My Greek Adventures

After a bittersweet ending to the school year, Josh and I set off for a week long holiday in Crete! We were so excited for a beach holiday and enjoy the all-inclusive.

We stayed near Heraklion at a resort called Arminda Hotel & Spa. The food was absolutely fantastic and so were the people! We had a wonderful week of sunshine and EXTREME heat!! Our favourite spot to relax was by the pool and usualy spent our early evenings swimming in the ocean! It was so nice to finally be completely relaxed and not think about school!

We took a day trip to Santorini, which I was really excited for. I wanted to see the picture perfect white washed houses and blue domes.. and that is exactly what we saw! We went to two towns on the island and were able to explore and take many pictures! We also went swimming in hot springs that are created by the volcano that used to be there. It was really neat! The water was rusty coloured and quite warm in places! It was a 2.5 hour ferry ride from Crete and so worth it! Easily my favourite day of the entire trip.

Here are some pictures!

At our hotel beach

Hotel beach

On the boat to the Hot Springs

A donkey in Santorini!

He makes me laugh.

On the ferry !

24th Birthday Weekend!!!

I truly had such a great birthday weekend! On my actual birthday, my kids had sports day. It was nice to be out in the sunshine and watching them try their hardest. I was most impressed with their enthusiasm and encouragement towards one another. I am definitely a proud and blessed teacher! Josh spoiled me by breakfast in bed, more presents and a lovely sushi dinner. I hadn’t had sushi since Canada and it was sooooooo good. We had an early night because of the adventures I knew I would have on Saturday.

Birthday Flowers:)

Saturday was the day I was most looking forward to… Taylor Swift in Hyde park with Jessica!! We all met in London at 1 pm and Demi came along before the concert. We had some Pimms at a pub and then made our way to Hyde Park. Ellie Goulding was on before Taylor and she was pretty good. Taylor was absolutely AMAZING. We spent the night dancing, drinking summery drinks and having such a carefree time. The sun was shining and she was so amazing. She mostly did songs from her new album, with the exception of ‘Love Story’ and “We are never getting back together”. Such an amazing night! 65, 000 people all there to see her! It was such a great summer night and I am so happy I bought a ticket. I am sad the night and weekend is over.

Sunshine and Ladybirds

Great Oak Stage.

She is amazing.

Bracelets that lit up to the beat of her music!!!

Happy girls. 

Warsaw, Poland

Last weekend Josh and I set off for Poland! It was truly the best birthday present. We left from Gatwick on Friday after school and landed at about 10:30 Poland time. After some confusion of finding the right hotel, our cab driver dropped us off. Our hotel was so wonderful and we were upgraded to a suite! It was nice with a fancy coffee machine. My experience with the chain Mercure has been great so far.

We woke up early to make the most of our short stay there. Our hotel was in the central part and right next door to a mall. We went to get breakfast and to take out some zloty. Everything was so cheap in Poland! We bought these hop on hop off bus passes and headed out into Old town. It was beautiful and a typical European city. The rest of Warsaw was more modern as most of Poland was destroyed in the war. We wandered around the university, stopped at a traditional perogie restaurant which was absolutely delicious !!! I had blue cheese and Camembert perogies! We hopped back on the bus and toured around the rest of Warsaw. Right next to out hotel was the palace of science and culture which had a viewing terrace. We went up there to see the sights and then had a light dinner and drinks. We woke up early on Sunday as well and made our was to the Warsaw Uprising Museaum. It was a fabulous museum with interactive displays and 3-D movies. We even got to crawl through a sewer system, similar to those in the war. For the last few hours we decided to go back to the old town, our favourite spot! We also went back for more perogies. So delicious!! We made our way back to the airport for our 8pm flight back into Heathrow. We didn't get home til midnight but that was okay because we had an amazing weekend. I am so happy I had a chance to go to Poland to see where my Papa was from :)

Our favourite!

From the viewing terrace.

A castle in Old Town.

In front of their famous statue in Old Town.

Still exploring old town.

Palace of Science and Culture, right near our hotel.

My parent's visit to England and Scotland!

I had such a wonderful time when my parents came you visit! I wish they were still here.. miss you guys!! When they first arrived, we spent some time in Camberley and at the pubs and restaurants around here. Then on their first Saturday, we went to a West Ham game!! We took the train into London early in the morning and had a wonderful lunch outside looking at the Tower Bridge! The weather was fabulous. We really enjoyed the game, even though they lost :( It was so neat to be back there again and my parents really enjoyed it. After a pub dinner, we headed back to Camberley as we were all exhausted!

