We arrived at the airport and were picked up by a beautiful water taxi that virtually flew across the water towards the mainland, and we sped past the larger boats and Vaporettos in the warm light of the winter sunset. The photo is our view out the back, and it was a bumpy ride but exhilarating all the same. After 20 minutes we were on the labyrinth of canals sweeping under the wooden footbridges and past the world-famous gondolas. To say we were excited was an understatement especially when we arrived at our hotel and stepped out of the boat into the canal-side entrance.

The Liassidi Palace Hotel where we stayed is a beautiful old building which is adorned with art throughout and boasts regular art exhibitions on the mezzanine floor. The concierges were always helpful, they lent me an iphone charger as I had forgotten mine, but breakfast was a different matter and we were scolded every morning by one of the staff and the food was always cold – but the coffee was great.

As Venice is very small, it’s great to get out and explore and we walked for several hours a day. It’s easy to get lost but pretty easy to get back on track. There are 122 tiny islands which are patched together with elaborate footbridges and travel is by foot or water.

We were very near St Mark’s Square and visited the oldest, and most expensive, tearoom, Florian which first opened its doors in 1720. The decor hasn’t changed and it was great to be in there to have impeccable service and chamber music. The prices are very high and a dessert cost around 15 Euro but as a one off, it was worth it.

Window shopping takes on a new meaning in Venice. There are hundreds of shops which sell carnival masks. One in particular stood out, it was along the canal from our hotel and we decided to have a nose around and there was noone but us inside and loud classical music. With all the masks and costumes inside, we began to feel swept up in an historic drama and nearly squealed when the owner appeared. Such is the atmosphere in Venice that you feel you could walk through a doorway or turn a corner and easily step back in time to a century, or even two, ago. The shop windows are lit at night like the one below.

In my next post, I will cover off some of the amazing art we experienced and visited, in the meantime, here are some of the travel details.

Getting there and back:

Flights:
We flew with easyjet from Gatwick and flying was cheaper because it was on Thursday and outside of the school holidays. Our tickets were £85 return each and booked a month in advance.

Trains:
Gatwick Express had problems with it’s booking engine so I didn’t get our first class tickets and instead took the train from Clapham for a quarter of the price. It cost £13 return for both of us using a Family Railcard discount card.

Taxi:
We usually cab it to Heathrow (it’s 15 minutes by car) and Stansted (2 hours at least by train and 90 minutes max by car) but Gatwick is a doddle for us by train. We tend to shop around for cab prices and find Green Tomatoes is about 50% cheaper than Addison Lee for account and cash bookings.

As women, we are told we play many roles in our lives and this is very true, one of them for me is as a business woman who sometimes travels for work. As I discovered last week, this makes you invisible to some parents, in fact, you are merely wallpaper to them.

Last Friday I took an early morning commuter flight and was quite surprised to see so many children on the flight. Doing the best mental gymnastics I could at the early hour it was (and egged on by a strong latte) I realised, oh yes, it’s school term and that these were definitely preschoolers. I love flying with kids because they treat the whole experience like an adventure and tend to whoop and cheer at all the right (and wrong) times, plus it’s a great distraction.

Well, that was my take on it and that’s all bunkum now. For the first time in over twenty years, I’ve had one of those ‘kids are a nightmare’ journeys and I feel really sad about it. I have no problem with letting families on the plane first or putting up with kids screaming at take off and landing – it’s what happens and we’ve all had embarrassing moments while travelling. But there’s no excuse for a lack of manners. It appears the basics of travel etiquette have diminished into thin air.

So back to my flight. It was early, it was busy, it was a short hop and there was time to read up on a few things and drink tea. Or so I thought. As I took my seat, right at the back of a completely cramped plane, I could see a family sat ahead of me. They looked really nice and they settled into their seats. And then to my horror, one of the children walked up to me and put his nappy on my lap – yes, his nappy on my lap, it wasn’t even wrapped in a nappy sack. I looked down, and no, I hadn’t put on a Norland Nanny outfit on that morning as I dressed in the dark, I was actually wearing clothes that didn’t mark me out as a granny/childminder/general nappy catcher.

