Chapter 2 - a suspicious transaction

This morning's awakening was at the verging on socially acceptable time of 7.30am, due to my niece and nephew switching on the TV and watching cartoons in the room next to mine.  Yesterday's awakening had been due to my nephew deciding that 5.30am was a good time to start playing on his drum-kit, so today was definitely preferable.

After a sumptuous poached egg and beautifully prepared cappuccino from my brother-in-law's spectacular coffee machine, we bundled into the car bound for Discovery Cube, a quirky science museum-esque place filled with all manner of scientific experiments.  We built wooden cars then sent them off on Scaletrix-type tracks; we strolled around a mocked-up supermarket following clues to find foodstuffs, then scanned them into our trolleys; we learnt about solar power and windpower; we sorted rubbish into recycling and non-recycling; we then went outside and made dinosaurs, as one does.  I had a moment of panic when my usually trusty Revolut card decided that me purchasing lunch for us all at Bean Sprouts, the restaurant at Discovery Cube, was defined as a 'suspicious transaction' and decided to lock itself there and then.  Great.

Later, we dropped my nephew at his drumming lesson then scooted round a nearby supermarket, stocking up for the next few days.  My niece made the supermarket trip memorable in ways that only a four-year-old can - clambering into the trolley, over the trolley, clinging onto the side of the trolley, all whilst helpfully grabbing what she thought we probably needed.

My sister prepared delicious fajitas for dinner, followed by my first ever 'root beer float' thanks to my brother-in-law; this consists of ice-cream floating in root beer and is delicious - do try it if you have these things to hand.  It has a curious medicinal twang to it, but not in an unpleasant way.  

I also managed to nail a series of things from my to-do list today.  Bizarrely, it's easier to find time to do some things when one is literally on the other side of the world.  I've written two DofE reports and very nearly ordered the t-shirts for the forthcoming Brownie Holiday.  I've also been reading up the next phase of my journey, so stay tuned.