It was Tony’s parents Ruby Wedding Anniversary and on the 26th April they held dinner & drinks in a hotel in Derbyshire to celebrate with family & friends. We hired a car and drove up the Friday night, which seemed strange as I am currently in the process of getting my UK drivers licence so every time I have been in a car this year I have had a driving instructor next to me – I quickly fell back into my old driving habits which won’t help when I sit my test next week!
We took full advantage of being in the area by going to the theme park Alton Towers during the day. Both the kids weren’t tall enough to go on the big & new thrill rides and between them both found most of the rides we went on were too scary or not scary enough! Strangely enough they sit had a fantastic day! Tony and I, who both love theme parks and all rides, came to the conclusion that having the kids with us on rides meant that the whole time we were worried about how they were feeling meant we couldn’t quite relax and enjoy it fully – don’t get me wrong we had a great day too but are definitely making plans for us to go back child-free!
Oh another achievement of the weekend, i drove on my favourite motorway the M6 toll and clocked 100 miles per hour again, I easily get used to the faster driving over here :)
The Anniversary do was good as well and we made sure we were back at the hotel ready in time otherwise we would have been in serious trouble, plus Tony was a signatory for the bar tab!
So the eventfulness of this year has already begun and is continuing very soon as my mum and her partner arrive from Australia next week, so I imagine it will be nonstop for a month while they are here.
Sunday 4 May 2008
Monday 21 April 2008
Spain - Family Holiday
After eagerly waiting since October last year, it was finally time to head off to Spain. We had booked 10 days in Fuengirola on the Costa de Sol, Southern Spain to try and guarantee some sunshine so early in the year.
Heavy showers welcomed us and it managed to rain solidly for the first 3 days. We tried to make the most of it by getting shopping and bits & pieces out of the way on those days.
On the first day a couple of British resort reps descended on us handing out scratch cards on which I managed to scratch off the “top prize”, we were whisked away in their car to the resort in which we were supposed to sit through a 90 minute talk about their holiday club (kind of like timeshare) and then claim the prize. Well 90 minutes lasted about 3 hours but we did come away with a bottle of Cava, a bottle of Bacardi, a free holiday (after reading the fine print we may not be able to use!) and a chauffeured drive around the area – so it wasn’t all bad.
The rain stopped and we ended up with a week of sunshine which was fantastic. We visited the local zoo, a theme park and lazed around the pool. Where we stayed was like a mini England, it was a strange concept to me to be in a foreign country and mostly hear English spoken with British accents, but was a nice place nonetheless. We ate well each night out, lots of seafood including Paella which I had been looking forward to having again, and we easily fell into the Spanish ways of life – sleep ins, buffet style lunches and siesta’s in the afternoons and staying out late for dinner & drinks, the way a good holiday should be.
The pictures are up on the photo page of the website.
Heavy showers welcomed us and it managed to rain solidly for the first 3 days. We tried to make the most of it by getting shopping and bits & pieces out of the way on those days.
On the first day a couple of British resort reps descended on us handing out scratch cards on which I managed to scratch off the “top prize”, we were whisked away in their car to the resort in which we were supposed to sit through a 90 minute talk about their holiday club (kind of like timeshare) and then claim the prize. Well 90 minutes lasted about 3 hours but we did come away with a bottle of Cava, a bottle of Bacardi, a free holiday (after reading the fine print we may not be able to use!) and a chauffeured drive around the area – so it wasn’t all bad.
The rain stopped and we ended up with a week of sunshine which was fantastic. We visited the local zoo, a theme park and lazed around the pool. Where we stayed was like a mini England, it was a strange concept to me to be in a foreign country and mostly hear English spoken with British accents, but was a nice place nonetheless. We ate well each night out, lots of seafood including Paella which I had been looking forward to having again, and we easily fell into the Spanish ways of life – sleep ins, buffet style lunches and siesta’s in the afternoons and staying out late for dinner & drinks, the way a good holiday should be.
The pictures are up on the photo page of the website.
Thursday 28 February 2008
Prague - Weekend Away!
