Spain so far
Little baby is asleep in a sling, my Mum is making me a cup of tea and Stelio has wandered off to work for his second week in Spain and finally I have some time to write to you all and let you know about Spain so far.
It's eight thirty and the temperature outside is about 16 to 18 degrees and it looks like being a lovely hot day. No, my aim is not to make you all jealous but to set the scene for what is a slightly ridiculous problem that I am facing out here, washing! But more of that later.
Our trip down to London was pretty easy, the little man slept until about twenty miles short of the Peterborough service station and we had to pull into a layby and feed him but apart from that we got to the hotel at Gatwick easily.
Staying overnight at the airport was definitely a good idea. We were able to get a nice dinner from M&S in the terminal and to meet some friends which was lovely. In the morning we had a ten minute walk through the hotel to the terminal knowing that we were on time and not having to worry about parking, timing or anything else. We travelled by BA which was nice but there were no baby basinette's on board. Baby had to sit on my knee for the journey which was fine but I had to take him out his sling and put on a seat belt. These are rubbish! they are just a small belt that goes through your belt and then around his waist. IF there was a very bumpy landing then the baby wouldn't be protected at all, he would have been much better in the sling.
We got here on Sunday lunch time and we finally got into our flat on Wednesday evening. The time in between was spent in hotels which made baby quite unsettled. We had booked Sunday and Monday but we had expected to be in the flat on Tuesday so that evening Stelio booked us into a very very nice 5* hotel. We reasoned that if they couldn't manage to arrange a flat with two months notice then they could fork out for us a bit of luxury. At reception we were shown photos of the different floors which were all designed by different famous architects and designers. We stayed in a Japanese style room that had the most enormous wooden bath. It was square and very deep and baby slept long enough for us to have a very nice, if foreshortened dip.
So the flat is very nice, wooden floors, simple furniture, enough space and a good kitchen. Unfortunately the flat faces west and is on the second floor. We also have another block is only twenty metres away. All these factors combine to make sure that we get bugger all sunshine. Our tiny balcony just fits a small clothes airer but it gets three inches of sun between three and four in the afternoon.
So washing doesn't dry. It hangs around all damp and soggy. For the first few days the weather was cold and so the heating came on in the evening and I was able to run around and dry things on the radiators. Over the weekend the sun came out and the weather was lovely. So this morning my first job will be to try and find a laundrette to get my washing dry. it has been sitting around since friday and the entire flat is very very damp now. If I can't get washing dry when the weather is about 25 degrees outside then this may well prove to be an interesting year.
On the positive side I have found an English play group that has a baby section. The lady that organises it has emailed me and said that most of the parents get more out of it than their kids do so I should be OK going along to find some other mummies.
We have also found a shopping centre that has a decent, Ok enormous, supermarket and lots and lots of shops for babies including Mothercare. I was looking for a breast pump last week and found two in local chemist shops, one at 65 euros and one for 79! I nearly had a heart attack as other baby stuff was priced along the same lines. I got my mum to bring one out but Mothercare do have some at sensible prices so hopefully our little one won't bankrupt us. I guess that this is what you get for living in an area that is far nicer than you could afford to live in if you had to pay for it yourself so really can't complain.
So, the weather is lovely (at the moment), the flat is nice and things are looking good. I've got my parents here at the moment which also helps a lot.
It's eight thirty and the temperature outside is about 16 to 18 degrees and it looks like being a lovely hot day. No, my aim is not to make you all jealous but to set the scene for what is a slightly ridiculous problem that I am facing out here, washing! But more of that later.
Our trip down to London was pretty easy, the little man slept until about twenty miles short of the Peterborough service station and we had to pull into a layby and feed him but apart from that we got to the hotel at Gatwick easily.
Staying overnight at the airport was definitely a good idea. We were able to get a nice dinner from M&S in the terminal and to meet some friends which was lovely. In the morning we had a ten minute walk through the hotel to the terminal knowing that we were on time and not having to worry about parking, timing or anything else. We travelled by BA which was nice but there were no baby basinette's on board. Baby had to sit on my knee for the journey which was fine but I had to take him out his sling and put on a seat belt. These are rubbish! they are just a small belt that goes through your belt and then around his waist. IF there was a very bumpy landing then the baby wouldn't be protected at all, he would have been much better in the sling.
We got here on Sunday lunch time and we finally got into our flat on Wednesday evening. The time in between was spent in hotels which made baby quite unsettled. We had booked Sunday and Monday but we had expected to be in the flat on Tuesday so that evening Stelio booked us into a very very nice 5* hotel. We reasoned that if they couldn't manage to arrange a flat with two months notice then they could fork out for us a bit of luxury. At reception we were shown photos of the different floors which were all designed by different famous architects and designers. We stayed in a Japanese style room that had the most enormous wooden bath. It was square and very deep and baby slept long enough for us to have a very nice, if foreshortened dip.
So the flat is very nice, wooden floors, simple furniture, enough space and a good kitchen. Unfortunately the flat faces west and is on the second floor. We also have another block is only twenty metres away. All these factors combine to make sure that we get bugger all sunshine. Our tiny balcony just fits a small clothes airer but it gets three inches of sun between three and four in the afternoon.
So washing doesn't dry. It hangs around all damp and soggy. For the first few days the weather was cold and so the heating came on in the evening and I was able to run around and dry things on the radiators. Over the weekend the sun came out and the weather was lovely. So this morning my first job will be to try and find a laundrette to get my washing dry. it has been sitting around since friday and the entire flat is very very damp now. If I can't get washing dry when the weather is about 25 degrees outside then this may well prove to be an interesting year.
On the positive side I have found an English play group that has a baby section. The lady that organises it has emailed me and said that most of the parents get more out of it than their kids do so I should be OK going along to find some other mummies.
We have also found a shopping centre that has a decent, Ok enormous, supermarket and lots and lots of shops for babies including Mothercare. I was looking for a breast pump last week and found two in local chemist shops, one at 65 euros and one for 79! I nearly had a heart attack as other baby stuff was priced along the same lines. I got my mum to bring one out but Mothercare do have some at sensible prices so hopefully our little one won't bankrupt us. I guess that this is what you get for living in an area that is far nicer than you could afford to live in if you had to pay for it yourself so really can't complain.
So, the weather is lovely (at the moment), the flat is nice and things are looking good. I've got my parents here at the moment which also helps a lot.