Booking a ski holiday with children

We recently decided that we would book a ski holiday for the February half term week seeing as we live so close to the mountains then we thought we should take advantage of it! It wasn't an easy decision though as it can be so expensive, especially during this week and working out what to do with two young ones makes it quite a bit more complex to organise as well.

There are quite a few components that you need to think about when booking a ski holiday. Accommodation, ski lessons and child care. 

Firstly, accommodation. In previous years we've stayed in catered chalets which are really nice as all the cooking and cleaning gets done for you so it's a nice break. The downside is that they are expensive and in holiday weeks the prices double. I started searching for some places and was amazed to find nearly everything booked up. I knew people booked in early but I didn't think this early! A few more calls and I find out that all the English speaking ski schools are booked up for lessons and that all but one of the nanny agencies didn't have availability either. 

So, my key piece of advice is BOOK EARLY! A lady at a ski school told me all the enquiries started happening in September this year so I'm guessing this is a good time to book if you want your pick of the accommodation and ski schools.

A really helpful company I found was Family Friendly Ski. They have catered chalets and provide nannies at a very reasonable price, around £200 for full time care for the week which is great value. Unfortunately their catered chalet prices are more expensive so this is a trade off I guess. There are quite a few self catered apartments to choose from but again you need to get in early. On the official website for one of the ski resorts they had a link to apartments for rent in the area, about 50 or so and only 1 was available. We eventually found a self catering apartment on HomeAway that should work out well so we decided to try out this option. 

Your childcare options are either a nanny or a creche. A nanny is great in that you have lots of flexibility and they come to you rather than having to get the kids all ready and get them to the creche. Nearly all ski resorts have creches which is a good option but they only go up to a certain age, usually to 5 years old. Some of them can pick up your child from ski school and take them back to the creche for the afternoon.

In summary, when booking a ski holiday you need to book early and make sure that there is availability in all the things you want eg, childcare and lessons before confirming your accommodation. Last year we made the mistake of booking accommodation first and then realising that all the child care was fully booked and that you couldn't do group ski lessons for part weeks. But I'm glad we're all booked and looking forward to getting up into the mountains!

MP

Holiday Rental Essentials - Rubbish & Recycling

We both seem to be rather busy lately, already caught up with pre-Christmas, end of year activities and the blog posts have been rather patchy as a result. I still have two posts on Santorini and Mykonos in draft form and I will aim to get those out next week. Today, I am just briefly going to mention one other aspect of Greece you may not be familiar with and continue our series on holiday rental essentials.

If you have ever been to Greece you may recall that they don't flush toilet paper down their toilets. From hotels to restaurants to rental properties you will find a small bin next to each toilet for putting the paper in. This takes a bit of getting used to, but soon becomes second nature and really is not too much of a problem as the bins are usually emptied frequently. There are signs displayed in every bathroom explaining what the bins are for. When we rented a property a few years ago in Lefkada we were instructed to just empty the smaller bins in the property to a larger bin outside and the owner then removed this rubbish.

Rubbish can attract flies, wasps and other pests. A friend once rented out their property in Australia and had to deal with a lot of maggots when they returned after guests left. When I was younger and we rented a property in Canada we were told off by neighbours for leaving rubbish bags outside the door as it could attract bears!

So, our holiday rental essential advice for this week is to ensure that you have sufficient bins around your property and clear information about where to deposit rubbish and recycling. It could also be worth stating in the contract that disposal of rubbish is the guests' responsibility.

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48 hours in Strasbourg

A few weeks ago we took a drive to check out Strasbourg. Strasbourg sits right on the border of France / Germany and it really is a beautiful quaint little town. It's small enough that you can walk everywhere and perfect for a weekend trip. I will definitely try and come back for the Christmas markets for which it is famed for as I can imagine it would be stunning.

We stayed at the Hotel Suisse which I can not recommend enough. It was a cute hotel in an amazing location right next to the cathedral. The room was big with two double beds and enough room for a cot and was only 107 euros per night including a great breakfast.

