You may know that Simon and I went to Glastonbury!

We were volunteering for Shelter, the homeless charity.

We had to work 3 x 8 hour shifts on the bars and all our wages are donated to Shelter.

The bonus for us was that we get a free ticket to Glastonbury!

You may have watched our adventure on my social media stories. It really was so nice having you with us if you did.

Well it was one hell of an experience, full of ups and downs but I don’t regret a second of it.

It was such hard work!

I am used to working long hours, and I have had years of experience with jobs where I am an my feet all day, and I am reasonably fit, so I was absolutely amazed at just how hard it was!

We had 1 shift of 11am – 7pm and then 2 shifts of 7pm – 3am

8 hours behind a festival bar is harder than any HIIT workout I have ever done!

I was so nervous for my first shift as it has been over 25 years since I did this sort of work.

I got over myself and got on with it and actually really enjoyed it. I always have loved having some banter with the customers, wherever I have worked.

My ankles and calves hated it though and I was in a lot of pain for the last few hours of each shift.

We made the decision on the first couple of days (we arrived on Tuesday!) to get up at 6.00am and Nordic walk the whole of the absolutely massive site, in the beautiful morning sun, with the added bonus of having it more or less to ourselves, apart form the people still setting up the stages.

This was such the right decision and as always, so worth the effort. The memory stood at the top of the hill looking down on it all, and walking by the peaceful, yet to be used, Pyramid stage will stay with me forever.

A hugely stark contrast to when the 220K strong crown landed!

It was hard after a night shift when we got back to our tent at 3.30am and the music bars were still banging very loudly, (they didn’t stop until 5am!). I tried my very best to have a lie in, to catch up on some sleep, but still woke up at 6.30am!

I found the crowds overwhelming at times and craved to be back on the shore on my early morning walks with just the birds for company. There was one time we went to see an act on a smaller tented stage and she was brilliant, blasting out some covers. The crowd was loving it, but I stood there with exhausted tears running down my face, wishing I could feel like them!

I decided to just accept what is, allowed myself that moment of low mood, without judgement and hoped tomorrow would be better, which it was.

The food was amazing. Huge choice of healthy and horrible, providing whatever you fancied for the mood and hunger at the time.

I found 4 stalls that I particularly loved, out of the 3000!!!

Yes, once I find something I like I keep going back rather than risk a food disaster!

Lebanese falaffel – so fresh with lots of chunky crisp veg all served in a wrap with an extra slice of halloumi!

Wood Fired Pizza – best Margarita I have ever had!

Fresh Ravioli – amazing homemade pasta, filled with spinach and ricotta and then a tomato and basil sauce with beautiful bruschetta toped with a chunky tomato basil and onion salsa!

A proper juice stall – not one of those that is just fruit smoothies, but a proper one that made fresh juices nearly as good as Simons, with an added bonus of a turmeric shot!

The not so good…

Dodgy fish and chips.

Gelato stall with the smallest scoops I have ever seen that can’t have been much bigger than an ants bollocks!! I did mention it and I would usually have insisted on more,(yes really…it always works!) but I just didn’t have the energy to try!)

A Chicken and Bacon pastie.

The Mr Whippy van – I had a few desperate ice creams from there, as couldn’t cope with ants bollocks. I wouldn’t usually touch Mr Whippy with a barge pole but I conceded and it was actually quite nice because it was Kellys Cornish!

I had a few cheeky festival ciders on my days off and it was bloody hot…so hot that everyone was sitting under a hedge if they could find one!

The combination of tiredness, a massively increased sleep debt, no routine, heat, massive crowds, loud incessant noise, lots more food and drink, and just the effort of it all means I have come home, not feeling my best.

BUT I DON’T REGRET ANY OF IT. I actually loved the experience, warts and all.