Destination - Northern Ireland

This week janmary is taking us to Northern Ireland!!

She spend many holiday's as a child there and now has a holiday cottage where her and her family spend as much time as possible together.

Ireland is know for it's stunning scenery, dramatic cliff and ancient castles. You can see why; it's breathtaking. Take this coastal walk for example. Natures beauty at it's finest in my opinion. Wide golden sands you can drive on, sheltered small rocky coves perfect for paddling, dramatic rough seas crashing on rocky shores.

It's a very relaxing place with friendly people, old pubs where time has stood still, great wee craft shops, lots of parks and places to choose from. To give you an idea, here is a janmary's list of the top 10 places to visit.



And how about summer lessons? Northern Ireland is full of them. Here are some fun ones that janmary has learned.

1. Never a good idea to NOT take off a 4 year old's socks and shoes when walking on the beach, the inevitable will happen!

2. The annual medieval summer fair at Dunluce Castle was as enjoyable as ever, and the views of the coast from it's walls as stunning as ever. The Castle has a fascinating history, including the night of a great storm in the 1600's, when part of the kitchen (and servants) fell into the sea!

3. Some of the best things in life are (almost) free. A £6 ($10) kite, and a windswept beach keeps my husband and kids entertained for a significant period of time.

Destination - The Netherlands

Today we are featuring Kim from The Misadventures of Mub. She married a Dutchman and moved to the Netherlands a few years ago. (Even thought it's no where near the same thing, I feel like I can connect with her since I married a Cuban and moved to Florida)

About her new home she says, "One of the things that I absolutely love about living here is that most things are pretty accessible by bike (which is good since I don't have a Dutch drivers license). I do all of my groceries and errands on my bicycle. You'd be amazed at the amount of crap you can carry home on a bike!



I also love the markets here. We have a huge fabric market in the city center every Tuesday and there's a food market somewhere pretty much everyday of the week in different places throughout the city. The biggest market where you can get anything your heart desires is on Saturday."


The first picture up there to the right is the Genneper Watermill (De Genneper Watermolen). The earliest writings referring to the mill date to 1249. Originally it had two wheels, one for grain and the other for oil. The mill is also featured in three paintings by Vincent van Gogh. Currently the mill houses a feed shop on one side and a great place to buy flour on the other side.

And those pretty flowers up on the left are from one of the "must sees" if you visit The Netherlands in the spring - the Keukenhof. Around 7 million bulbs are planted annually. That's a lot of flowers, I bet it smell absolutely divine.

If you need a bit more excitement you could go to The Efteling. There is a bit of something for everyone in this theme park. From the horrifying terror of upside down loops to this awesome bank (read Kim's post to get the scope)!! Or perhaps this luchtalarm will wake you up.

Lastly a little exploring in the nice weather to lift your spirits.