The most obvious landmark here is the mesmerising Notre Dame. 

You can walk up to the top (330 steps!) for a great view.

The old town is based around the cathedral and I loved roaming the little alleys with their picturesque timber houses

A wander over to Petite France is a must. This little area is set along the river and looks straight out of a fairy tale.

Image via Wikipedia

There is good shopping here including a big Galleries Lafayette and Printemps. Food wise, a winstub is a traditional Alsation restaurant / pub. One night we tried out Chez Yvonne which served all the specialties such as sausage, ham hocks and I tried out the Coq au Riesling which was served in a delicious creamy sauce. Our last lunch was at Au Brasseur which we really enjoyed. It's a micro brewery which served food all day and has a relaxed atmosphere. This was my "salad" which was basically ham taken off the bone which was hiding a mass of fried potatoes and then a few leaves. Yum!

One morning we droved out to the city's big park called the Parc de L'Orangerie which is right next to the European Parliament. It was a great place for the kids with lots of play areas and a free mini zoo.

On the way home we took a quick detour on the Alsace wine route but we weren't very prepared for this so unfortunately I had no research on any good vineyards to visit but it was a very scenic drive and definitely warrants another trip

All in all, a very fun weekend in a great little atmospheric city!

MP

Happy Halloween!

Hope you are all having a spookily fun day! There is much excitement in our house with dress up day at school and two parties to go to over the next few days.

I offered to do some baking for the events and was trying to think of something Halloween themed to make. It has been quite last minute so I was going to attempt to make some spider infested chocolate chip cookies which is basically where you pipe legs and a head on to the chocolate chip which is used as a body. Unfortunately I couldn't find a nozzle thin enough anywhere! So this will have to do ...

 
I've used a recipe from a cooking book from my old school in New Zealand.

125 g butter
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 t vanilla essence
1 egg
1 3/4 c self raising flour, sifted
1/2 t salt
125 g chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease 2 baking trays. Cream butter, sugars and vanilla in a bowl. Add the egg, beating well. Mix in the flour and salt. Add the chocolate chips and mix well to combine. Shape teaspoonsful of the mixture into small balls and place on tray. Allow room for spreading. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes.

 
Wishing you a happy Halloween!

MP

Greece Trip Part One - Athens

We took a bit of a gamble taking our main summer holiday so late in the year, but it turned out to be one of our best holidays yet even though the pools were rather chilly. The weather in late September and early October was ideal for lounging around and sightseeing.

We flew into Athens and decided to get the train from the airport to Monastiraki station as it is a direct line, taking around 40 minutes. Unfortunately we missed a train by a matter of seconds and had to wait 30 minutes for the next one. It was a short walk from the station to our hotel and we were there soon enough, despite initially setting out in the wrong direction as both myself and my husband are hopeless with maps!

We stayed at the Fresh Hotel, which kept cropping up in the various articles I read about Athens and proved to be an excellent base. Upon arrival we were quickly shown our room and we then went on up to the roof terrace for our first view of the Acropolis and a quick meal at the hotel restaurant.

The following morning we had breakfast at the hotel (it was included) and then set off for the Acropolis. A short walk from our hotel we came across the Roman Agora and discovered that the ancient sites were going to be free for the day. We headed on up the hill towards the Acropolis. There was a place to leave buggies (for free) at the base of the climb, so we did that and then walked on up the path.

The view of the city of Athens gets better and better as you climb and follow the path that takes in the various ruins that are collectively known as the Acropolis. It was great to walk around up there and take in the scale of the structures and try to fathom their age and history.

We headed back down the hill and walked around until we found a place (School Pizza Bar) for lunch. The rest of the day was spent relaxing up on the roof terrace at the hotel. The top level of the hotel consists of an all-day bar and restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating and a small pool area with loungers. The sunset view was pretty good from up there!

That night we just headed downtown again and found somewhere (Melilotos) to go for dinner.

