Not really lost... but found...?

Have you ever experienced a situation when you take out of a closet something you haven't worn for a while and you find long forgotten money in the pocket? That feeling of happiness, excitement, astonishment... I think you get what I mean.

Well, maybe not exactly.

Now imagine this.

Long time ago, as compared to his age of 7, my son got a camera. A simple digital camera for him to take pictures during his trips. Or during family events. Or in every situation he might like to take pictures. Anyhow, he got a camera. He has not been using it much. But there were occassions when he was taking pictures. Most of them are either blurred or shaken. You know, a kid too impatient to wait for the flash starts moving his hands before the picture is taken. Or something.

We were celebrating our daughter's  birthday on the weekend. And Artur wanted to take pictures of everyone and everything. He brought his camera that he hasn't used for a while. And started taking pictures.

On Sunday evening I decided to download the pictures from his camera. Much to my astonishment, I found pictures from our trip to Paris two years ago! And then from Rome (where he went with my parents almost two years ago) and Pisa (where he went with us right after Rome). Oh my, such a surprise! I know have pictures with my husband from Italy ;) Ok, we had a few from Cinque Terre, but none from Pisa (I think...).

Oh, and among many pictures, I also found a picture of me in Berlin. The ONLY picture of me in Berlin. When we got back from Germany and I browsed through my pictures, I even told my husband that he could have taken at least one picture of me in Berlin. And now I have one. A horrible (!) one, so I won't publish it, but still.

Unfortunately, most of the pictures are either blurred or shaken in any other way. But there were a few that I'm definitely saving.

And seeing our big girl (as she now calls herself) all tiny again... And not as reminding myself of pictures I took long ago. I saw her as a baby and these images were totally new to me. That was... refreshing ;)

Seeing those places from Artur's perspective was like seeing them all over again. The picture of Paris bridges is the best one we have. Cause you can see five (?) bridges in the picture if you look really closely. He was taking pictures of things he found interesting. From the perspective that suited him best. Perspective that I don't have. His Paris is different than mine. The focus is shifted to things that got him interested (at least at times when he had his camera ready for shooting, which wasn't too often anyway).

Many moons ago ;) when digital cameras weren't here yet (or when they weren't that popular), we were waiting for pictures from our trips as if it was gold. Walking around impatiently while that big machine that was printing them, was moving waay too slowly for us. And if there was a line, it was even worse. When we finally got the pictures all printed out, we were reliving the events pictured. Sharing our thoughts with others, laughing, commenting. Now, we see the pictures right away, so we have little to wait for.

The discovery of these pictures reminded me of that waiting. Of that reliving. Of the comments and laughters, cause that's exactly what we did when we were browsing through these pictures. We sat all together in front of the screen and we were commenting, laughing... We were reliving the trips.

The same trips. But like a new one. 

Paris, April 2014

 Rome, September 2014

 Pisa, October 2014

 Berlin, June 2015

And, as a bonus, that's us with the Birthday Girl on her actual birthday.

Tropical Islands near Berlin and some travel plans

I'm done with writing about our adventures in Thailand. Took me a long time, but I managed to describe more or less everything I wanted to.

Which means that I can move on to some other adventures. Since for now we're staying put (I have to wait till August to get on road! I have no idea how I'm going to do that...), I will be describing some of our last year's adventures. Cause I still have not managed to share some of them with you.

In the meantime, I finally want to reveal our this year's summer plans with you. We've had them for quite some time now and I hope they'll come to life. We're planning a sort of European road trip. What does that mean? We're taking our tent (we bought a huge one last Summer, specially for this purpose), overpacking our car (hope everything will fit into it) and we're going to the West. Not wild, but still West. And no, not tomorrow. Not even in a month. I have to wait for my dream holiday till August! Which is a bit of a shame, but it's going to be my longest holiday ever. Not all spent on the road, but all is planned up. Oh, the destination. I almost forgot. Our goal is to get from Gdynia, Poland (where we live) to Gibraltar. And back, of course (not quite back home, at least me and the kids, but close enough). We're planning to see the Region of Dordogne in France, Northern Spain, move all the way down via Portugal, get to Gibraltar, see Alhambra in Granada, then drive all the way up to Andorra, Carcassonne and head back to Poland. We have some places on the way that we already know we want to see (any recommendations for must sees? Hopefully off the beaten path, off huge cities and off the coast?), but it's more of a "how about going to xxx tomorrow?" kind of trip. Having a tent gives you that opportunity. More spontaneous kind of trip.

But today's post is not only about travel plans (oh, those plans). It's also about last year's weekend getaway.

I was planning that trip for quite some time and finally promised myself we simply had to go. And so we went. I spent five years in Poznan and didn't visit Berlin (which is a shame, cause the two cities are well linked together and relatively close, too). And I simply had to go there. But, to make it more interesting to the kids, we decided to visit Tropical Islands as well.

Tropical Islands basically could be called an aquapark. Pools, slides, a lot of water fun. But not just that. Tropical Islands is a lot more than that. Animals living in the tropical forest section of the area. A lot of restaurants and minibars (mostly fast food, but not only, at least not entirely). A sandy beach (artificial, sand on concrete, but yes, it is there). A photo wallpaper with a tropical view (to make you feel like you're on a tropical island. Doesn't work too well, or didn't work too well for me). Zumba classes, dance lessons, fitness or something like that by the pool (made me think of our holidays in Egypt. Though we never take part in such activities). And a playground for kids. Am I forgetting something? Oh, yes, you can spend the night there. You can choose from a variety of sleeping options: a tent, a room (different kinds of rooms), a bungalow... There are a few options mentioned on their website.

Ok, so that's it for the general description. My opinion?

We spent one night in Tropical Islands. In a premium room. The room was big, comfortable, clean, with A/C, situated in Royal Harbour themed section (there were a few themed sections). And it really felt like an old harbour. Well done. Breakfast was included in the price. And it was delicious! You could choose from a range of dishes and products, from bread through cereal, eggs, sausages, to vegetables and fresh fruit. There was really plenty to choose from. And all was tasty.

We liked the tropical forest. A walk through it, seeing the animals. There were also descriptions of animals you could find there.

The kids enjoyed the playground, especially the car rides and paddle boats. We did not like the food in Tropino Bar. Even though it was said to be the choice for families with small kids, the food felt artificial and definitely not tasty.

The pools were ok. Both our kids enjoyed the water playground, we tried all of the pools. The only thing we didn't try were the big slides, cause (much to my surprise, considering how much fun we had in Lalandia, Artur didn't want to use them). Or even see them, for that matter.

The beach was... well... You can't expect miracles. It was decent. Kids played with the sand. But it wasn't the kind of sand you'd dream to put your towel on, lie down and enjoy yourself doing nothing.

All in all, I'm glad we went. We'd probably visit the place again. Though I'd rather visit a real tropical island (oh, to get back to Koh Lipe). But, then again, if you don't have too much free time and would like the experience, it is a place worth visiting. As I could see on their website, they're opening an outdoor section. So they are developing.

Oh, the place is crowded during the day! Lines to dining places during lunch hours are... huge, to say the least. You can spend an hour standing in line and not find a free table to sit and eat. If you stay the night, you can use the pools the whole day preceeding the night and the whole day after, so that is a good deal. Plus, the pools are relatively epmty early in the morning and in the evening.

Have you ever been to the Tropical Islands (near Berlin)? 

What were your impressions?

Diana, Katrina, and Rachel