Twinkles and more: Travel

Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts

I've been meaning to write this post for a while now, but I never seemed to be able to get round to it. However, although I'm post well after our trip took place, it's a trip that I want to capture as we had such a lovely time.

During February half-term we went to Norfolk for a week long break. I wanted to visit Norfolk for quite a while now, so I was looking forward to exploring the area.

We've travelled quite a bit and as a result I'm really particular about where we stay whenever we go away. We had spent hours searching for the perfect cottage for our trip, when we came across Limes Farm who offer three 5-star luxury, eco-friendly cottages in Ludham, which is at the heart of the Norfolk Broads.

The cottages looked beautiful online, exactly the type of home I would go for if we ever relocated to the country. We booked the Limes Farm Cottage, which accommodates five people (and a dog if you have one).

We certainly weren't disappointed with our choice. The cottage was beautiful. Lovingly restored, fantastic attention to detail and amazing craftmanship, along with high-end appliances and all the mod-cons for a luxury stay. There were lots of little small touches too, which we really appreciated - fresh eggs from the chickens, homemade bread, cake, local apple juice and little vases filled with daffodils in most of the rooms.

The kitchen, as you'd expect in a country cottage, was the heart of the house and even had an Aga, along with every appliance and utensil you could wish for.

The bathrooms were fabulous, one huge wet room, situation downstairs (the cottage is also wheelchair friendly) and the most beautiful free-standing bath in the ensuite of the master bedroom.

The kids loved it. Henry and Heidi slept downstairs in a double bed and Oscar slept in the loft room, which was brilliant. I was a little worried about the twins being downstairs, but the fabulous owners, who have literally thought of everything, provided us with a baby monitor, so that we could hear them when they woke.

Whilst it was quite quite rural, the local village is about 20 minutes walk away, so we would often wonder in and pick up supplies from the village store or have dinner at the village pub. There are also lots of other villages nearby that are only a short drive away.

We stayed for a week and it was so lovely and relaxing. We went out most days to explore the area, but we would often head back to the cottage in the afternoon to play games and drink tea snuggled on the sofa under blankets. There was also chickens in the garden, along with a little play area, our three loved them both and they spent quite a bit of time out in the garden playing and talking to the chickens. One day me and the kids made lasagne and flapjacks using the Aga, which was an interesting experience - as an Aga novice, I think it takes a while to get the hang of it! We got there in the end though!

Norfolk is beautiful and we found lots of places to visit nearby. We went to Horsey beach to see the seals and we also visited Wroxham Barns where we fed lambs and petted some of the animals. Both of these places are pretty local to the cottage.

A couple of days we ventured further afield to explore Holt, Burnham Market and Wells Beach, which is a great beach. One day we also went into Norwich where we had lunch and did a bit of shopping, which was lovely, but it was so nice to return to the tranquility of the cottage.

At the end of the holiday we were really sad to leave and Simon and I had many conversations about how lovely it would be to live in the country - maybe one day...

It was really great to spend some quality time together as a family in such lovely surroundings.

We will definitely return to Norfolk and I think it would be pretty difficult to find somewhere to stay that is as lovely as Limes Farm. I highly recommend staying there if you're planning a trip to Norfolk.

Have you been to Norfolk? Where is your favourite place to stay?

J xx

This week's My Captured Moment is a shot taken on our recent holiday to Dubai, which you can read about here.

We had an amazing time and I think this photo captures that.

The boys had gone to the kids club for a couple of hours but Heidi wanted to stay with us, so her and Simon went for a little walk around the hotel, which is when he captured this.

J x

During the May half-term break we went on holiday to Dubai.

Simon and I have been a couple of times in the past - 10 years ago, pre-kids and five years ago when Oscar was 11 months old. Both times we loved it. The hotels are luxurious, the shopping is amazing, the beaches are beautiful and at just over six hours, the flight isn't too much of an ordeal. The only downside, and probably the reason we haven't been in five years is that it can be quite expensive for flights and hotels.

However, on this occasion Simon managed to find us a great deal with Netflights staying at the Atlantis on the newish Palm Dubai, which since it opened in 2008 has been on my wish list of hotels to visit.

The deal we found was half board, with flights by Air France from Birmingham. We booked the flights and accommodation separately as it worked out quite a lot cheaper. Changing planes in Paris also meant we saved £1,000. We also upgraded to an Imperial Club room, which gave us access to the Club Lounge amongst other things, which I'll tell you about later in this post.

We arrived quite late at night and after a bit of an issue with the private transfer we'd booked, we arrived at the hotel. Our first impressions exceeding our expectations, the welcome was warm and we felt a little like royalty.

The hotel was huge and lavish. There's a huge towering water feature in the lobby area that made all the kids gasp. It reminded me of some of the amazing Las Vegas hotels we'd stayed at pre kids. I couldn't help wonder if we'd found a luxury, child-friendly alternative to Las Vegas?