The next day after breakfast we sat in the sun by the pool, then I took my daughter for a walk to buy our ferry tickets and then across to the playground in the National Garden.

Later that afternoon we walked down to one of the spots that I had read did the best souvlaki in Athens. Not to be confused, with a place by the same name, we tried Kostas on Agias Irinis Square. The place is tiny and very basic, when we arrived there was a short queue out the door.

The souvlaki were delicious, in fact I am thinking of them now as I write this!

We walked back up to the hotel and marvelled at how different the surrounding area was on a Monday afternoon, as compared to Sunday night. There are huge food markets on Athinas Street and the area was bustling with hundreds of people.

That evening we went up to the Acropolis for sunset as I wanted to get some photos of the Parthenon and the other structures with a blue sky background as it had been cloudy on our visit the previous morning.

We had a really early ferry to catch the following morning, so we decided just to eat at the hotel again that evening.

For me, our time in Athens was a perfect combination of sightseeing combined with relaxation. I didn't have a huge list of restaurants or bars that I wanted to try and found that eating at the hotel and other places that we came across worked really well. It is definitely a city I would return to as I don't think I could ever tire of looking at the majestic marble structures that are spread around the city and I am keen to explore some more on my next visit.

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Images all my own.

Toy Storage Solutions

Currently all my daughters' toys are stored in big plastic boxes in our living area which is starting to annoy me a bit! I know I'll have to keep a few of their toys out here but I'm looking into storage solutions for their room so that the bulk of the toys can go in there.

It's hard to go beyond the white cube shelving as it's so practical and I like that you can hide things away in the baskets.

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I know those 8 shelves are going to fill up pretty quickly so you could put 2 of them side by side like the image below but I think that would take up too much space in their room. And I'm not hugely keen on stacking them on top of each other as they love to climb up to reach things at the moment and I have visions of it toppling down!

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I saw this as an option from the Great Little Trading Company. I like the deep drawers, nice and big to hold lots of things.

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Also from the Great Little Trading Company are the Northcote Storage Units which can be combined to create different sized units.

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A quick search on Google didn't offer too many other solutions that I liked. Anyone out there with any ideas?!

MP

Images: 1, 2, 3 & 4

Holiday Rental Essentials - A Smooth 'Check-In' (and Welcome Drinks!)

We have recently returned from two weeks in Greece. On this trip we stayed in five different places and overall we were really impressed with the friendliness and helpfulness of everyone we encountered at the various hotels. A full trip report will be coming soon, today I just briefly wanted to talk about one aspect of our experience and how it can relate to a holiday rental.

We arrived at one hotel by taxi, laden down with luggage and groceries (as this place had a full kitchen) and went to the reception to check in. After the usual check in procedure with passports etc, the owner then pulled out a map of the island and proceeded to show us all the best beaches, things to do and tavernas to try. This took about twenty minutes and was interrupted at one point when he needed to answer a phone call. The information that we were given was really appreciated - we tried two of the recommended restaurants and had a great experience at both of them. However, it was the timing of the information that wasn't the best. I found that I was going to need to peel myself off the sofa by the end of the talk. When I arrive somewhere, I like to be shown to our room as quickly as possible. It is always nice to unload all of your luggage and freshen up before having a look around the hotel.

By contrast, at our final hotel we used their transfer service and were greeted at the port with a bottle of water and then at the hotel with a glass of Champagne. We were shown quickly to our room, given a brief tour of the room and then left to our own devices. The staff throughout the hotel were then always available throughout our stay to offer advice on sightseeing and restaurants.

So, this week's holiday rental essential is to ensure that your guests have a quick and easy 'check in'. If you are meeting them in person to hand over the keys to the property, make sure that it is fast and simple. Have all of your additional tips and information typed up for them to consult at their leisure and perhaps offer to pop back in after they have settled in if they want more information on things to do and see in the area. A welcome drink - whether it is cold water, a glass of homemade lemonade, beer, wine or a cocktail is also a very nice touch!

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