(A Very Late) Throwback Thursday: Vacation's Where We Want To Be!

Because we've been so busy doing things, writing posts, etc etc, we didn't have time on Thursday to put this one up!! So, Throwback Monday (as we're now dubbing it) is about a great summer vacation (or holiday, as the Brits term it) - here we go!

Sarah:
Favourite holiday is really hard - I feel like I say that every week, but really this one is hard as I don’t think I can look back and say I have had a bad holiday. So in order to distinguish a favourite to write about on this post, I wrote down all of our amazing holidays we have had together: Australia, New Zealand, Naples, Thailand, various places in the USA and St Malo in France.

Now, New Zealand was our all time favourite trip, but it was more an adventure holiday, so I went with St Malo. The place holds particularly special memories as it was Laura and my first real holiday together (3 months in) and it contained all the things that can make a great trip: sun, sea (a cruise), amazing food, a stay in a fancy hotel and presents – well, it was my birthday!

Due to Laura providing excellent customer service at her job, a customer had thanked her with a pair of cruise tickets to St Malo - so we thought, what better time to use them than a birthday getaway. We boarded the ferry at Portsmouth and set off on an overnight cruise.

The boat was amazing and we spent a few hours exploring before having dinner in our chosen restaurant. One thing we hadn’t considered was booking a room on the boat as we thought we would use their ‘sleeping deck’. With no idea what to expect, we wandered into this room with recliner chairs and people tucked up asleep. We found two spare chairs and joined them.

All I remember about that night’s sleep is that we were those irritating girls giggling a lot. We ended up cuddling on the floor instead of the chairs as the air-con was on COLD instead of fresh (and we don't like to sleep apart)! We didn't mind though, we were alone and on holiday - together!

We arrived in St Malo early the next day and excitement won over the tiredness as we bounded ashore and into this beautiful seaside village. You enter St Malo through huge walls and on the inside is just a maze of little cobblestone streets waiting to be discovered. It was picture perfect. There were street sellers out to greet us and a band playing in a nearby hotel, and you felt welcomed by the noise and bustle.

First stop was to check in. Our hotel was at the entrance to town and our suite (Laura got us upgraded by mentioning my birthday) was at the front overlooking the market square. The room had a massive double bed at one end then a full lounge at the other – our flat now isn't much bigger!

The first day was a mixture of exploring, laying on the beach and eating – the BANGyeahs ((French doughnuts) that’s how you say it not spell it :D) were so good we kept finding excuses to buy them. Every meal we had was delicious and everyone was so friendly.

Laura:

Awww I love Sarah's post! Look how young we look! I'm going to go back a bit further for my awesome holiday. I lived in Sydney, Australia, until I was 5 years old. Obviously, I don't remember much from that time. But I do know I loved travelling back there every few years growing up. We would go for a few weeks, and a good few years I had to reapply for my grades because I'd missed more days of school than I was allowed.

My parents always tell this infamous story, where we had just arrived in Sydney and were driving the rental car - my brother and I were knee deep in a Pokemon quest on our Game Boys, and my parents called from the front 'Kids, we're going over the Harbour Bridge!' - apparently we barely looked up from our games as we crossed one of the most beautiful harbours in the world! However, I remember having a wonderful time on these trips.

We visited the Sydney Opera House:

My brother and I - pre-braces

The Sydney Zoo where we fed the lorakeets:

And we visited with all my family. I loved going to Oz, because I'd be the envy of my whole class in Idaho when I came back! I once did a presentation on my trip, with photos and everything, and brought in crackers with Vegemite on them for people to try. It was one of the most memorable things ever - a few people liked it, but most of the kids threw it out, tried to scrape it off their tongues, generally 'EWWW'd - it's not something most people in America have ever tasted, and we don't have an equivalent! They do say you either love it or hate it!