Trying to get away from Dublin during the school holidays is now officially impossible unless you book about six months in advance. It's really annoying because there's no spontaneity. You might not feel like skiing at half term in February 2009 when it actually comes round. The other annoying thing is that all the prices for flights go up the day the kids get off school and only go back to normal prices when the holidays are over. I suppose it's great if you're totally organised or retired but otherwise it's a bit of a bore.
For various reasons we couldn't and didn't book anything for Easter holidays and even my pathetic efforts to find something in Ireland at the last minute came to nothing. The hotels that have kids activities had huge waiting lists for cancellations so we didn't have a hope.
There were loads of offers flying from England so we booked to go to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt from Manchester literally two days before we went. Sharm is on the Sinai peninsula on the shores of the Red Sea. It's about a five/five and a half hour plane journey there and there's a two hour time difference.
Getting to Manchester was no problem at all. The boat from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead is completely painless and if you go first class you get loads of free snacks and drinks and plenty of room to lounge.
The drive from Holyhead to Manchester was fine. We used a TOM TOM satnav system for the first time and it was fantastic. No more rows over directions, no more impossible maps and no stopping to ask for directions. A very useful invention, I'd put it up there with the dishwasher as a major contributor to domestic harmony. A little voice told us exactly where to go and gave us plenty of warning when we needed to turn left or right.
Manchester Airport was fine. Didn't have the same queues and stress levels as Dublin and the staff were charming and helpful.
Sharm El Sheikh was nearly perfect.
1. Weather - perfect - really, really hot with a nice breeze and no humidity. 30 to 40 degrees at all times. It didn't get cool in the evening.
2. No mosquitos - We did spray and I heard one buzz but there were no bites and they normally feast on me.
3. Beach - Fabulous - Really spacious compared to the South of Spain. Loads of comfy loungers, warm water, and a magnificent coral reef that you could walk out a pier to get to. Snorkeling really nice as there were hundreds of colourful fish to look at.
4. People - Utterly charming and friendly all the time. The Egyptian people genuinely seemed to like children, have a sense of humour and are very obliging and helpful. A lovely guy called Mohammed put our towels out for us in our "spot" every morning so we didn't have to get up early to put them out and the waiter at the Restaurant brought us our food to eat by the pool every lunchtime.
5. Standard of Hotel - Okay - Not really a five star and the food was average, (It was a bit like eating at school dinners or canteen food - Some nice sea food, ubiquitous chips.) but 1 to 4 made up for that. On the plus side we had an enormous room with a great balcony facing the sea.
I think Sharm is an excellent alternative to the South of Spain or the Canaries. The weather is way better and the people are much more friendly. We're definitely going back next year and will visit Cairo (a five hour drive through the desert) to see the Sphinx and pyramids.
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