Gift horse

Sometimes, I have business appointments that take me quite far out of town. Today, I had one that was supposed to start at ten a.m and take place in a city some 250 kilometers off. As DH needed the family car, I went by train, which meant getting up at four o'clock so I'd be on time. Five hours later, I arrived, only to find out that the appointment had been cancelled because someone had had to call in sick. I later found out that they had phoned my office about the cancellation... after nine:(. 

Which left me in that town with a day of nothing to do, as I had purchased a return ticket for the afternoon already that was nonrefundable. My estimated colleague had advised me that the city I was going to has plenty of historical buildings, and I should really do some sightseeing. 

Which is what I did, after buying a pair of sneakers on sale because my business shoes, while comfortable enough for walking to that appointment from the station, weren't exactly made for walking around on cobbled streets all day. 

Of course, as it was Monday, all the museums and churches one could have visited were closed. So I took a couple of pictures of the outsides of the buildings to show to DH and set out to explore the older part of the city. 

All in all, that meant walking for almost five hours with a backpack full of files. I was rather glad about the sneakers soon...

And, as this was kind of a holiday for me, I did sit down at noon for an ice cream with sliced almonds and hazelnuts on top. I had not had any ice cream for about three years, and besides, had not had any breakfast because I just could not get anything down at such an ungodly hour. So, I did enjoy that ice cream to the last spoonful, and then proceeded to visit the sights. 

Which of course meant window-shopping, too. 

Being female, of course, I ended up at a shoe store.

I didn't buy anything for myself, but I found something for DH. He'd had, for a long time, had a favourite pair of brand-name shoes that he practically lived in. Having to retire them because they were worn out was a sad event for him, but we had not found another pair in his size. Guess what, they had those very shoes, same model, his size, and at half price, no less. So, tonight DH is in for a surprise...

And I am interested to find out if ten degrees less heat plus five hours of walking might turn that upward trend on the scales around again..

Julia