Champagne in the Morning
Who drinks champagne in the morning? Birthday boys, that’s who!
Some of you may remember my summer post about how my wife and I became stranded at Club Med Turkoise in the Turks and Caicos Islands in March 2020. In short, the pandemic began, everyone went home, and only those whose departure could not be arranged at short notice remained. Six guests and a couple of dozen members of staff were left at the resort. Naturally, we all became incredibly close during those days.
In May 2022, my wife and I once again stayed at a Club Med resort, this time Club Med Cancun. Imagine our surprise when, on our very first evening, we ran into Harrison Dabbs, one of the people we had been stranded with in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Over those two years, Harrison had risen through the ranks to become the resort’s assistant manager. A couple of days after we arrived, the manager went on holiday, leaving Harrison fully in charge of Club Med Cancun. It was impossible not to take advantage of the situation.
It was no accident that we had chosen the second half of May for our holiday: my birthday is on 18 May. My parents kept the hospital tag that had been attached to my wrist after I was born, so I know both the exact date and time of my birth—18 May at 18:05.
I have a tradition: at 18:05 every 18 May, I uncork a bottle of champagne and enjoy this divine drink.
Traditions must not be broken!
I worked out that, because of the eight-hour time difference, 18:05 in Moscow was 10:05 in Cancun. I bought several bottles of champagne in advance and invited the people we had been spending time with to the main square at 10 in the morning to celebrate my birthday.
The other guests were astonished by the sight of the resort manager standing in the main square in the morning, drinking champagne with the guests! After a start like that, the rest of the day was simply wonderful. And as a birthday present, Harrison allowed me to take part in the evening show.
P.S. This is not the end of the story. As I promised Kirill Kulikov, it has a very interesting continuation…
