Escape to paradise

It is one thing reading about something, entirely another seeing and experiencing it.

Travel guides and websites describe Snowdonia as a beautiful escape. It is that, and much more. We have just returned from a lovely, long, luxurious break at the gorgeous national park in Wales and can't seem to stop raving about it. Suffice it to say, the prospect of returning home was heartbreaking.

Stories

We had some friends over for lunch recently. Federer and Roddick fought it out for the Wimbledon title in the background on the telly, while we chatted, fed babies, changed babies, ate and chatted some more. And in the middle of all the tennis, carrot cake and vivid descriptions of the experiences of labour, some very interesting stories emerged.

Later, as A and I cleared up, we wondered how many stories are there out there. Every one has a story for a bestselling novel. Life really is something special - even the most boring one has a brilliant story hidden in its bosom, waiting to be unravelled.

Deep down we are all children, waiting to chat with our friends, eager to listen to the tales they have to tell us, and keen to share with them some of our own stories.