What we did on our holiday by Mr HodgePodgeDays

My husband is famously a man of few words, but he kindly volunteered to put pen to paper and write about what we did on our holiday this October Half Term. We stayed at the Sol Katmandu in Majorca, courtesy of Jet2 Holidays. It’s always interesting for me to see things from his point of view, but it looks like he had a good time…

Being self-employed has its ups and downs. I am my own boss and I answer to no-one, but on the flip side I am totally responsible for everything at work. If I ever think about taking a sickie, the boss knows about it straight away.

Because I work for myself, I’ve had to work some long hours recently to get things ship shape before our first family holiday abroad. Over the October Half Term we packed our bags and went on a family holiday to Majorca courtesy of Jet2. It was eagerly anticipated, especially by the little fella as it was going to be his first time on a plane.

On departure day we woke early at 4am as the flight was due to depart at 6.30am. We jumped in a taxi and headed off to the airport. The check in at the airport and passing through security was a doddle and soon we were relaxing in the departure lounge with a coffee and sausage butty.

We didn’t have long to wait before our flight was called and we made our way to the gate and boarded the plane. I did wonder at this point if the little fella would be a bit scared by it all, but he was happy as Larry and took it all in his stride. He loved the flight, especially the take off, and soon we were landing in Majorca which again put a big smile on his face.

Sol Katmandu Hotel, Majorca with Jet2Holidays

 

The transfer to the hotel was a breeze. We were staying at the 4* the Sol Kathmandu in Magaluf. The hotel was excellent, our only quibble was the lack of a balcony which we could sit out on, but I think everyone will always find something not to their satisfaction. 

After we’d unpacked in our room, the lad wanted to go exploring as he’d seen the three outdoor swimming pools on our way into the hotel and couldn’t wait to get in the water, and his dad couldn’t wait to get on a sun lounger.

What we did on our holiday

If you want to know what we did on our holiday, most of our days were spent relaxing by the pools; sometimes all of us splashing about in the water, sometimes Ben in the water with the new friends he’d made, while his parents topped up their tans, read their books and had a glass of sangria or two.

Twenty-four hours into the holiday, both my better half and I said that we definitely more relaxed in a hotel abroad than on our usual holidays in Devon. We usually go self-catering and in Devon we are the small boy’s only source of entertainment.

It was so nice to be away and to only have to think about when next to apply sun cream and not about the stresses of work, if only for a week. It was nice to spend time with my family, especially the missus, instead of rushing around badgering the boy to get dressed, or going back to work in the evenings to catch up with stuff.

What we did on our holiday

Here’s to our next holiday abroad, which hopefully won’t be too far away. Thank you to the Sol Katmandu for putting up with us and Jet2 for getting us there and back safely and efficiently.

-What we did on our holiday by Matthew, aged 41 and a half

Days Out: Manchester Airport Viewing Park

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to win a family holiday from Jet2. We were beyond excited about this news as we’ve not been abroad since before the small boy was born. Keen to build holiday excitement levels further we hot footed it down to the Manchester Airport Viewing Park to spend a few hours watching the planes.

The Runway Visitors Park is free to visit but you will have to pay to park there. It’s only £5 for two hours which is I admit a lot for parking, but if you think of it as two hours of watching the planes and exploring the visitors park for a whole family, then it’s a bit of a bargain.

The Manchester Airport Viewing Park has some open air viewing platforms which you can go and stand and watch the planes as they take off and land. Manchester is quite a busy airport, so you don’t have to stand there for long before seeing some airplane action.

There are quite a few different retired airplanes in the park, most famous of all is the Concorde G-BOAC which is housed in a special hangar and you need to be part of a tour to go and see, so we didn’t. But we did have a look inside the Trident, the AVRO RJX and the DC-10.

The interior of the planes fascinated the boy who has never been in one before. He especially loved looking at the cockpits and wondering what all the buttons did.

Manchester Airport Viewing Park

We stopped for coffee at the “Concorde Restaurant and Coffee House” which was decent but very busy. There are lots of picnic tables outside, so on a nice day you could happily sit with your own flask of tea and sandwiches if you wanted. There is also a children’s play area which is free to use, though there is a small charge if you want to use the bouncy castle etc.

We think that the Manchester Airport Viewing Park is a good place to visit on a sunny day, it’s certainly interesting and the planes are good to explore, with information and staff on hand to ask any questions. The small boy enjoyed it and he’s now got a better idea of what the inside of a plane looks like. Visiting the park is a great way to prepare children for their first flight, or a place to explore the world of aviation. 

For more information about the Manchester Airport Viewing Park visit the website.