally unexpected, breathtaking.

That night we visited the Spanish steps. We had a meal at the foot of the stairway and took in the sights. I may have remarked on all this on the night that I posted my favourite photo. May have? I know for a fact that I did.

It was J's birthday and it was a fantastic way to spend it.

And I was prepared to lament the fact that this year we were at home; cold, dark, wet Liverpool.

Today then;

We spent the afternoon in the city centre. Bit of shopping, spot of coffee, buy J some birthday presents. In John Lewis J asked me if there was a 'Jo Malone' concession in there as she'd read good reviews. There wasn't as far as I'm aware; I'd never heard of the place, they don't seem to advertise  in Mojo or the back pages of old issues of X Men so slightly outside my radar.

It was the fact that we fancied a Costa and the nearest one was in the Met quarter that threw us smack in front of an actual 'Jo Malone' store. It's all scents and body creams and mixing smells and that's underselling the place something wicked. The girl who attended to J cleansed her arms with (incredible) bath oil, massaged in body cream and then applied a top layer of perfume to complement the cream. The smell was unreal, the experience was incredibly impressive. Birthday gift well and truly sorted, Xmas gift list compiled. It was a fantastic way to spend a birthday.

And it was Liverpool not Rome but it's not where you are, it's who you're with.

I was with J.

Happy Birthday J. X

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