Category: Phil

Easter Sunday was very pleasant.  The wind had died down a little a the church bell was ringing across the air as we made our way to the Sunday service.  We didn’t expect to understand much of the liturgy but in fact it seems like the priest was in a hurry as 32 mins later we were walking out again. No hymns no special bits for children.  We sauntered back the long way and planned what to do before the afternoon trip to the beach. I was determined to try out the gopro underwater in the sea.

We had lunch and a game of UNO.  Luke won both times,  he is scary at UNO and chess. Susie was grumpy she had to keep picking cards up.

We all rocked up at the beach to find it fairly busy.  Still a few degrees cooler than you would choose but plenty of people building sandcastles and starting off a tan.

When finally we had played enough on the playa I made a decision to go in the sea.  Not a light hearted one either since I would be the only bather.  Then just as I was changing my mind Emma runs into the sea.  I go knee deep and shiver.  Can you be out manned by your 9 year old daughter? I thought not too!  I jumped under and 30 seconds later after cancelling the ambulance I took the gopro into the frozen waist deep brine. You can see the results.  Above water it is very convincing, below it is somewhat blurry.  The fish were there I promise!

Then after filling the bath with sand we headed out to a restaurant that was supposed to have great paella. We got to “Meson son caliu” at 18:00 and were asked if we wanted to eat.  “yes please” we answered in garbled Spanglish. We were then presented with a bar menu with burgers etc. A glance to Jenni and we had to admit defeat.  It had taken a while to get here and the kids were hungry.  We ordered 3 adult meals as our appetite has adapted to leave space for dessert and while waiting I went round to see that we had entered the bar adjoining the restaurant we were recommended!  Grrr.  On enquiry they explained the restaurant does not open until 19:00.  We were shown the other menu and this did have paella on it.  Settled, we had another round of drinks, served the kids the bar meals and then moved to the restaurant for our paella and desserts for the kids.  It turned out really well although we are stuffed now and on the way home we sang along to Sir mix-a-lot “I like big butts”.  Definitely one I should have previewed before airing it to Emma.  It seemed so innocent in Shark Tale 🙂

Very overcast today and with a biting onshore breeze.  It is also Good Friday and therefore we are killing time until the Ecumenical service at the local catholic church.  Whomever had the bright idea to put children’s play parks at every 200m or so throughout the resort should be knighted.  We spend some time learning to grapple the fireman’s pole and watching Grannys in their Sunday best parading along the pavement round the bay.  Following the service which was evidently cobbled together in part Spanish and part English we make our way back to the apartment for lunch.  We need a new plan for the afternoon.  We settle on Mini Golf.  The children are very excited.  We pay for 18 holes.  There is a serious risk that given our expertise at golf we will end up being here after dark!  As it happens we only lost one ball in the waterfall and after coaching Luke that it is not necessary to break the world record yardage at a single stroke we let some people go in front and find a rhythm.  Emma seems to have quite a natural knack for putting, Luke turns on the tiger for the 17th and gets a hole in one.   You couldn’t put a name to the ecstasy written on his face.   Suffice to say we stopped recording the score with the tiny pencil and paper.

Looking for somewhere to eat tonight turned into a longer adventure than planned.  It is quite difficult to find a restaurant that doesn’t cater for the British appeal for loads of meat and beer.  The beehive or La Colemina is a good spot with a reasonable selection of meals.  We have a swordfish, a lasagne, escalope and Spanish omelette and mix it up a bit between the children.  Luke doesn’t like swordfish after all 🙂

It is quite late but we cannot put the children to bed because Luke is reading “Chester’s back” to Susie and they are incapable of getting past the middle without collapsing into fits of laughing.  It is the best noise!

We have woken up, not to the forecast rain but sunny spells which for April we feel unable to argue with.  The hotel room has the perfect and unique smell of a Spanish package holiday apartment.  It is probably how the linen is cleaned or the floors mopped but it is unmistakeable and yet indescribable.

First up is breakfast which we decide to eat in for.   Off to the local shop “eroski” – how do they come up with these names?  Reminds me of a van I saw last week with the sign writing “dave’s specialist erections”.

The beach is wonderful and when I get to upload this I will show what we saw. The kids were amazed that the sand appears to be made of crushed seashells.  I could only get Susie away from the edge of the rock by shouting “crab!”

We headed for a walk towards Magaluf this afternoon out spotting the potential meal and ice cream venues.  Only stuff open at this time of day is “British” pub or cafe.  We did find some great parks for the kids though.

Gutted that the restaurant we chose for its Menu del dia was only available during the late afternoon and that by 6 it had finished.  Never mind, pizza all round and then back to the ice cream parlour.  On the way back we played chase.  I was on Susie’s team.  I said “lets go!” Susie said “its not Banana Time!”.  Overall we managed pretty well following the delays last night that caused our 15:40 flight to arrive at gone 22:00!  We get the impression that the lack of a specific schedule will even out the stresses of life with 3 children in unfamiliar surroundings with strange food and travel woes.