{"id":24816,"date":"2022-09-25T09:00:59","date_gmt":"2022-09-25T13:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=24816"},"modified":"2023-01-12T13:09:08","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T18:09:08","slug":"the-pause-button","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=24816","title":{"rendered":"The Pause Button"},"content":{"rendered":"

Linda Lou Burton posting from Zanzibar Serena Hotel, Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania \u2013 \"\"<\/a><\/em>The telephone was ringing. I left my peaceful spot on the porch, wondering who would be calling so early on a Sunday morning. It was the front desk. \u201cYour Tour Guide is in the lobby,\u201d I was informed. Still in my jammies, I hastily threw on yesterday\u2019s clothes, grabbed all the Globus info, and headed down the hall. A smiling man wearing a Fisherman\u2019s Tours badge, said \u201cGood morning, Madame. I am Said, and I have come to take you on the Walking Tour of the city.\u201d I shook my head and began my apology. \u201cI am so sorry! I guess the message didn\u2019t get through. I told our Transport Driver yesterday we wanted to have a day of rest and do our tours tomorrow. I am very sorry for the inconvenience. We are just too tired to do anything today! Plus, we want to change the tours that were picked for us. I can\u2019t do the walking City \"\"<\/a>Tour, and we both want to go to a Spice Farm instead of walking in the Jozani Forest as you have scheduled, but we need to do that tomorrow. Can we please arrange that? I talked to the Globus main office about these changes months ago, but they told me I\u2019d need to work with you directly once I got here.\u201d Said was most agreeable and kind, as I kept apologizing for his troubles. We agreed on 9 AM tomorrow for Rick to do the Walking Tour of the City, with the driver getting me to one of the places I wanted to visit, the Zanzibar Coffee House. Then lunch, and an afternoon tour of a spice farm, which would take us farther inland on the island. We said our farewells, \u201cUntil tomorrow, then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rick was still sitting on the porch when I returned. \u201cA whole day of nothing planned!\u201d I said. \u201cFor the first time in sixteen days, we can do just what we want to do, when we want to do it. And that includes doing nothing.\u201d \u201cSounds like a plan to me!\u201d he replied. Here\u2019s what we did.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n