Pre-Moon Prologue.
1. We Giveth Thanks to the Sun Gods.
So, we’re married now. Husband and Wife. Mr and Mrs David Doyle etc – although, I should mention Siobhan’s not very keen on that title – perhaps it ought to be Mrs and Mr Siobhan formerly-Ranns-Doyle…no perhaps not. That sounds awful. How about King and Queen of Doyle? No? Or, Lord and Lady David of Doyleshire? Closer… Maybe just Shave and Dave is more appropriate. Whatever the title we now own, we also have rings on our fingers, some marvellous gifts, around 3 hours of wedding video tape to peruse, a few hundred photographs, a now fairly dishevelled wedding dress, many many happy memories, and a wedding certificate (which if I’m honest, I’m not at all sure what to do with but I suppose it must be important so i shall file it). Of course there were some unfortunate souls who could not attend our matrimonial bliss-fest, but to those of you who were there, thank you again for coming, and for helping to make it such a sublime day. It now feels like it raced by a little too quickly, in that like all good things, it would have been nice for it to have lasted longer, for time to slow down. To drink it all in. However, time did not slow down, that’s one cosmic force that is totally out of our control that’s for sure. The heavens on the other hand, were conspiring fully with us. We had watched the weather anxiously two weeks ago, when the country was in the grip of a cold and seemingly relentless stormy spell. A week on it wasn’t much better but there were glimmers of hope on the horizon, as we heard rumour of a high pressure system approaching. Then, in the final five days leading up to June 3rd, I studied the skies and the charts daily and the inclement weather gradually ebbed away until Thursday came and finally the outlook was sunny. The timing was impeccable. We could not believe the weather on Friday! I was awoken in my bachelor’s bed that morning by intensely bright beams of sunshine, and all day was bathed in blue skies and a gentle breeze. It was the hottest day of the year so far, and surely the clearest too. Our luck became even more apparent with hindsight. There was cloud and drizzle on Saturday and by Sunday we sat at Heathrow gazing out at a filthy grey wet cold slab of an airport. We had a somehow chosen a one day wedding window. Beyond lucky.
2.”Where did you say?”
“China”
Now, we spoke to a lot of people on Friday. Lovely people. Friends, brothers and a sister, relatives of all ages, and one question seemed to be prevalent: “So where are you going on your honeymoon?” to which we duly answered “China”. This is fine of course, however it did seem that we had to answer that same question several times on repeated occasions to the same people. I’m not sure why, but the answer just didn’t register first time around. Perhaps it was the sun that had got to their heads or the booze, or both, but a typical tipsy dialogue would begin with
“so where are you off to on your honey(hic)moon?”
“China”
“Where did you say?”
“China. Hong Kong, Macau, Guilin and Yangshuo”.
“China? Really? Are you excited?”
“Yes very. We start in Hong Kong and then up into the countryside to chill out for a bit”
“how long for (hic) then?”
“two and a half weeks”
“that will be nice…where did you say you were going again?”
“China, Hong Kong…”
…and so on. By the way, I don’t think the reality of the honeymoon had really registered with us yet either…we had a pretty busy one planned, and by the time we had said our goodbyes to family over coffee, wedding cake, tea and more tea, said more goodbyes, driven back up to London and packed, we were utterly exhausted. Suddenly, Sunday June 5th had arrived, we were husband and wife and could finally go on the long-anticipated honeymoon. We were very excited of course, but it was a slightly nervous excitement. To be honest, the thought of a long flight, broken sleep and a busy holiday schedule seemed a little bit appalling. We were a pair of burnt-out chinese lanterns. A long relaxing beach holiday was what we needed (where were we going again?), but we had to brace ourselves for the technicolour bustle of Hong Kong and hope that our energy would return to us – it felt like we had left it on Hengistbury Head…
