Lanzarote Day 1 – the journey out

Was I mad? After a hectic half week I was frantically packing for a holiday. We had paid a fortune for the privelege of spending a couple of hours (hopefully not longer) in Luton airport, over four hours on a plane and then however long baggage reclaim and the car hire desk took before navigating at night while my husband got used to a hire car. Forget drugging the kids I needed drugs!!

We got to the airport after dosing the boys with piriton, the queues for check in and security were relatively short and we got through to departures with an hour to spare, an hour to feed the kids a sausage bagel, coax a wee out of Ben and do last minute shopping before we were due to board. Sadly we were delayed by an hour. Luton airport doesn’t tell you if you are delayed and how much you are delayed by, they leave it to your imagination, which was working overtime.

After an hour of watching planes we were finally on our one and ready to go. Ciaran had a seat next to me, but after a scary screaming fit (more terrifying for people near us) opted to cuddle me with a lap belt on (second dose of piriton worked a treat) and settled down for his nap contentedly as we taxi’d.

The flight went much better than expected, the boys were happy to snack and read books until we landed (according to Ben it’s like a bouncy castle but better).

Luggage successfully reclaimed and car hire paper work done we found the lady from JJs hire who provided car seats at a fraction of the cost and let us follow her to our villa, saving us all from my navigation skills.

Thankfully we had paid for a welcome pack, giving us the essentials. As Chris unloaded the car I sat the kids down in the kitchen with bread and jam and a drink if watered down juice for their supper, then it was bedtime for the kids. Ben chose his bed, Ciaran was undemocratically put into a cot in the master bedroom.

Chris, a bottle of red wine and I headed out to the poolside to celebrate surviving a flight with two toddlers.

Travels with tweedle dee and tweedle dum

What are the best things to do with two energetic toddlers in Lanzarote? Read on..

Playa Bastian in Costa Teguise, it’s a smaller beach than others but is in a natural cove so has much calmer shallow water than other beaches. Loads of fish swim up to you (if unlike my boys you can stand still!).

La Graciosa, take the ferry across the choppy strait to La Graciosa, you get a lovely look at the cliffs and volcanic lava flow before arriving on a very tranquil island. With no cars it’s a bit of a hippy retreat but was very quiet when were there. We had a little beach to ourselves and could sunbathe without worrying about the kids throwing sand at other people.

El Golfo. The tiny lagoon may be a bit of a let down but Ben loved scrambling down the cliff with his Dad to the beach. Climbing AND a beach what more could a three year old ask for?

Paella. We ordered this umpteen times. Paella for two with Canadian potatos and some bread was a perfect lunch for all of us. Ciaran preferred the rice while Ben devoured the seafood, in fact I gave him the squid and octopus I was to screamish to eat, by the end of the holiday when baby octopus’ were part of a mixed platter it was Ben who devoured them, dipped in ketchup.

A bucket and spade. Give the kids a cheap bucket and spade each and they’ll spend hours playing, apparently they were cooking soup and cakes. Little Ciaran kept trotting to the sea to get more water for their cooking.

Wine tasting in La Geria. Bizarrely Ben loved stopping off at a bodega, trying to count all the corks while us adults tried the wine, I am ashamed to say that my Mum and I let Ben have a tiny taste of the wine – just wetting his lips, but the thrill of drinking wine was definitely a buggy for him.

Cliff top walk to Puerto Del Carmen harbour. We frequently pushed the stroller down the zigzagging path and a few steps to get to the Marina. Once down there the kids (particularly Ciaran) were fascinated by the boats in gardens, blue marlins, ducks and bots fishing in the sea. It’s a slow walk as you have to stop and look at lots of things but a very beautiful one.

Chilled lunches. A plate of ham and chorizo, bread, eggs, salad veggies, cheese and mojo sauce was all we needed for a lovely relaxed lunch at the villa.