boys eating ice cream-Honest Mum

Our Holiday in Halkidiki

Halkidiki sea-Honest MumWe’re now back from a glorious holiday to Halkidi in Greece (1 1/2 hours from Thessaloniki) and have returned totally refreshed and relaxed full of vitamin D, uplifting sea air and great Greek food (of which you can see more of the latter in my post A Taste of Halkidiki)…

boys eating ice cream-Honest Mum

Now settle in as this is one picture heavy post, bursting with vibrant photos of our time in Greece where days were spent by the pool or beach enjoying the calm of Halkidiki with copious amounts of frappe coffee Peter and I became addicted to, and lots of al fresco dining.

I even got chance to read some magazines and now want to subscribe to US Glamour after discovering it there!

…Really though, we feel so lucky to have had such a wonderful summer, one we’ll always cherish, the summer before Oliver, 4, starts school and Alexander, nearly 2, nursery.

This holiday in particular saw them grow and mature a lot, they seemed to truly appreciate their Grecian surroundings and the joy of the sea!

beach time-Honest Mum

…Now let’s start at the start (!)..A few shots to introduce you to the stunning Flegra Palace Hotel we stayed at in the quiet spot between two villages (Pefkochori and Chanoti) in Cassandra, Halkidiki bursting with palm, banana and olive trees, pretty sun bleached pebbles and the biggest basil tree I’ve ever seen…

Hotel-Honest Mum

hotel-Honest Mum

pebbles-Honest Mum

banana tree-Honest Mum

hotel-Honest Mum

Our morning ritual after a hearty hotel breakfast was heading out to the neighboring villages for coffee and ice cream before the intense midday heat with highs of 35 when we kept cool in the shade!

family holiday-Honest Mum

There were breathtaking views to behold at every turn so here, I share our little corner of Greece with you…

Halkidiki-Greece

Postcard-pretty white washed houses lined the roads we passed each day…

Halkidiki-Honest Mum

I love a terracotta roof, ornate windows and sea views!

pretty house-Honest MumOliver named this the ‘house with a beard’! Ha!

house Halkidiki-Greece

Just so lush and gorgeous, I think I might need to move to Greece!

leaves growing over a house-Honest Mum

These lovelies below (beautiful Bougainvillea) were found dancing in the sunlight to the sea breeze just waiting to be snapped! So striking!

flowers-Honest Mum

flowers-Greece

And of course olive trees went as far as the eye could see…

Olive tree by a house-Honest Mum

olives-Honest Mum

The sun glare Pete has caught here is stunning!

…The hotel pools were lovely but I yearned for the sea so we spent a lot of time there…and let me tell you, the postcards of Cassandra do not lie, crystal blue waters, enveloped in golden sand, the sea so transparent and warm, we swam alongside small fish, blue skies above our heads- a paradise on Greek shores… I breathed it all in, grateful. Bliss.

sea-Honest Mum

Oliver fully appreciated the sea this holiday too- he was a little fearful of it last year in Portugal (and too young on other holidays) but this time he really relished the water-just before the picture below was taken he beckoned me to, “Come in Mummy, just look at the sea, it’s so beautiful”….

And it was…

sea-Honest Mum

beach time-Honest MumMost beaches in the peninsula are owned by chic beach bars (child-friendly of course) with pretty beds, shaded beach sofas, unobtrusive music and some the best frappes (ice coffee) I’ve ever had…

beach bar-Honest Mum

Another day, another beach…

Beach-Honest Mum

I must note though (and it’s very important) that our all time favourite frappes (we were connoisseurs by day 3) were by ‘A Bar By the Sea’ (cool name huh?!) which was just that situated opposite this sweet dude grilling corn on the cobs! My only regret is not chomping on one whiles we were there!

Corn by the beach-Honest Mum

A bar by the sea-Honest Mum

Frappe-Honest Mum

(Cigarettes nor the fruit were ours)!

We did love snapping fruit on trees though (as well as eating the local produce)-I actually had to stop myself from picking one of these pretty pomegranates off the branches!

I think this was the first time I’d ever seen a pomegranate tree!

pomegranates on a tree-Honest Mum

…We did of course also love a splash in the pool by our beautiful hotel and by splash, I really mean SPLASH as Alexander did a lot of that-check out his bucket action below!

This dreamy sequence by Peter truly captures the fun we had together (and Pete jumped in after he’d tucked his camera away)…

hotel pool-Honest Mum

swimming-Honest MumAlexander-Honest MumAlexander-Honest Mum

splashing with a bucket-Honest Mum

In need of a lie down after all that activity!

Sleeping-Honest MumAnd there was of course a daily (multiple) quest for ice cream…

ice cream-Honest MumAnd the pestering of the lovely Anna there for a scoop or two…(Anna, below and the staff at Flegra Palace were incredible, so kind and loving towards the kids-they actually nicknamed Alexander, Baby Orlando Bloom as they thought their resemblance was uncanny!)

I’d never seen it before then!

Here are a couple more ice cream shots (there were so many)!

ice cream-Honest Mum

ice cream-Honest Mum

Anna and Oliver

…Alexander also spent a lot of time doing what he loves most-kicking a football about and he’s really good! Here’s hoping the kid plays for England (or even Greece) one day! No pressure!

Alexander-Honest Mum

playing football-Honest Mum

football-Honest Mum

Alexander-Honest Mum

Proud of his skills!

Can you handle the cuteness?!

cute-Honest Mum

We had siestas every day so packed a lot in a week and little afternoon naps helped us feel fresh for the evenings ahead…

Hotel Flegra Palace-Honest Mum

Night-time was rather special at our hotel, a banquet of food awaited us with course after course of soup (despite the heat), seasonal and traditional salads, fresh seafood, fish, grilled meats and mouth watering Greek desserts! It’s safe to say we ate A LOT!

Hotel-Honest Mum

…Such a dazzling hotel and I loved the lit lanterns that shone out around the pool by night!

 

hotel-Honest Mum

Hotel-Honest Mum

After dinner, we often walked 15 minutes to a nightly fair for kids which opened at 7pm. The car tracks and rides kept the kids entertained for hours and little toddler Alexander made us laugh when he pretended to drive back to England on his toy car!

“Go home” he’d shout. He did love the holiday, honest!

car track-Honest Mum Oliver driving-Honest Mum

Alexander-Honest Mum

On the walk home, we often stopped at these pretty road side Greek Orthodox Churches where I would say a pray for friends in need and those no longer with us.

I felt more connected than ever with my Greek heritage and religion and hope we make it to Cyprus (where my parents are originally from) again soon too.

Greek Church-Halkidiki-Greece-Honest Mum Just beautiful

Greek Orthodox Church-Honest Mum

I’m sad we didn’t get a whole family shot as Peter was behind the camera so much but we had a truly gorgeous break, a chance to really reconnect as a whole family enjoying our quality time together with so much fun (and ice cream)-did I mention the ice cream we all consumed daily-detox in full swing for me now!

It was delicious though!

ice cream-Honest Mum

Oh Halkidiki, we miss you already!

Me with the kids-Honest Mum

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