I woke to the sound of my phone ringing.  We missed the call but it was my twin sister calling to wish me a happy birthday (and vice versa).  I got up so I could get the computer to Skype her and managed to catch her inbetween juggling her job and kids.  Happy Birthday!  The boys gave me a card and Patrick informed me that Dad (Steve) forgot the chocolates!  I set out for a...

The day after arriving in London I had a date to catch up with a friend in Oxford.  Actually Sarah is my twin sister’s friend but that is the bonus of having a twin … extra friends.  I left the boys at the hostel and walked to the bus stop at 7.50 am.  I wanted to get an early start so I could really enjoy my day out in Oxford.  Sarah had given me great directions on how to...

The alarm went off at 6 am and by 6.30 am we had packed up; eaten breakfast and handed in our key to reception at the world’s noisiest youth hostel.  We weren’t sad to go since we’d had another sleepless night.  Our flight wasn’t boarding until 10.10 am but it is always nice to be early at the airport and we weren’t 100% sure of the process in getting there.  It turned out...

We woke after a crappy night of sleep in the noisiest backpacker hostel ever; in fact the same can be said for every morning after sleeping at the Center Ramblas Hostel in Barcelona – you have been warned.  We had a free breakfast every morning and again, it should be free. If you’d paid money for that breakfast you’d be seriously upset!  The cornflakes might have well just...

Up at 7 am and packing again.  We really do have the get-out-the-door to catch a bus, train or plane thing down pat these days.  Given that we were on the 4^th floor of the building with only stairs, we had to allow enough time to get all our gear, plus kids, down the stairs and out the front of the building to wait for the man to collect our keys.  He arrived not long after...

Patrick’s second wobbly tooth was just hanging in there all day whilst sightseeing in Valencia.  Just before bedtime we suggested that it was so loose that he could probably  pull it out by himself. With tissue in hand we counted him down and he pulled.  Yep, second loose tooth was out; two teeth out in Spain for the tooth fairy. This time the fairy left 4 Euro! 

Here is...

We started the day slowly as the sun doesn’t wake you until about 8 am.  I set off for a walk about 9 am and hit peek hour pedestrian traffic with kids going to school and parents off to work.  By the time I returned to our street it was dead quiet in comparison to what it had been 40 minutes earlier. Steve and Harris went on a discovery tour to find a different place for...

We woke to a bright sunny day and couldn’t wait to get out and about in Valencia.  I set out about 8 am for a walk to check out the area and about 50 minutes later returned. I’d walked much further than I thought I would and the boys were at home finishing up their home work.  Once we were all ready, we headed out into Valencia.

Many museums and exhibits are closed on...

Back on the road again or train track today.  Our morning kicked off with a 6.30 am iPod alarm; well actually two iPod alarms and one iPad alarm so there was no uncertainty of sleeping in and missing the train. Steve and I both woke at 5.30 am and that is when I remembered I desperately needed to charge my phone as the apartment complex in Valencia wanted us to call when we...

What else do you do in Granada apart from visit La Alhambra?  Well, it is a beautiful city to just walk around.  We walked everywhere even though there seems to be a good system of buses.  We walked along the Rio Genil (river) all the way to the Parque Federico Garcia Lorca, a large garden with a good size playground for kids; and all the way back to our hotel again.  All...