My last week of school was good and I was ready for a break!! The weekend before we went to Scotland, we went to Guildford, the capital of Surrey. Guildford was really nice and we went skating which felt so nice. I was getting sick so I was excited to go to bed after a quick trip to urgent care. The next morning we set out on the train to Edinburgh! This was such an amazing city!!! The first night we wandered around The Royal Mile and went for a really great dinner. I had an early night as I was feeling sick. The next day we went to Edinburgh castle which was so amazing. The views were wonderful and I learned a lot. We then did some shopping, obviously stopping at Cath Kidston! At night, my dad and I went on a vault tour, the underground passages of Edinburgh. They told us ghost stories and it was really neat but really dark!! I really enjoyed Edinburgh and it was one of my favourite cities I have been too.

Guildford

The prison at Edinburgh castle!

So beautiful

Then we went to rent our car to head up to Inverness. The drive was so pretty and so were the stops we made! We stopped on the way at Blair Castle , Aviemore for a hike and we also took this really scary train all the way up a mountain at Cairngorm! It wasn't as scary going down as it was going up. The views were breathtaking and I am so glad I got to see the highlands!! We arrived into Inverness at out hotel and after dinner we went to sleep! Another great day.

Walks along the Spey River

Bagpipes at Blair Castle

Top of Cairngorm

Then on my final day in Scotland, we went to see Loch Ness which was really eerie but so beautiful!! We went to another castle called Urquhart Castle. Then we drove to this little town on the ocean and walked along the beach. Scotland was so pretty. It was quite chilly and rainy there though. We had an amazing dinner, walked through Inverness and then it was time to call it a night as I had an 8 am train back to London (8 hours)!

Urquhart Castle

Loch Ness

Canola pictures obviously!

My parents spent a few more days in Scotland and I was back home writing reports and planning for the week! It was such a nice visit and I was sad they had to leave and go back home!!!

Now I am in my last term of teaching and just finishing writing reports. We have our summer fair next week and then I go to Poland, so it will be a busy month!

I can't believe it is almost half term!

Where has the time gone?? These past 5 weeks at school have flown by, yet it seems like forever ago I was in Canada!!!

The past five weeks at school have been busy as always, but really good! My school had a mockstead, where we were graded as 'good'! This is a huge achievement for us. Our hard work was recognized and all the staff were extremely happy. My kids have enjoyed their pirate topic very much... and I have as well! I didn't know a lot about pirates to start and it is so wonderful when my kids come in every morning to tell me something new they have learnt about pirates! They continue to be the sweetest class I could have asked for :)

I have spent a few weekends in London this half term, taking a trip to Gordon's obviously with Jess and Demi, and another football game yesterday with my parents and Josh.

Two weekends ago, Josh and I booked a trip to Dublin! It was bank holiday weekend here in the UK so we took full advantage! It was a really fun trip, regardless of the fact it poured all weekend. I have always wanted to go to Ireland and was so happy to finally get there! We hopped on a plane Friday night after school and arrived in Dublin around 10:30. We were so tired that we went to sleep right away in our lovely hotel, Clyde Court. We woke up early the next morning and walked 15 minutes to catch the Hop On, Hop Off bus. There was a bus strike in Dublin the weekend we were there, so city buses weren't running. On the Saturday we went to the Guinness Storehouse, where we tasted and poured our own pint of Guinness. It actually tasted pretty good!! We then went back on the bus and went to Temple Bar, a restaurant and party area of Dublin. After a great night of eating, drinking and dancing we cabbed back to the hotel! Sunday morning was a little rough but the night made it worth it! We went to a famous jail on Sunday and I really enjoyed learning about all the history. They spell jail 'Gaol'. So neat! We then went back to Temple Bar area for dinner and drinks. Our flight back to Gatwick left the next morning at 7, so we had an early night.

It was so fun to get away for the weekend! We had so much fun that Josh booked him and I a trip to Poland for my birthday!! Since I am going to Taylor Swift the weekend of my actual birthday, we are going the weekend before. I have always wanted to go to Poland and I cannot wait!!!

Over half term break, I am going to Scotland with my parents for 5 days, which will be amazing! I have caught the travel bug and I am already planning my trips for next year!!!

Our perfect pints

Temple Bar

Gaol

Fish pedicures!!! So fun 

End of term 2!

The end of term 2 came quite quickly! In the weeks leading up to term break, I went to my first football game!! West Ham was playing Sunderland and West Ham won 1-0!! It was such an amazing atmosphere and I can't wait to go to another game when my parents are here. The fans went crazy when we scored!!!

I also spent a weekend shopping in Reading with Jess, Demi and Robin (Jessica's roomie). We also met up with Rihana as she lives in Reading. It was so good to see another familiar face :)

In the last week of term I had to start getting my room ready for my next topic.. Pirates! With the help of Josh, my lovely British mum (my LSA) and her husband.. .we created a fab pirate room that I know my kids will love seeing tomorrow morning!!! Pete did amazing on all the props and I am so thankful for him!!!

I had a great two weeks home in Canada, seeing all of my favourite people and creating memories that I will remember forever. Mixed emotions being back here but I think that is just the jet lag!!

Reading Area

So realistic!