As my jaw hit the floor, there came a very loud ‘Well done! Well done son!’ screeched by the mother. I looked down at a soggen lump of nappy on my lap, to say I was extremely dismayed is an understatement and I expected at least an acknowledgement or an apology. Neither was offered. The nappy was briskly scooped away by an air hostess. It was 8am, I couldn’t speak. But no one else said a word. I would have been mortified if my daughter had done the same thing, I would have made eye contact with the nappy recipient, I would have left my seat, I would have made some awful joke about social gaffes, but obviously she wasn’t me.

After my working day I got back to the airport and loaded my laptop into the plastic security box, my clear plastic bag, shoes and handbag and was about to walk through the security when I was accosted and mugged of my walk through. Flabbergasted again, I watched the scene unfold before me, like I was in some kind of daydream.

A man held back my stuff and then began to load his stuff on right in front of me. He had two sons with him. It took ages. They had belts and shoes to remove, then backpacks. I was ready to go through and had been for ages, but I had to wait. Then they all went through security and had to have handheld scanners run over them. I waited and waited. Again, there was no eye contact, no excuse me, no thank you or anything. In a similar situation, had the roles been reversed, I would have let another traveller through – security is just a glorified supermarket checkout after all – you have one item and the other person has a trolley – they let you go first, it’s just basic stuff isn’t it? Well obviously not.

After a quick look around myself and I could definitely tell that I wasn’t wearing an invisible suit. But that’s how I felt on both flights. And I felt unable to speak up and say anything either. It was awful so short of wearing a t-shirt saying I AM GOING TO WORK TO SUPPORT MY CHILD what else can I do?

What are your views on flying with or without your kids?

Sorry for the bad joke but I just couldn’t help repeating it all day long. It’s just a mask for the fact that I’ve been having kittens about being stuck abroad and have had to keep my pecker up for the last few days and make it all seem like fun for my daughter. Actually, scrub that, it’s been an adventure of great magnitude and instead of coming home feeling a bit sad the holiday is over, we’ve both experienced a huge rush of appreciation for all things domestic, friendly and well, just our own doorstep.

Having told the world and his wife that we were delayed and unable to return from our holiday until next Monday, instead of last, things took a drastic turn for the better when the flights to the UK were announced again.

It would be an understatement to say that we’ve been in a state of crazed delirium for the last 24 hours. Having swapped Cote D’azur for a far chiller London W4, it feels brilliant and a bit lunatic.

I don’t know what it is about the human spirit but it has a homing device that propels the heart and mind in tandem towards reaching that destination against all odds, just to be there.

Last night after Miniminx and I had skyped,tweeted, texted and called everyone we possibly could from our French outpost, we found out before going to sleep that the skies over the UK were reopening. I did a celebration dance and downed another glass of wine then spent the night sleeping very badly as my daughter did her usual holiday prank; shrieking with laughter in her sleep throughout the night. It was all good, we could travel and get back home, lack of sleep permitting.

Not to be outdone by the general somnambulent squawking and whimpering, it was my turn to wake up with a fire in my belly at 5.50am and skittle around the room turning lights on and off, before settling at my laptop screen for some airline ticket motivated search action – I was determined to get us home.

As I flicked between tabs and screens and the abundance or search items, the flights were all coming up fully booked, and every few minutes there would be a change, prices would wobble, new airlines would be appearing, it all seemed a bit crazy.

‘Psssssssst, darling, do you want to go home this morning?’
‘Yeszzzzzzzz, but ….Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I just need sleeeeeeeeeeep. Let’s go later.’

I was tempted to go back to sleep myself but I couldn’t. I was mad awake. Just the thought of being away from home with no good reason for a day longer was driving me a bit loopy. I let her sleep, and kept refreshing the flight screen. Two flights – oh no, gone already. Another one, at £1500. Another £386 with one stopover. Then after another 20 minutes, bingo. The 9.30am flight out of Nice, after the fourteenth try, had availability.

‘Wake up – we’re leaving in … oh quick, in 15 minutes, we have a flight to catch. Brush teeth, get dressed, close suitcase, do a room sweep*’

It was 20 minutes actually, but in that time I had to call reception to prepare the bill, shower, pack (yes for two) and dress and panic, oh and buy the tickets. The merry dance began and within 15 minutes we were out of the room and finalising the hotel bill and leaving, not before drinking a massively strong coffee. Our taxi arrived and I prattled on in French to the driver. It turned out his wife was stuck in Frankfurt, unable to return. Everyone had a story about some loved on somewhere, our waitress at breakfast had a boyfriend stuck in Thailand.

