The big topic up for debate in our household at the minute is what we should do for our family holiday next year. After a successful holiday in May to Spain with Olivia we were kicking ourselves that we hadn’t been away sooner with her as she was so good and really adapted well to the environment and the heat.
I hardly slept a wink in the days before the holiday. Like any mum I suppose I was going through all the different scenarios in my head of all the things that could go wrong or things we might forget. It was totally stupid looking back but you live and you learn, she had an absolute ball of a time away.
So following on from the success of Spain 2015 we have been all over the internet trying to decide on our next destination for 2016. At one point we toyed with the idea of a cruise and looked into that. you can get a really good deal on cruises at the minute but after some research a lot of the ships were not that family orientated for Olivias age group plus the thought us 3 of us in a cabin could be a bit much what with all the snoring from both Olivia and Chris I might need my own room…I obviously don’t snore …that’s my story and im sticking to it 🙂
Next on the list of possibilities was Cyprus. I have been before many years ago with my mum and I remember really enjoying it and Chris has never been. I don’t really know the island that well so more research will be required I think and the flight isn’t too bad which is a plus.
Portugal is next. We went here 2 years ago and loved it. Chris and I stayed in Albufeira at the most gorgeous hote,l far enough that the noise from the main strip wasnt annoying but close enough that the beach was just a few minutes walk away. It was very peaceful and after looking it up online again we realised why…it was adult only…well those days are gone. Apparently now we can ony go to places that allow the screams of children to be heard far and near with poolside entertainment from a dancing dolphin or something similar, you get the drift 🙂
Spain and the surround islands came up next. We looked at Fuengirola again where we had been previously along with Salou, Majorca and Menorca. These resorts are looking more favourable at the minute with the recommendations of some apartments we have seen online and from advice from our local travel agent. A big plus is that Auntie Stephanie made sure Olivia was able to speak the lingo last time amongst the natives so she would be a useful translator for us should we go back..
Probably the most exciting thing for us booking a holiday online is the research involved and on top of that all the hilarious comments on tripadvisor reports. You always get that one report saying how fruits and yogurt were offered at breakfast and there wasnt any coco pops to be seen anywhere…so much for the cultural change or people complaining because they don’t have a kettle in the room or even worse they havent had their coffee sachet replenished daily, these are first world problems clearly!
We are, by our own admission, food snobs and love being able to taste local dishes and go to restaurants off the beaten track. This proved successful even with Olivia as she was able to try spanish omelette, authentic paella and loads of seafood when we were away. I even had to step up and get a cocktail daily so Olivia could have the pineapple/strawberry attached to the side of the glass (next to the umbrella and sparkling parrot) I mean the things you have to do so your kids can have their 5 a day jeez :):)
And so it continues (daily). My lunch time is spent on trivago, tripadvisor, booking.com, totstotravel, travel republic, expedia the list is endless. Maybe Chris and I should just sweet talk the grandparents to either come along for babysitting duties or pack up Olivias trunki and ship her off to them while we head off to New York like ive been dreaming about……………..and back to reality for me, well a girl came dream :):)
