Mother-daughter trip to Greece: chillax!
It was the end of September when Elodie had passed her first weeks of school with flying colours and I had ploughed through my first weeks as a freelancer. With a little less brilliance than my daughter, but still: I survived. Didn't we actually deserve some kind of reward? One in the form of a trip to Greece perhaps? Because although Elodie is a child who puts on the biggest mouth at home, she is actually a small, sensitive girl who craves the attention and approval of her mom. With a rather present brother this is not always obvious for a three year old. Certainly not if you secretly adore that same brother... And so it happened, because I had an invitation from Grecotel in my mailbox. Did we feel like coming for four days to enjoy the last September sunrays? Yeah, duh!
4 TIPS TO ENJOY YOUR MOTHER-DAUGHTER TRIP
To all the moms out there; this is the time to let go. In our case, the best way to experience such a trip was to completely surrender to my daughter's wishes. She was the boss for a while (well, to what extent I allowed, haha) and she loves to splash in the pool all day, school role plays and eat pancakes or ice creams. And so we did. Nothing had to be done, everything was possible and that was a wonderful feeling. Secretly I passed on the responsibility of my 'I want to see everything' urge to Elodie and for two days we did nothing but what I described above. What hotel Casa Marron has in store for this is the following:
RELAXING BY THE POOL
So we were going to spend a lot of time by the pool, my daughter had made that perfectly clear to me. There is a children's pool, but we let that pass us by. The two other pools on the domain are also perfect for your child to play carefree, because they both have a very large shallow area. The floaties are only necessary for safety reason if Elodie wished to suddenly jump up and land in the deeper area of the pool. Life was not too complicated at Grecotel!
MASSAGE FOR KIDS AND THEIR MOMS
I wanted to immerse myself in her world, but I also felt the need to return home completely relaxed. I swear, we made it a real girl's trip. At home I roll my eyes when she breaks my lipstick again (really, she pushes so hard that it crumbles!), but here I enjoyed her vanity. A mom-daughter massage was one of the highlights of our stay. We did this together and I had rarely seen her enjoy the massage so much on the one hand and the attention we had for each other on the other.
RENEWED RESORT CASA MARRON
Hotel Casa Marron is the former Lakopetra Beach. This means that, apart from the change of name, the hotel has undergone a metamorphosis. When we were there at the end of September, not everything was finished yet, but during the winter months they would continue to work hard. Because there had to be renewed, they also reflected on the needs of the guests. Because tourism in 2018 is absolutely not what it was in 2008. The focus was on conviviality and relaxation, but with all the facilities to make it a fantastic family holiday. You can send a request in advance and then you can use (for free!) e.g. a bottle warmer or even a sterilizer, a baby monitor or even a pram. You can also ask in advance which brands they work with in terms of baby food, as this is also provided (please contact them in advance!).
EXPLORE THE SURROUNDINGS
We chilled for two days, tested as many swimming pools and visited the ice cream bar more often than I thought possible, but on day three I thought it was time to take a look at what the area actually looks like. We chose to be shown around by a local taxi driver who had already taken us from the airport to the hotel. The friendly man - who actually spoke very little English - showed us what he thought were the nicest spots and took us to the beach where his family runs a beach bar. I was offered coffee and Elodie a fruit juice. The Greek culture has many myths, but their hospitality is not one of them. We spent a blissful morning there. We drove around and visited an abandoned church, ended up in the woods and went from one place to the other. We didn't discover ancient Greece (although it's possible, because ancient Olympia is only a two hour drive away), but the nature and tranquility in the surroundings of the hotel is definitely worth a trip. You can get bikes at the hotel and the surroundings are vast enough to enjoy it for a few hours.
I can more than recommend a short (we went for four days) outing with your daughter or son. We made it a relaxing getaway with a focus on relaxation, but it goes without saying that such trips can come in all sizes and colors. You just crawl into your 'just the two of us'-bubble for four days and you’re set. In my opinion these experiences incredibly contribute to the bond you build with your kids. Just push the stop button, then afterwards you can hit it again. Whether you have to go back to kindergarten, or crawl behind your computer, that extra energy will get you a long way!