Determination and sheer bloody mindedness are one thing, but navigating the nuances of local traffic are another thing altogether. Needless to say as we lurched through the early morning traffic, 7.45am is never a good time anywhere, there was still a chance we would miss the check in period so it was all a bit touch and go. We arrived at 8.20 and had to go to the ATM to get the cab fare then to the check in desk, we had 8 minutes to spare. We got through the whole process, very smoothly in fact and boarded.

The flight was amazing, we arrived 30 minutes early and got back across town in good time. Arriving home was perfect – the sun was shining and London is full of Spring blooms. We are very very happy to be back.

So home and back to the grindstone it maybe but the simple pleasure of cooking an evening meal and having neighbours pop over to say hello is just the bees knees.

I’d always believed the old adage that travel broadens the mind, but it also emboldens the home loving heart much more than I imagined or remembered.
I wonder how long it will last?

*a room sweep is what I do after packing, moving around the hotel suite with military precision to check cupboards, wardrobes, shelves and drawers and underbeds for anything and everything I might have left lying about

Armed with backpacks, sleeping bags, cameras and sunglasses, we headed off from Heathrow and from the moment we left our front door the nine day adventure began.

We arrived in Ouzazarte a day before rest of the party, since we’d checked in our hotel at 2am we really needed that day to chill out and adjust. We spent it by a hotel pool and hung out in cafes.

As we sat and watched the world go by, out of nowhere, a small boy about five years old ran by with a cigarette tucked behind each ear.

‘Mum! Look at him!’
‘Don’t point!’ I said laughing.
Miniminx gave me that widemouthed, wide eyed look of disbelief. I smiled to myself, I knew this trip was going to be quite an education.
The irony was all on us in fact since we were odd ones out. People were actually stopping and staring at us. A mother and daughter in a strange land.

The next morning we met our travelling companions for the first time. I was pleasantly surprised that we were all women with young girls. We already had a lot in common. Our first stop was a kasbah in Ouzazarte, it was strange and fascinating. Our guide began to tell us about the great films that have been shot there, Gladiator and Babel, but we were more interested in the locale and the people there.

On our drive we stopped to take photos and a farmer welcomed us and shared his date harvest.

The girls spotted a cute frog and chased the poor thing around the field.

Heading off in a truck towards the desert, we were going to camp in Bedouin tents that night and as you can see, it’s quite a fairy tale existence. The food was great too, lovely soups and tagines and very sweet mint tea. We were awoken several times first by the birds and crowing cocks, then early morning the call to the mosque, followed by the braying donkeys and then by the sun.

There was an empty pool on the camp site and our four little girls found a tiny scorpion in it. There was another one in the shower too – none of the girls screamed and we were assured it would not harm us.

The evenings when we camped were very sweet. The girls all played together as the Mums chatted and as we all went to bed around the same time, bedtime stories became a shared experience.

The next day was the start of a two day camel trek across the Sahara with a night in the desert. We all had to learn how to put on a shesh. It was fun and it was also hard work, Miniminx did not like being on a camel so ended up walking. I discovered my daughter is quite the tough cookie and walked happily for hours, which was a very pleasant and unexpected surprise.

The highlight was camping out in the Sahara and watching shooting stars in the night sky. We all laid out on thin mattresses after dinner and watched the slow moving drama of the heavens above. Waking up the next morning was great too. It was so wonderful, even if the camels do snore (well I hope it was the camels).

There is something very hynotic and mesmeric about the Sahara, I was suprised that a desert I had imagined to be barren had quite a few trees and weird looking plants.

Our guide recommended that instead of buying our carpets and rugs in Marrakech, it would make more sense to go direct to a co-operative. This meant we could buy from the local people and not have the added commission which would be added in the souks. We bought some amazing stuff there and I was delighted (so was the owner of the co-op).

With the bright sun and still air, there was a sense of calm and ease of being that is a great antidote to London. But this was really a non stop whirl wind trip. Staying in a different place every night, we unpacked and repacked daily and dealt with all manner of things. I was the only person who didn’t get a 24 hour bug.

