I have dined out many times on the story of a visit to Nizwa, Oman with some of my friends. My friends were Menos, Hilary their daughter, Charis, Glenys and Jonathan, who I think is a godson of Menos. The six of us set off for an adventure in Nizwa, for the weekend, to pull back from our busy lives. We set out very early on Thursday morning (the first day of the weekend in Oman) and arrived after some early spring floods. The centre of Nizwa has a wadi running through the centre and the water was still flowing as we pulled up into the main car park in front of the souk. The floor of the car park was green with moss due to the water flowing over several weeks. As we headed to the central souk, Hilary, who was carrying Charis to prevent her from getting wet, slipped on the slime. Both went full into the water and thankfully, Charis missed her head on the fender of a truck by inches. After gathering our band and reassuring that there were no serious incidences, we made it to the pavement. A famous statement by Hilary was "Well, that was a bugger of a start!". That set the tone of the weekend. 

We went to the central souk for breakfast, which was magnificently orchestrated by Menos. We had samosas, egg shawarmas, hard boiled eggs and copious cups of tea. The fact that the first supposed sweet tea was, in fact, a salty one, is beside the point. 

Menos had booked the hotel, locally known as, "the Bahla Bubble" ; he had strict instructions to book us a nice hotel. In his defence, I am absolutely sure he was as naive as we were. Bottom line, Menos had booked us into the local brothel.  I cannot write the full story here, but it will be part of another story that will be an account of my life. It was a weekend that was filled with disaster, laughter, adventure, unimaginable joy and an absolute lifelong bond. To say that it was a simple weekend away, would be a travesty. It would make a script for a movie. Whatever could go wrong, did. And then some. Suffice it to say, I would not have missed it for the world. 

Menos was a dear friend and I am sad at his passing. He, and his family, brought joy into my life when I was a ship afloat. There are so many stories and memories. Like most ex-pats, we often lose the immediate connection as our new life take over, but some friends stay in our hearts. Menos was such a friend. We had lost touch but he was always in my heart.