On Valentines night Tony and I flew to Prague for a long weekend away together. As with most things we do it was not without some dramas! Our flight from Heathrow ended up being delayed by 2 hours, which meant we didn’t actually touch down in Prague until about midnight. We eventually found the taxi booked to meet us and we headed off towards the hotel. When we arrived at the hotel something seemed amiss as it appeared locked up and under construction. It turns out there were renovations taking place and we had been booked into a sister hotel, however when the woman on the front desk was trying to explain this to us she frequently used the phrase “I have to explain the situation” before actually giving us any information which did start to worry us! The taxi driver in the meantime had been called back to take us to the other hotel, thankfully as when we arrived the grumpy old man on the front desk didn’t appear to have any information about the change. He reluctantly gave us a key and brief directions to a shop that would be open and we finally managed to settle into our room at 1:00am.
We really enjoyed our time in Prague; we were in awe of the buildings especially in the old town square and the castle and enjoyed trying local dishes and drinks. On our first full day we stumbled across the “Beer Factory” which has beer taps on each table! We sampled the local soup which is actually served in a huge bread roll and realised we had well & truly over ordered when ½ roast duck each was brought to our table – check out the pictures on our photos page!
The Saturday night was also my birthday and we celebrated by booking a dinner cruise. Most of the tables were full so we invited another English couple to sit with us otherwise they were either going to be split up or sharing with an Italian couple nearby who, it would seem, would not appreciate sharing the table. We ended up having a great time and got along with them really well. After the cruise finished we all ended up at a cocktail bar near Charles Bridge until we were kicked out at closing time!
So we had a fantastic time of resting, eating, sightseeing & drinking and managed to visit a place that was at the top of both of our lists of places we want to see! On the countdown now until our 10 days in Spain, bring on April!
We really enjoyed our time in Prague; we were in awe of the buildings especially in the old town square and the castle and enjoyed trying local dishes and drinks. On our first full day we stumbled across the “Beer Factory” which has beer taps on each table! We sampled the local soup which is actually served in a huge bread roll and realised we had well & truly over ordered when ½ roast duck each was brought to our table – check out the pictures on our photos page!
The Saturday night was also my birthday and we celebrated by booking a dinner cruise. Most of the tables were full so we invited another English couple to sit with us otherwise they were either going to be split up or sharing with an Italian couple nearby who, it would seem, would not appreciate sharing the table. We ended up having a great time and got along with them really well. After the cruise finished we all ended up at a cocktail bar near Charles Bridge until we were kicked out at closing time!
So we had a fantastic time of resting, eating, sightseeing & drinking and managed to visit a place that was at the top of both of our lists of places we want to see! On the countdown now until our 10 days in Spain, bring on April!
Tuesday 1 January 2008
Happy 2008
Yes quite late into the year for the first blog of 2008! I promised myself that I would keep this news section up to date on a regular basis - I should have known better!
So the rest of 2007 was a bit of a write off. My mum came over for a visit in October which was great. She finally got to she where I have been living for that couple of years and I was taken out for lunch everyday which is a bonus.
At the end of October I had an operation to try and correct and older procedure I had a few years ago - this should have only been about a 2 week recovery period but, as most of you will know by now, I didn’t actually heal until the end of January this year!
We are in the process of getting Tony set up to start his own business. Once he is up & running he will be a one stop IT solution provider for individuals & small to medium businesses. This is being set up via a govt organisation so there is a 16 week program to follow but we cant wait - he will be doing something he loves and can work from home. Check out www.httpsds.com !
With some holidays booked and Australian visitors arriving this year, together with the possibility of buying a car (if I pass my driving test!) 2008 is shaping up to be quite a good one for the Hitchinson’s :)
So the rest of 2007 was a bit of a write off. My mum came over for a visit in October which was great. She finally got to she where I have been living for that couple of years and I was taken out for lunch everyday which is a bonus.
At the end of October I had an operation to try and correct and older procedure I had a few years ago - this should have only been about a 2 week recovery period but, as most of you will know by now, I didn’t actually heal until the end of January this year!
We are in the process of getting Tony set up to start his own business. Once he is up & running he will be a one stop IT solution provider for individuals & small to medium businesses. This is being set up via a govt organisation so there is a 16 week program to follow but we cant wait - he will be doing something he loves and can work from home. Check out www.httpsds.com !
With some holidays booked and Australian visitors arriving this year, together with the possibility of buying a car (if I pass my driving test!) 2008 is shaping up to be quite a good one for the Hitchinson’s :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