Our room was in the East Tower, which had the most amenities. We were given an end room, which was huge and had a massive walk in closet. Compared to the public areas, the room, although huge, was quite understated, with neutral tones. With there being five of us, I expected two queen beds. However, we soon realised that the kids would be sleeping on single camp style beds, which was fine just a little unexpected.

The next morning, we all woke around 9ish. The great thing about Dubai is that the time difference is only three hours ahead of UK time, which fitted brilliantly with the kids' routine. We generally went to bed at 10pm and the kids would wake around 9am, which if you take the three hours off is exactly what they do at home, so no horrid jet lag to contend with.

The first morning, we had breakfast at Saffron, which is buffet style restaurant. I'd read lots about it being one of the top 10 buffets in Dubai, and whilst it was nice and the kids loved the sweet bar and chocolate fountain (yes, even it's even running at breakfast) it wasn't anything amazing.

After breakfast we visited the Imperial Club Lounge to see what we got as part of the upgrade we'd paid for. We were certainly impressed and I'd highly recommend upgrading. We got:

Access to the lounge for breakfast, afternoon tea, canapés and alcoholic beverages (alcohol is really expensive to buy in the hotel) between 5pm-7pm

A dedicated check in and concierge desk

Complimentary daytime sessions at the kids club normally £40 a session - this is the first time our kids have ever been to a kids club on hol and they loved it and went for a couple of hours most afternoons

Special offers at the spa - mainly two for one

A dedicated Imperial Club area on the hotel's private beach

We paid around £280 to upgrade and it is definitely worth doing. With the alcohol, snacks, soft drinks and kids club sessions, we probably saved around £200 a day by having the upgrade.

On the first day we went to the pools, the beach and generally explored the hotel, which was amazing and themed around an underwater adventure.. The pools were huge and everywhere was just beautiful.

I'd been worried about the heat, but although it was hot it wasn't unbearable. Spending most of the day in the pool certainly helped!

The kids went to kids club from 4pm until 6pm, so we went and got ready for the evening, before heading to the Imperial Club Lounge for drinks at 5pm.

One thing we were surprised about was how much more relaxed Dubai now is about dress code. When we first visited, 10 years ago, Simon had to wear trousers and a shirt in the evening, even at the hotel. However, the Atlantis is much more relaxed and there is a real mix of super glam and more laid back casual.

On our first evening we'd made reservations at Gordan Ramsey's Bread Street Kitchen. We had to pay a supplement of £10 per adult, but it was well worth it. In fact, we enjoyed it so much we went back twice! I've decided to do a separate post on dining at the Atlantis, which I'll be posting shortly.

On the second day we went to Aquaventure, which is the hotel's own Waterpark. Guests staying at the hotel get complimentary access, as well as free use of towels in the park. The park was great. A fab mix of rides and a big lazy river, which links to the more exhilarating, but still child-friendly Rapids. The kids also loved the Torrent, which is basically a lazy river with waves. The kids play area was great too and catered for all our children in though Oscar is three years older than the twins. We tended to visit the Waterpark most days.

After day two the days pretty much followed a similar routine - breakfast around 9.30ish, waterpark/pool or beach, kids club for the kids around 3ish until 6pm, during which Simon and I would relax, enjoy a cocktail, get ready for the evening before heading to the Lounge around 5ish. At 6pm, we'd collect the kids and head back to the Lounge for an hour, before dinner at around 7.30pm. Dinner would take a couple of hours, so we'd then head to bed afterwards.

Mid-way through the week, we took the hotel's complimentary shuttle bus to The Mall of the Emirates, where Simon and Oscar had a couple of hours on the slope at Ski Dubai. The twins were pretty tired from the mornings antics, so they had a nice long nap in their buggy, allowing me to enjoy a Starbucks and read my book - bliss!

Normally on holiday we tend to venture out lots. However, this time we only went out once to the mall. The Atlantis has so many pools, restaurants and things to see and do that there was no need to go anywhere. They cater for families so well. The hotel is super family friendly, but at the same time has ultra luxurious surroundings and great restaurants meaning that adults feel just as spoilt as the kids.

We would love to go back, in fact we've already started looking for next year... Although it appears that the Atlantis no longer allow five in a room, so it looks like this might be our one and only trip to the, which makes me so sad! We all had an amazing time, we just wished we'd stayed longer, especially now as we might not be able to return!

So, have we managed to find a family-friendly alternative to the Las Vegas luxury we enjoyed pre-kids..? Absolutely, in fact, it might even have one up on Vegas as it has a beach!

Where's your favourite place to go on holiday with kids?

J x

We've always loved to travel. Before kids, we went on lots of amazing holidays and created so many amazing memories. New York, Hawaii, California, Vail, the Caribbean, Dubai, Hong Kong and Thailand are just a few of the places we visited. After kids, we've still managed to do a fair amount of holidaying, we've done a couple of long haul holidays, but have mainly stuck to Europe to take advantage of the short flight times.

