Just after our big France trip last summer, I hit my third trimester, which meant I was no longer allowed to fly. I also quickly became huge and uncomfortable, so other than our short weekend getaway, train travel wasn't appealing either - so we were done traveling for a bit. Since the whole reason we moved abroad was to travel, I was desperately anxious to get moving again as soon as possible. It took much longer than expected to get the baby's documents together - we had to apply for a birth certificate, and then use that to apply for a passport, and then use that to apply for a resident visa - which just finally arrived when he was about 5 months old. So then we were finally ready to book our first trip with him. We just wanted to take it easy, so we started with a beach getaway to Majorca.
The Spanish island of Majorca
Getting There
The part I was most worried about was the travel, of course, but it turned out to be pretty easy. We wanted to avoid carrying a huge baby carseat with us, so we planned it to ensure that he would never need to get in a car. We split up, so that I took him in the carrier to the bus stop, which took us to the train station, while Spouso and the kiddo took an uber with all the bags. Once at the train station, it's a quick ride to the airport. He was happy as can be in the carrier and fell asleep through all of the airport security chaos. They were both fine on the plane- the baby mostly stayed asleep or happily watching the window, while the kiddo has become an expert, and knew that if he waited until the plane reached cruising altitude, he could watch a show on the iPad. Then, once we landed, we had arranged a car to pick us up with two carseats, and take us to the resort. Easy peasy.
at the train station - ready to go!
happy baby on a train
happy baby on a plane
this looks worse than it was.
Sunny Days at the Resort
The first day was lovely. We were able to switch between spending some time at the massive pool and playing on the beach. It was chilly to be in the water, but the kiddo jumped right into the pool, and even took his first attempt at swimming in the sea - riding a few waves and splashing around. The baby put his feet in the sand for the first time and the kiddo made some sand castles (we made sure there would be a sandy beach not a pebbly one). All in all- just lovely and what we were hoping for.
view from our room
too cold for me - but you go right ahead
exploring the sand for the first time
so much better with sand than pebbles
almost quiet and relaxing
sand castles!
Rainy Days at the Resort
Well - that part ended quickly. The next day we woke up to cold, rainy weather, that stayed with us till it was time to go home. We did our best to make use of the indoor facilities at the hotel- we found an indoor pool and had it almost to our selves until everyone else had the same idea. Then we explored the kids' room, which turned out to be for younger kids, but was fun for a few minutes. Mostly, we just killed time from one meal to the next, and were glad we'd brought some games along with us.
children's play room - not sure which age group this was meant for
a quick break in the rain - but stormy clouds ahead
a quick walk while the rain stopped
playing games in the hotel bar
The Food
So, when we travelled to Spain a few years ago (pre-kids), we were blown away by the food. The tapas, the seafood, it was all just lovely. So part of planning our trip to Majorca was assuming that we would get nice Spanish food. Not so. It turns out we sort of accidentally booked an all-inclusive family friendly resort, which meant there was just this massive cafeteria that had a huge buffet of pasta, french fries, and lots and lots of ice cream. It was as loud as an elementary school lunch room and felt about as sophisticated. We learned how to find the better options, but basically the food was just disappointing at every meal. Except of course, for our preschooler, who was just as happy as can be.
ice cream
ice cream
and more ice cream
Splitting it Up
It turned out to be really hard to get anything done around the baby's schedule - mostly because he likes to eat every 2 hours and take a nap every 2 hours - and wouldn't nap anywhere but in the room. Fairly quickly it became easier to just split up - one of us would stay with the baby in the room while the other took the kiddo to get food or go to the pool. Unfortunately, there wasn't any room service, so sometimes the room-parent would miss out and have to scrounge for snacks. Of course, the alcohol was also all inclusive, so that ended up being a saving grace.
double fisting while wearing a baby.
Conclusions/ Lessons Learned
So the part I was most worried about - the travel bits - turned out to be fine. Instead, I should've worried a little more about what we were going to do during the day. It didn't occur to me that there could be rainy weather and we'd be stuck in the room. I'm so glad I threw in a few small games (dominoes and memory), and will definitely bring more the next time. As far as the food thing goes, I think we've learned our lesson not to stay at an all inclusive again. I wish instead we had stopped at a grocery store to pick up a few small things for breakfast and lunch that we could eat in the room together. For dinner, these guys are fine at a restaurant, so that would have been much nicer for us. I think the whole goal of this trip (other than to relax, which clearly never gets to happen) was to get confident with traveling all together - and I think that part was a success. So, we have some short day trips lined up and our next international trip already booked.
No comments:
Post a Comment