Mallorca - Day 3

The kids are up very early this day- and very loud. Matt and I get up and ready, and we manage to keep the kids occupied until the buffet opens for breakfast. It's very quiet, which is a welcome change from the previous night. 

Miles goes all out on this meal- 5 mini waffles, 3 churros, and 5 chocolate doughnuts. We talk again about healthy choices, and he returns with 3 hot dogs. No more solo trips to the buffet for him. 😆

Well it *is* protein

After eating, we have the front desk call a taxi so we can go to the market in Old Town Alcudia. 

We wander around inside the old city walls, trying to stay in the shade as it's very hot. Miles finds a souvenir, and although we aren't keen on haggling, we also pick up sunhats for the kids and our piece of art to commemorate the trip. Lily says the market smells like old burritos and (cigarette) smoke, and she's not entirely wrong.

These great alleyways were everywhere

City walls

I see you!

Hot and tired, we head to the taxi rank outside of the market. A large queue quickly forms, and we wait. And wait. The taxis are slow to arrive, but it's finally our turn and we return to the resort. We grab a quick snack and head to the room to rest.

We rouse ourselves to have lunch, then spend the afternoon at the pool.

Say gin!

Lily had a school assignment to take a pic reading in an unusual place

We change back into our clothes, watch more Tipping Point (the coin pusher game show), then set the kids free in the arcade before going to dinner.

These are Matt's instagram poses

We were apprehensive about dinner, but happily Mediterranean night was much calmer than Chinese night. Afterward, we go upstairs to rest before heading to bed.

Mallorca - Day 2

We woke up and slowly got ready for breakfast. There were so many breakfast choices, and the food was good. Miles found breakfast to be his favourite meal, and this morning ate 5 doughnuts and some churros. We had a little chat about including some healthy foods next time. The coffee was decent too, unlike that we had on the plane the previous day (worst coffee I've ever had!).

 

Mum, take a picture of me!

When we woke up that day, I realised that I had forgotten to pack my medication. There was a doctor's office at the resort (right next to one of the pools, luckily), so while the kids played in the pool, fully clothed, I waited to speak to the doctor. I didn't know how I would prove that I needed these meds, until I pulled up my NHS app. It showed everything I take, and the doctor wrote a prescription for what I needed. We took the kids to get dry clothes so we could walk into town for a pharmacy.

 

 

The walk wasn't too bad, and we got to see a little bit of Alcudia. At the pharmacy, I was able to get my prescription and tylenol for the kids and adults, all in my very broken Spanish. (Also, the doctor visit and meds cost less than €60!)

It was very warm and sunny, so we wandered the souvenir shops to look for sunglasses for Miles and Clara. Matt and I ended up with sunhats, and the girls chose their souvenirs. We walked back to the hotel drinking cold water and slushies.

We arrived back at the resort at lunchtime, so we ate, got some drinks, and went to the pool.  After a swim, we changed, had a rest, and went to the bouncy castle area.

Fun with hats

The kids enjoyed playing, but we all needed a rest before dinner. Back in the room, the kids watched television while Matt took a nap. I started watching a game show based on those arcade coin pushers. It was silly, but I found myself rooting for the players.

The dinner theme on this night was Chinese, and my word the British holidaymakers here LOVED Chinese night. The queues at the main buffet line were enormous, and some people were starting to get very salty toward the staff and each other. The kids and I kept to the second buffet, which was geared more towards kids - chicken nuggets, chips, and a few things I could eat as well. Matt did stand in the main line once, for a looooong time, and when he got back said the food was not really worth the wait. We were very tired and cranky after this, and not looking forward to future meals. I do have to say, though, that the staff were exceptional, especially through this meal (I don't know how they did it). 

We left the fining area and tried to go to the pool, but found it had closed at 6. Disappointed in humanity, we went up to the room to relax for the evening. At least we got a good sunset.

 

 

 

 

Mallorca - Day 1

 After two years of no travel, I was desperate for any kind of vacation. Just before the kids' school break in May, I went online looking for a last minute getaway, and I found an all-inclusive holiday in Mallorca. We typically do city breaks, seeking out culture and history, but I found myself looking forward to relaxing by the pool. 

Our flight out was on a Sunday, and I had seen articles online about the difficulties at UK airports due to staff shortages. Long queues, canceled flights, missed connections - I was nervous about getting to our destination.

We arrived at the airport around 6am, which was 3 hours before our flight. We had paid for fast track through security, and that line was about half the length of the regular line. However, as time passed, the regular line started moving more quickly than fast track. When any flight was preparing to board, workers would walk around saying, "Dubrovnik, anyone going to Dubrovnik follow me," and then deposit them at the front of the fast track queue. Things were moving so slowly that eventually they jumped us to the front of the line so we could board our plane. Thankfully the kids had behaved really well through this ordeal. 

The flight was uneventful, besides the time Clara sang She Loves You by The Beatles at the top of her lungs.

Upon landing, we had a bus ride of about an hour to get to the resort. Lily and I fell asleep, so it went quickly for the two of us, ha.

It was nice to finally arrive at the hotel and deposit our luggage. I immediately broke the flusher on the toilet in our room, so we explored while they sent someone up to fix it. We started with a light snack, and wandered the grounds. The weather was sunny and perfectly warm. Matt and I started exploring the included bar menu with beer and cocktails.

The kids took their first of many dips in one of the pools. Matt and I had more drinks.

We went upstairs to change for dinner. All of the meals were buffet, so there were plenty of choices for everyone. Matt and I had more drinks. There was a mini disco scheduled at 8:00, but Clara said she was too tired, so we headed up to get the kids to bed. Matt and I followed soon after (maybe it was all of the drinks we tried).

View from our room

Dusting Off the Keyboard

 Hello, is this thing on?

.

.

.

I didn't really have the motivation to keep up with this blog during the beginning (2 years) of the pandemic.  After the novelty wore off, it was depressing and incredibly boring. While the kids were off school, I spent my days immersed in virtual schooling, which is not my strength at all. When they went back to school, there were still restrictions, mask mandates, etc. All restrictions have since been removed in England, so we can move around freely, get our hair cut, and attend events. And more importantly, we can travel again!

For our first trip since 2020, we decided on a short break to Glasgow during the kids' Easter break. However, plans were changed when Lily and I both got Covid. Although we missed our holiday, thankfully we weren't extremely ill. 

We have since been able to leave Yorkshire, yay! Details will be coming on that trip soon.

 

We did have a few exciting things happen in the past couple of years.

 Last year we bought a house! Going through lockdowns in an apartment without a yard was so difficult. We knew we didn't want to do that again- plus there was a nice tax break going on. It's still smaller than what we could have in the US, but it's been really great to have our own place, no downstairs neighbour, and a backyard for the kids. 

We love the door to the backyard!

Living room

Kitchen/dining room

Utility room!

During this time, we also had another exciting addition to the family - Matt got a plot at an allotment (community garden)! He enjoys the planting and being outside, and I enjoy the food he brings home. Last year he grew onions, garlic, rhubarb, peas, lettuces - just to name a few. 

These next photos show the beautiful handmade raised beds he built. I was very impressed with his hard work!

And here are just a few shots of some of our harvests!

Different kinds of beets

Purple potatoes

I think those are the two major things that have happened. Stay tuned for a relaxing island vacation!