mybigadventures.com

It's that time of year again - the one where all teachers get to breath a little easier and feel a bit more normal, that's right folks, the summer is almost here! We break up really early this year to enjoy one of the longest holidays I've had in my teaching career - nearly 7 weeks. The weather seems to have picked up and it actually feels like summer, well certainly as summery as Britain ever gets, let's hope it lasts into the break!

With just over a week to go until we depart on our Big Japanese adventure, I've spent some time checking the site, making sure everything is in tip top condition for updating whilst we're on our travels. I think everything works, but if you do spot any problems just add a comment below and I'll try and sort it out.

Keep your eye's peeled for the updates, they'll be some new albums appearing which I'll try and link into the blogs and I'll share a few bits on facebook, although I'm thinking I may start to reduce the number of photo's and things I actually share directly on the facebook platform. I hope you all, teachers and non-teachers alike, have a great summer whatever you might be up to! Enjoy!

The summer came around as quickly as ever this year and with just a couple of weeks to go before the end of term we actually managed to book a holiday. In fact not just any holiday, but a Canadian and American adventure no less. So after a few end of term drinks on Friday we were off on Saturday morning for the airport, first stop Toronto! The flight was fairly standard with a decent selection of films to help pass the time, and before we knew it, we had arrived. Getting through the airport was an absolute doddle and after our cases were amongst the first off the plane, we were quickly on our way. We caught the train into the central station which is only a 25 minute ride and $12 each from Pearson airport. After a short subway ride we were at the hotel about an hour after landing.

The hotel is located in downtown Toronto and pretty close to a range of places to eat and a short walk from Starbucks which should sort us out for breakfast. By the time we checked in it was about 4.30pm and so we spent a bit of time slobbing about before heading out for a bite to eat at a nearby Dennys. The food was nice but there was food left as the portions were massive. We were starting to feel pretty tired as jet lag was starting to catch up with us so we headed back to the hotel, going to bed about 7.30pm local time which is 12.30am back home in the UK. Tomorrow we'll have an explore and no doubt take a few photos!

I still had to go to school today - until 2:30 PM, at least. So, I left Ben at home with a tiny little list of jobs to complete…

Arriving home, I discovered Ben lolopping on the sofa with the laptop - ‘surfing the net’. Prompted into action, he leapt (slowly) up and we got on. We did some last minute printing, some last minute shoving-things-into-bags, and created some contact details for our neighbours. After a brief chat with Pete and ‘her in doors’ (next door), we made ready for the taxi. Having arranged a pick-up for 5:30 PM, we assembled ourselves and all of our baggage on the drive, ready for the off. Because we are slightly OCD, we took pictures of ourselves setting the alarm and locking up, for peace of mind and, obviously, for posterity.

Bundled into the taxi, we made it to the train station a full hour before our train, so we had a bit of time to people-watch. Dani bought some chocolatines from Sainsbury’s local for tomorrow’s breakfast, along with some Maltesers, so we sat and scoffed while we waited. The train was marginally late and it took us a little while to get settled (what with all our baggage), but otherwise the journey was fine.

Upon arriving at the airport, we skipped the queue for the shuttle (to transfer) and got a taxi for the same price of £7 to the airport TraveLodge. After check-in, we did have a few issues with the key card for our room, so we ended up moving rooms. The hotel is undergoing a refurb, so the decor was a little bit rubbish. Nevertheless, the room was fine and we settled in our room to eat some  sandwiches and crisps. After watching a bit of TV, we headed down to the bar for a pint. Headed back up to the room and settled into bed - the room had been pretty warm, but had cooled a bit by now. We had pre-booked the shuttle bus booked for 9:00 AM tomorrow (for the big adventure to begin, so probably time to get to bed. Cheerio, ta ta!