It’s been a rough few weeks for me (and the kids). With an exodus of friends, I’ve been finding
myself already in hibernation mode. I’ve
had no desire to leave the house (not to mention it’s a million degrees in
Barcelona these days) and so it’s been a bit of a catch-22. Yes, we’re just chilling and relaxing but we
are also totally up each others’ asses.
The kids and I have been at each others throats for weeks and yet, I
just haven’t cared enough to do much about it. I know it’s a mentality that needs to change
and I keep telling myself when school starts again things will be better.
But things are already looking up. On Saturday we left for our family vacation
to Menorca, an island just off the coast of Barcelona, a mere 30 minute
flight. I’ve never seen Aidan so excited
about a flight – mainly because he couldn’t actually believe that a flight
could be that short. And it was. I actually dared to turn on my ipod for a
moment only for the captain to announce we had to shut off all electronics as
we prepared to land – I wasn’t even a full song in… yes, that short of a
flight.
Walking thru Barcelona airport on the way to our gate...
Josh sits with the kids on non trans-Atlantic flights - that's the price you pay for me flying with pukey kid every year by myself....
Waiting for our bags
The owners of the villa we rented seemed to think that it
was going to take us 3 hours to get from the airport to them, yet the island is
a mere 30 miles (need to confirm this info) long so not sure if they were
anticipating that there was going to be that much traffic or what??? We got a better idea of why when we were in
baggage claim. Let’s just say it’s a
good thing we rent through Sixt and not Europacar. The Europacar line had AT LEAST 50 people in
it waiting for car rentals.
Ours…none. Yeah, we were out of
there in less than 30 mins and on the road within 45 after securing our little
Opel for the week.
Oh and the car gods were shining down on us because we were
blessed with an automatic. Though
believe it or not, I was almost hoping for a manual because I knew that Menorca
was pretty flat and I thought I might get some practice in. But in reality, that probably wouldn’t have
happened anyways and I’m glad that we got the automatic so I can share (and
enjoy) in the driving.
However, even though it was an automatic, Josh chose to
drive on day 1 and given we got lost a few times, I’m thankful for that
one. And I will admit, the first time we
got lost was entirely my fault. You see,
on the contract from the owners was an address in bold. I assumed that was our address because it was
the only one in bold on the contract.
Makes sense right? Odd though
because my friend Ignasi, who is from here, could have sworn we were staying
Cala Blanca and not in Los Delfines, but no, that’s what the contract
said. So we were off to our villa. Only we got there and it wasn’t our villa
from the pictures we’d seen. Hmmmm… must
look at contract again. Oh, it’s where
it’s not bolded at the bottom that has our actual address. Of course!!!
Why didn’t I think of that!
Off again to attempt to find our villa. We found the neighborhood but couldn’t find
the house. They had the name of the
house next door (no where to be seen anywhere) on the contract but not an
actual street number – and just as an FYI, the house next door’s name is NOT
the one that’s listed on the contract which explains why we couldn’t find it. I called and they said they were waiting
outside. I even got out and was walking
around trying to find it. Eventually
after about another 30-40 minutes we found it.
And yes, it was just before 4 at this point, so I guess the owner was
right in the end. So much for getting
there at 2:30!
It was worth it though.
110% worth it. The views from our
villa are beyond stunning. And while the
views at our villa in Paxos, Greece (reference blog entry here) were equally
breathtaking, it was differently so. We
are perched upon a low cliff, on the first line as they call it. So literally, the pool to our villa, is on
the cliff (albeit a good 100 feet from the edge of the cliff thankfully). We look right out on to the beautiful
Mediterranean from the back of the house.
Well worth it!
Outside of our villa
Olives
Inside the villa
Living room with very badly placed IKEA light
And the piece de resistance... the pool with the amazing view of the Mediterranean!
View without Liam :)
Close up with flowers
Back of the villa
Checking out the local plants
I took a walk past the pool towards the water... rocks were porous which was interesting.
Climbing the outdoor shower
Josh went out in hunt of groceries and the kids and I jumped
in the pool. A mellow, chill afternoon
after the chaos of trying to find the villa.
We decided that since the Los Delfines area seemed to have a bunch of
(touristy) restaurants, we would go back there for dinner and we did. The restaurant, the Tahiti, was definitely
cheesy but the food was actually decent and bonus, they had a big screen tv
with kids cartoons playing, old school ones like Snagglepuss, Looney Toons and
more – exactly the kind of stuff our kids love and it kept them nicely
entertained.
Loving the pool...notice NO BUBBLE!
Josh with the kids after getting back from the store
About an hour before sunset
Enjoying their chocolate milkshakes
We ended the night early, preparing for a big day on Sunday
with my friend Ignasi and his surprise plans for us… I wonder what we are going
to do?????
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