62 .............................. Sunday, August 2, 2015 1SM

PARK’SNEWSPA

CYPRUS ISRELAXINGPLACEFORFAMILYHOL

Villa’sawaywin

SPOTTING three babiestogether on a planewould put most peopleoff flying – and havethem waving goodbye toany sleep.

But the three tots — with twopending — were part of our holidayparty and we were about to embarkon a five-hour flight to Cyprus.

Accepting that glamorous beach barsand party breaks were a thing of the pastfor us, our three sets of thirtysomethingschose a holiday catering solely for fam-ilies with kids.

We decided that a beach resort inKapparis, just north of Protaras, on theEast Coast of Cyprus would be the idealplace.

On arrival at Larnaca airport, ourconvoy hopped in two cars all arrangedby the holiday company Villas4Kids,complete with car seats and English-

speaking drivers. Once at our destination,an abundance of goodies greeted us —local wine, pasta, cereals, milk, tea bags —creating an instant home-from-home feel.

The beds were crisp and freshly-made,and in the brightly coloured cots the littleones were soon blissfully snoozing awayas we enjoyed the first balmy evening.

Little touches such as the signature Vil-las4Kids ducks dotted about and babymonitors also proved a great touch.

I instantly relaxed and did a silent“whoop!” They had EVERYTHING covered,and we needn’t have packed one suitcase

full of toys. Located in a quiet cul-du-sacwith five other villas in the popularBluewater Bay, our new home “Lydia” wasa three-minute walk from a safe, sandybeach with lots of watersport options.

A big plus in the property was stairgates, cordening off the kitchen area andthe tiled stairs. Everyone knows babieslove an assault course stair challenge.

There was a fenced-off area outside,complete with playhouse linked to thepatio doors so that the children could nipin and out easily, plus oodles of toys andDVDs that kept them all amused and inthe shade.

The crystal-clear pool was wincinglyrefreshing and serviced twice in the eightdays we spent there and was great tocool off in after an hour in the scorchingsunshine.

A large Cypriot-style BBQ with sinkand preparation area kept the dads busy,and a Balinese outdoor shaded area withseats and table was perfect for any over-heating mums.

The local supermarket was a cab rideaway and cost ten euros (£7) return.

Shopping there was a joy as all the

GO: CYPRUSGETTING THERE: Direct flights from London,Birmingham and Manchester with easyJetare from £66 adult return (easyjet.com).STAYING THERE: Prices for Villa Lydia arefrom £850 for the week. Masseuse arrangedby Villas4Kids is 20 euros (£14) per person.See villas4kids.com.

lHealthlConsumerlMoneylGameslPerkslMotors

TripJournalFree on Appleand Android

A HOLIDAY diary is agreat way to occupy kids

on long journeys and at air-ports. If they don’t fancy making anold-fashioned scrapbook with thepics from a Polaroid camera, try anapp such as TripJournal, right.It does mean more screen time –on your iPad, most likely – but is acreative way to record all theirholiday memories and even geotagtheir locations. You might end upwith a travel blogger in the family.

app

THERE’s nothing quite likeembarking on your firstever Camino adventure —following in the footstepsof millions of pilgrims andtaking in the gorgeouslandscapes on yourown adventure.

To help you pre-pare for your esca-pade,CaminoWays.com,the Camino de San-tiago specialists, havecompiled a list of the TopTen interesting facts aboutthis world-famous trek.! Camino de Santiago

translates as ‘The Way of StJames’ and refers to thedifferent routes leading toSantiago de Compostela$ Traditionally pilgrims

started the Camino fromtheir own homes.% Yellow scallop shells

and yellow arrows mark thepopular Camino routes.& The most famous

Camino route is the FrenchWay, which starts in St JeanPied de Port and takes inthe vineyards of La Rioja,the rugged mountains ofLéon and the peacefulcountryside of rural Galicia.

( Over 200,000 pilgrimsreach Santiago each yearand receive their Compo-stela certificate.) To receive your Com-

postela certificate youmust walk at least

100km, cycle at least200km and makesure your pilgrimpassport isstamped at least

once a day.* Sarria, 111km away

from Santiago, is the popu-lar starting point for walk-ers on the Camino.+ July 25, St James Day,

is a holiday in Santiago andGalicia., Santiago de Compo-

stela’s old town has beendeemed a UNESCO-listedheritage site and wasawarded European Cul-tural Route status in 1987by the Council of Europe.- The 12th century

Codex Calixtinus is the old-est Camino de Santiago‘guidebook’.

Visit caminoways.com/download-camino-ebooks

Email info@camino-ways.com or call 00 353 1525 28 86.

MAKEYOURWAYTOSPANISHROUTE

news

GoldenticketwinHOLIDAYMAKER Jacqu-line Lowe was stunnedwhen she flew homefrom Barcelona with herfamily — and baggedherself a free trip toSpain next summer.

The Bonnybridgemum was the lucky win-ner of a giant GoldenRain Cheque from holi-day giant Jet 2 on Tues-day, the first of sevenpeople to be picked forthe fantastic surprise.

She now plans to cele-brate her 50th birthdayin the sun for free nextyear with hubby Robert,53, and kids Alisdair, 12and Donald, nine.

Lucky Jacqueline waspicked at random for thespecial surprise as partof Jet2.com’s andJet2holidays’ uniqueRain Cheque initiative.

Between now andSeptember 30, all cus-tomers flying back to theUK with the leading lei-

sure airline and packageholiday specialist will behanded a voucher whichwill give them a £60 dis-count off a summer 2016holiday booking.

Jacqueline said: “It’sbrilliant to be returninghome to such a nice sur-prise. My son evenasked me to pinch himas he couldn’t believeour luck! Thanks toeveryone at Jet2.comand Jet2holidays for thisfantastic prize!”

Steve Heapy, CEO ofJet2.com and Jet2holi-days, said: “Jacquelineis the first of only sevenlucky customers whowill be treated to a freeholiday as part of ourRain Cheque promotion.

“We launched this ini-tiative to put a smile onour customers’ faceswhen returning homefrom their holidays.”l For info see jet2.comor jet2holidays.comor jet2holidays.com

HOLIDAYMAKERS at Norfolk Parkcan now pamper themselves afterowners Dream Lodge Group openeda new spa there.

Set within the Broads and the NorthNorfolk coast, the spa’s idyllic location issurrounded by a collection of luxury lodgesfor the perfect country escape. Spa Packagestarts from £449 and includes three nights in atwo bedroom signature lodge with private hot tuband £100 spa vouchers or four nights in a 2two-bedroom Classic lodge starts from £337. Seenorfolkspa.co.uk or dreamlodgeholidays.co.uk

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