Postcard from Majorca

Well, not quite but that was my intention. I got on the net last night at the hotel (around 9.30pm while Lily was at Fred's Pirate Party and MK was putting Charlotte to bed) but I couldn't get into blogger. So no blog update on holiday...but we got back tonight so this is the next best thing.

Had a really good time. Have to say, rememebered the day we arrived that I don't actually like sun/sand/sea holidays. Being in the sun makes me stressed about sunburn, don't like sand sticking to me (and C displayed some of these anti-sand, weirdo traits too) and I'm not a water lover so combining the sun and sand with the sea does nothing for me. So after the first afternoon spent on the beach, in the hot sun, right on the edge of the sea I didn't go back. Well, I did but only to walk along the path that runs along the beach edge.

Lily on the other hand really enjoyed the sand and sea. So much on the first afternoon she got into the water, then lay flat out on the sand. Where it all stuck to her. How could she, uggghhh. Thankfully MK enjoys the sand and sea too, so they did these things together. Charlotte made lots of noise about wanting the beach, but when she was there (one time when it was just her and MK), she was carried for the majority of the time. Didn't like getting sand in her shoes. This I can understand. But she did love the pool, which MK also enjoys so they spent more of their time there. After the first day, I didn't put my bathers back on. Just as happy reading my book on a sunlounger in the shade by the pool (a friend lent me 'Janice Gentle gets sexy' by Mavis Cheek which I finished yesterday).

On Wednesday morning, Lily joined the children's club (Bam-Bam Club, 5yo-8yo) and she did all of their activities from then on. Every morning (10.30am-1pm), every afternoon (3pm-5pm) and every evening (8.30pm till whenever the activity finished). We took Charlotte to the baby club (Baby Rock Club 4mths-4yo) on Wednesday morning but she cried so we didn't leave her. Tried again on Thursday morning and this time she stayed. Till they phoned us saying she was crying asking for Mummy. Friday morning was a better and by this morning she was happy as a clam. We'd normally drop her off around 11am (after dropping Lily off) and aim to pick her up around 1pm when we collected Lily.

Lily loved her club and made several friends. One of them, Ofelia from Malaga, was very unhappy when we left today and wanted Lily to come home with her. She was probably the nicest friend, the other couple being Poms. Nothing wrong with that! Except they weren't as...sweet, as Ofelia :)

Lily's club cost 23euros for 3 days (plus this morning which was 10euros for one day). Charlotte's club was open all day and was 2euros per hour in the morning, and free in the afternoon. So we were only paying 4euros for Charlotte.

The food was amazing. Breakfast from 8am till 10.30am and dinner from 6.30pm till 10pm. It was buffet, and each night had a different theme. Tuesday night was Majorrcan and it was great. After that, Mexican and Asian. Plus the sort of food Poms would eat...chips, meat, salad etc. Icecream and lots of goodies for dessert. And fruits and cheeses. For breakfast there was cereals, cold meats, cheeses, salad, bread, pastries, scrambled eggs, tomatoes, sausages, bacon, black pudding, made to order eggs (omlettes, poached), fruit, cheeses. On the first morning or two there was also churros and hot chocolate (Spanish style, really thick) but thankfully that stopped. The dining room was always packed (and often a queue to get in, the later in the morning or evening it got) but food was always there and there was plenty to go around. Each morning I made ham and cheese rolls for our lunch, and took a couple of croissants for Charlotte. Needless to say, beyond the first day, we didn't buy lunch. In fact we only bought bottled water and diet cokes.

We were in walking distance to the shops and there was a Spar (supermarket) close by. On Wednesday morning MK, Charlotte and I did some exploring (lots of shops selling 'tat') and on Thursday morning MK and I went back by ourselves. But nothing really to get us back there again. Except this morning when we had an hour in between finishing the packing and picking the girls up. We walked along the beach (well, the footpath next to the beach!) then back to the hotel along the shops.

Weather was warm and sunny up until yesterday. Friday was pretty windy and overcast, although it cleared later. Today was much more overcast, a bit windy and there was a bit of rain. Not cool though, still t-shirt weather. Funny when we returned home tonight at 7.30pm it was sunny and warm...better weather than Majorca.

We've had late nights, as have the girls. The entertainment was really good and there was always something to look forward to. I've never been to this sort of place (with the entertainment all day in-house...maybe we don't have them in Australia?) but I know the Poms are very familiar with it. I wonder how they'd compare it to other places like it? There was a lot of families with small children, some couples and a fair amount of much older people. We sort of kept to ourselves...with nose buried in book!

Back to everyday life now...no more buffet breakfasts and dinners. Thank god, not good for me at all plus I did no exercise. And I can see how it would get a bit much day in, day out with all that food in the one place at the same time. I poked my head into the dining room today when lunch was on (1pm-3pm) and it looked very similar to dinner. This is what we would have been eating every day if we'd gone full board, instead of half board. Yikes. Geez, ham and cheese roll was enough for us.