However, if I had to choose my favourite and most memorable travel moment it would have to be a cruise on the Mexican Riviera (the western coast of Mexico) in 2003, for one very special reason, which I'll get to later.

*Please note #MyTravelMemory is quite old and we don't have any digital photo's of the trip so the photo's reflect their age - hopefully it adds to the effect!

Okay, so let me set the scene...

Simon and I had been dating for about nine months. We'd known each other for about five years and our families had been friends before we'd got together. In fact, our parents had previously been on a couple of cruises together. When we got together, our parents decided it would be good fun to all do a cruise together.

We added on a couple of nights in Los Angeles as a pre-cruise stay and had an amazing time exploring everything LA has to offer - I love the USA!

I'd cruised before, but Simon hadn't. Fortunately he loved it. Many people have a certain perception of what a cruise is like, particularly the younger generation, but actually cruises are a great way of exploring lots of places, whilst enjoying amazing food and facilities.

Anyway, although the trip itself was fantastic, there's a particular moment that makes this trip my most memorable, so here's without further ado...

A few nights into the cruise, Simon and I decided to dine at one of the restaurants on our own, rather than in the main dining room with our families. Simon had been acting a bit weird that evening. His slightly odd behaviour, coupled with the fact that he hadn't let me into the safe in our cabin for the whole trip, meant that I had a feeling something was going on.

We ate our meal, enjoyed some champagne and generally had a lovely time. After the meal we decided to go for a walk on the top deck. It was wonderful to feel the warm ocean breeze and look at the stars in the crystal clear sky.

After a spot of star gazing, Simon asked the question that would change our lives for ever...! Yep, that's the one! It didn't quite go as you see in the movies. It was more along the lines of, me: "I love you", followed by Simon: "Do you love me enough to be my wife?"! Not quite something you hear everyday! He pulled a beautiful diamond ring out of his pocket and, well I'm sure you can guess the rest..!

So, what about the rest of the trip...

Well, our families were delighted and being on a cruise provided the perfect surroundings for celebrating. We had a cake delivered to the table one evening, with the waiting staff singing "Happy Engagement to you..."; our cabin was decorated with balloons and a congratulations banner and we drank ALOT of champagne.

The places in Mexico we visited were all pretty amazing too. We stopped off at Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas (more partying/celebrating) and Mazatlan.

Definitely an amazing holiday and one that I'll certainly remember for a lifetime!

That's #MyTravelMemory. I'd now like to hear Stephanie's, Kara's and Nicolle's favourite travel memory too.

J xx

This post is my entry into the Celebrity Cruises #MyTravelMemory competition, the competition is open for entries until Sunday 31st January 2016. All you need to do is describe your favourite holiday memory in a blog post and tag three of your blogging friends to do exactly the same in order to be entered to win a 7 night cruise to make more incredible travel memories! For more information please visit the Celebrity Cruises blog here and here (for the terms and conditions) and good luck!

We've recently returned from our summer holiday, which was lovely. We went to a place called Benahavis, which is near Marbella. It's a beautiful spanish mountain village, which we first discovered three years ago. I'm planning on writing a blog post to tell you more about it as a place to visit, so keep your eyes peeled...

Our arrival was quite eventful as we had forgotten the twins travel cots and the airline had lost one of their car seats! Luckily there was a Mothercare type place 1 mile from the airport so we were able to buy what we needed (we claimed on our insurance for the car seat!), but once we arrived and got settled into our three storey townhouse we soon got into the holiday spirit.

The first week was just me, Simon and the kids. My Mum and Dad flew out for the second week.

We had a fantastic time doing lots of swimming, playing on the beach, drinking cocktails and eating lots of delicious food (so delicious that I put 9lbs on!!) - just what holidays should be! Here are a few pics (and some more words!)...

One of my nightly cocktails!

Enjoying the local park one afternoon.

Oscar with his 'pirate water'!

We went to Puerto Banus a couple of times and always finished at this fab (but expensive) bar, which is a pirate ship!

Whilst we were on holiday it was my birthday. We spent the morning at the beach, where we collected shells and built sandcastles. We then had lunch, with some prosecco at a gorgeous beach bar. Simon and Oscar had been to the local supermarket and picked up this lovely cake, so we had a mini party before we walked into the village for cocktails and a lovely meal - a perfect way to spend a birthday!

One day we went to Gibraltar for the day, which is about 45mins drive away from Benahavis. We had fish and chips and browsed around the high street shops. I always find it so bizarre to see an M&S!

Our favourite bar - Chico's. I think below might be the reason why - super G&Ts!

We all had an amazing time, I just can't believe it was three years ago we first went to Benahavis. The twins were only six months old! I hope we make many more happy memories there!

J x