On our second morning, I woke at seven o'clock and decided to have a bath before breakfast. No need to rush and there was a reliable hot water supply too.
Now I must confess that it had been almost sixteen years since I last had a bath. That was in the Hotel Cordon del Plata in Mendoza, Argentina in late October 2009. There, because of overbooking, I had been given the penthouse suite - the best room in the hotel.
It had a sunken jacuzzi bath and I decided to use it - even though by at that stage in my life I had been converted to showering long before. Vaguely, I can still recall lying in that bubbling bath Like Lord Muck - minus the cigar and the bottle of champagne. I clambered out before drying and dressing and heading out into the late spring night for food.
In Malton, I lay there luxuriating in the hot water. I used the products that were provided to cleanse the temple that is my body and the flowing locks that adorn my skull. A young sea otter bobbed in the water.
Then it was time to get up and out. But how? Shirley was in the lounge reading and knitting and I nearly yelled to her for assistance but after a couple of failed attempts, I girded my loins and with a huge amount of willpower managed to stand up without slipping and killing myself. I tell you, it was not easy.
Obviously, I later put in a serious complaint at the hotel reception. Why had no mechanical hoist been provided to lift old codgers like me out of that treacherous bath? Quite outrageous.
When I was a boy I frequently leapt out of baths like a coiled spring. We didn't even have a shower in my childhood home. Even in Mendoza - I have no recollection of finding it difficult to get out of that luxury bath. Sixteen years later, I wonder if I will ever have a bath again. After all, I could be stuck there forever.
They need to install "grab rails" for older people to hold on to as they haul themselves upright and step out of the tub. Perhaps email them with this suggestion.
ReplyDeleteYou have to turn over and get on your hands and knees before you stand up. It's not very elegant but it works.
ReplyDeleteBaths offer an easier means of soaping between your toes.
ReplyDeleteA tip for getting out of a bath is to turn around and get up facing down.
I hope, armed with this tip, you can have brave another bath before all bath water gurgles down the plug hole to the sea.
If you are conscience-stricken about the extravagant use of water you can share the bath and siphon it out to your garden afterwards if the garden is in need of it.
We regularly do the former, sequentially rather than simultaneously these days, in case you ask, and have done the latter.
I haven't had a bath for years because of that exact same problem. Showers are the way to go when we're old(er).
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why you couldn't get out of the tub? It seems that hotel tubs are always slippery. However, I'm glad you had a good bath and got out without injury. Ad your prie was saved for another time.
ReplyDeleteI'm imagining the hoist! Oy!
ReplyDeleteI bathe all the time with no issues although I don't have a luxurious tub that's difficult to get out of.
ReplyDeleteI used to love a bath but then I had a day like yours and that was the end of my spa days.
ReplyDeleteAgeing steals stuff and it's never fun.
Get your authorities to put in hand rails. I don't know what it is about English baths, but they are difficult. In hotel bathrooms, there should be handrails at baths. It sounds like the bath was pleasurable and worth the effort.
ReplyDeleteOh dear! A not so good end to what sounds like a luxurious bath. I am surprised that you found it hard to get out; my impression of you has always been that you are fit as a fiddle, with all the walking you do, gardening, jobs around the house and last but not least playing with your grandchildren.
ReplyDeleteThe last time I have had a bath was years ago. O.K. has a bathtub with shower, but we usually only shower. There was one very cold and wet winter day several years ago when we came back to his cottage from an outing with the village band, and I was cold to the bone and felt I would never get warm; I had a lovely hot lavender-scented bath then. My own flat does not even have a bathtub, but I am very happy with my walk-in shower that stretches the entire (admittedly not very large) width of the bathroom.
Oh my goodness. I now have unwanted images lodged in my brain. I need counselling.
ReplyDelete....sixteen years since I last had a bath. We've still got ours!😊
ReplyDeleteI could get out until I became ill, but now need a bath board. It makes it safer and easier.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to visualise the young sea otter or is that a euphemism?
ReplyDeleteIronically, I was just thinking the same thing of myself as I was trying to get up off the floor after I had sat down to "talk" to my dog. And I thought of my younger self just bouncing up and moving. Those days are gone. I haven't taken a bath in years. That bathtub in the hotel you described sounds like an accident waiting to happen.
ReplyDeleteI know how you feel. I have two bathtubs in my house, one is a jacuzzi, and I haven't used either for a long time, there's nobody around to rescue me if I get stuck. I guess I could call the local fire department....
ReplyDeleteBaths can be perilous for the olderly. Of course we are not elderly. Just olderly.
ReplyDeleteOlderly. What a perfect term.
DeleteA friend of mine stayed in the Presidential Suite at the Washington Hilton, and settled into the big bath tub, and had to use the phone to call for help to get out. I had the tub replaced with a shower at home.
ReplyDeleteYes, grab bars would be helpful. I just take showers.
ReplyDeleteI much prefer a shower, so it's been awhile since I had a bath. I'm not sure how easily I could get out of it these days and I don't think I want to put it to a test.
ReplyDeleteIn the flat where I've now lived 17 years I don't have a bath tub. And luckily the hotel rooms I've been staying in on holidays haven't had tubs to tempt me to try it either...
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that you so precisely remember your last bath. I'm not sure when I last had a bath. I would much rather take a shower.
ReplyDeleteShowers are quicker but baths are more relaxing. What was Shirley going to do - jab you with her knitting needles?
ReplyDelete