We spent a night near the kasbah of Ait Benhaddou. I loved the homemade advertising – see photo below.

The drive through the Atlas mountains was stunning and we all chatted and sang our way through the dizzy heights. I still look at these photos a lot, it really was a special journey.

There was mounting anticipation about our arrival in Marrakech – the journey was four or five hours. The road signs were getting bigger as we got nearer.

And we got there eventually with a big all round cheer and headed to the main square and spotted the snake charmers. It was like going back in time.

The early morning view of the city sprawl from the hotel window was pretty atmospheric. We went on a four hour walking tour with a guide and then had the rest of the day free to shop and explore. We had our final meal together that evening and the kids were all very sad to be going home.

About a week after we got back we had this funny conversation.

‘Darling, you were really good about the scorpions.’
‘Yeah, well Mum, they did scare me a little bit.’
‘Yeah, I was surprised you didn’t say anything about them in the tent that night when we went to sleep.’
‘I thought you’d be a bit cross with me if I said I was scared.’
‘Well I thought if I told you I was a bit worried there were any in the tent, you’d hit the roof.’
We both looked at each other and smiled.
‘What a couple of scaredy cats we were!’ I said and we laughed for a very long time.

For anyone looking for a holiday that’s definitely off the beaten track, I’d definitely recommend a trip like this. It was hard work and tiring but so magical and such a great cultural experience, I’d definitely go again.

For the full itinerary go here

I love this photo, I took it at a stop on our drive through the Atlas Mountains, heading to Marrakech. The funny thing is that this must be the most eco-friendly shop in the world – it has no electricity, sells natural products and the carbon foot-print is probably tiny (unless you count the wind from the goats tied up out the back!).

Joking aside, this is possibly one of the most beautiful places I’ve been – the scenery is breathtaking – and quite a sheer drop as well. And it’s pretty high altitude too.

Looking in the other direction feels like looking towards the land of Oz but this of course was very real and we were excited about arriving in Marrakech itself – the magical and ancient city. I can only imagine how wonderful it must be when it’s covered in the snow in the Winter, but I’m not sure I’d be too happy to do the mountain roads at that time of year.

We didn’t actually buy anything but Miniminx tried on a few crystals…

Since we don’t have ‘an airline ticket to romantic places’ anymore and we just have e-tickets, I was unable to drool over a slim jim envelope, but still I clung to the confirmation email: HRW to Casablanca. It just sounds fabulous doesn’t it?

We were advised to arrive at terminal two three hours before our flight, not my usual timing, but I didn’t want to take any risks with Miniminx in tow and we’ve had two lucky escapes with Easyjet so I wanted a stress free flight.

We arrived at Casablanca and disembarked to join another flight to Ouarzazate. We waited and waited and waited.

I drank coffee to stay awake. Then more coffee, then more. The next flight remained unannounced and I could tell from my meagre understanding of French it was cancelled on the flightboard, but no one would confirm it.

We continued to wait and then, I drank more coffee. I was unsure whether to laugh or cry when I noticed the very funny little pun which emblazoned the coffee shop. Yes, Jet Laag’s. Well, I suppose it could be worse. What if they called it Sick Baag’s?

With half term not far away, it’s the perfect time to have a quick pick-me-up break. But to where?

New York? Could be fun.
Sardinia? No flights back during half term.
England? A bit rainy and cold.
Is half term going to be all about catching the latest movies and going shopping? Yawn.

All in all, it’s nothing very inspirational. However, like everyone else, I’ve had a little idea stashed down the back of the sofa for a while now, well for the last five years actually. It’s captured my imagination, it’s something else. It’s also a bit scary. It’s also a bit crazy. But who cares, it feels the the right thing to do right now. The only way to survive London is to get out of town and doing something completely different, something that you can play back in the cinema of your mind when the drizzle, the traffic and the chaos just get to be too, too much.

So it’s back packs, fleeces and suncream. We’re going on a voyage of discovery and crossing the Sahara then heading to Marrakech. It’s the kind of thing I love doing. I’ve had many adventures in my life but for Miniminx this is her first big trip outside of the Euro comfort zone. And I think it will do her the world of good too.

I’m keen to travel a lot more, so consider this a warm up for South America, China, Japan, India and Thailand – we’re going places!