The sun is shining, I'm sitting with a coffee in hand feeling relaxed and rested...am I still in Jamaica? No, I am home! We arrived home (in Switzerland, yes, 'home') yesterday afternoon after our wonderful holiday. We had a few days in Bradford with our beautiful friends and family either side of our trip to Jamaica. Unfortunately however, we didn't get chance to catch up with everyone as we had limited time and most people were working during the weekdays. We had a great opportunity of catching up with our friends at BCS as the Saturday was the Summer Fair, it was so lovely to catch up on news and be amazed at how much children can grow in the space of one year!
May I take this opportunity to wish all the staff and pupils at Bradford Christian School a blessed and restful and well-deserved holiday over the summer!
I had a special mummy-daughter time after a well-needed hair chop where we picked up some last minute 'necessities' for Jamaica (new dresses mostly!!)
Then...the time came for us to head up into the skies. We have a friend here in Switzerland (Hannah) who prayed for us before we went that we would have some pleasant surprises whilst away...the first surprise came when we boarded the plane. I didn't think to check our boarding pass for our seat number until we got to the boarding gate...we were sat on the very front row of the plane in Premium class! (which is great for your 6ft2in fidgety husband who likes to stretch out his legs on long journeys!) And it was LONG, almost 10 hours in fact!
When we arrived at the airport in Montego Bay we were welcomed by warm, amiable faces who didn't look at you like they were trying to work out whether or not your were a terrorist. "only a week, mon?" questioned the immigration worker "that's too short, mon". We were ushered onto our coach and had that awkward holiday transfer experience where you get to see everyone elses' hotels before you get to your own (and, yes, ours was the last stop of the day!) However, our resort was beautiful. Colourful, clean and welcoming, in fact, it was better than our expectations had hoped it would be. Our room was nice and big with a great view from the balcony. Everything on site was included in the price; food, drinks, pools, kayaking, windsurfing, snorkeling, pool tables etc etc. There was only one disaster mid-week which was Mark getting pretty badly stung by a jellyfish, it hurt, a-lot! But he was right back in the sea the next day defying any other Jamaican jellyfish to spoil his holiday.
It was the ideal place to relax and wind down from our rather fast-paced lifestyles in Switzerland. In fact, it took me a while to get into the Jamaican mindset...Mark had to tell me a few times to slow down on my way to the beach, I was being far to efficient in my march to get to the white sands and turquoise sea! To sum up our stay in a few short words (as I realise that this post is becoming like an article from a travel magazine); it was "Irie Mon!" (Guess you've got to visit Jamaica to really understand what I mean!) Here are some snaps of our week;
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| Hammocks on John's Key, the island just off the beach |
It's not just for kids you know.
Windsurfing...before the jellyfish incident
Japanese restaurant; this was so much fun. The guys came and cooked in front of you in a very entertaining way; singing, throwing knifes etc!
That's the view from the beach onto the island (John's key)
This was our anniversary (the dress is thanks to Alice for my beautiful gift!)
Just showing off the dress here!
Eating snails on our anniversary
I have to take this opportunity to say what a blessed woman I am, I have a wonderful husband and we have had a fantastic four years together so far. It has gone by so quickly and yet I feel like we have been married forever. We're the best of friends. I have learned so much and grown incredibly these past four years and it would not be the same if I did not have a supportive husband who loves, cherishes and challenges me to become the woman God wants me to be. Thank you God for the gift of marriage, that You saw it not fit for man to remain alone.
Snorkeling was fun, we were careful of the anemones, but saw some beautiful fish!
I tried my hand at acrobatics/trapeze skills...it was an adrenaline rush but a lot of fun too!
Bob Marky!!
The pool competition was intense...
A beautiful sunset
Hanging out in a hammock after a delicious meal, listening to some reggae music.
Guess who won...?
Now that's what I call a view!
A week later...and the jellyfish sting remains....ouch!
Thank you God for a wonderful break, back to work on Monday...humph!
