Had a lovely weekend at Centerparcs with the family, spent some good time with good people.

With regard to Centerparcs itself, we left whistling the theme to The Great Escape.  Centerparcs is filled with two things that I would quite happily never encounter again in my life.  Children and Cyclists!  Everywhere!

Also, because of their “green” policy, cars are not allowed on site so, while dodging teenagers on Segways and throngs of cyclists in their oh-so-trendy helmets and lycra, you have to find your way around on foot!  There are people there who visited in 1985 and are still trying to find the exit.

After arriving at the Parc (sic), Corinne and I dropped off our bag at the chalet and headed straight back out again onto the open road.  We headed to a riverside pub that we had noticed a sign for on the trip down (which was fine, apart from being delayed an hour when passing Stonehenge).

The pub was lovely, in an out of the way village, so we sat next to the river and ordered our food.  Corinne’s arrived and 15 minutes later I was still waiting, so I queried the delay with the waitress.  They had given my food to another table, and “would have another for me in 10 minutes”.  30 minutes after this there was still no sign, so I mentioned it again.  10 minutes after that it finally arrived but my pork sausages were not cooked in the middle (they’d obviously forgotten and rushed it through).  After another 5 minutes under the grill, my food was returned to me, still raw, but I was so hungry by this time that I ate it.  No discount was offered when we paid.  We headed back to Colditz Centerparcs and found our way to the Plaza, where we found a rather nice little bar.  The only one on site.  That made Mojitos.

A great meal was had at Strada, the Italian restaurant on-site.  It was slightly marred by the fact that the restaurant owners had decided to install a children’s play are right next to where we were dining.  Yes, a play area in a decent restaurant, which made the noise levels pretty awful.  The parents of the miscreants had, of course, decided to dine at tables at the opposite end of the restaurant from where they released their offspring.

A lazy Sunday morning watching the wildlife from the patio of the chalet was pleasant, then we headed out with Mum & Dad to find the “land train” and see what else there was on the site.  Trees.  Chalets.  More trees. Cyclists – hundreds of them.  Did I mention trees? 

We alighted at the Plaza and went for a tipple before the Sunday lunch that had been booked at the “Grand Cafe”.  They still made Mojitos.

In the Grand Cafe we sat at our table while we waited for everyone to arrive.  I asked for a drink but was told I would have to wait until everyone had arrived and was seated and then they would take our order.

When everyone had arrived and we’d looked through the menus, we were then told that it was carvery only, but with a vegeterian option (goat cheese tart).  The Carvery was 2 or 3 courses but if you wanted the two courses it had to be main and dessert.

Corinne couldn’t have the goat cheese tart as it contained dairy.  I couldn’t eat a dessert as I don’t eat sweet stuff, a couple of others in the party didn’t fancy a carvery (cold, soggy vegetables and a choice of overcooked beef or pork), so we cried “dietary requirements” and ordered fish and chips ( I really wanted the pie and mash but was told “NO”).  The carvery turned out to be cold, soggy and overcooked, while the fish and chips was fine, but arrived about 20 minutes after everyone else had finished their food.  I’m not recommending this restaurant to anyone (or Centerparcs for that matter).

After lunch, Corinne and I found our way back to that nice little bar (the only one on a site that has more than 2000 guests!) and checked to see if the Mojitos were still up to scratch.  Mum and Dad joined us for a drink and we had something decent to eat (pie and mash for me!), then we all went back to the chalet and crashed.  A most enjoyable day except for the disaster of the food at lunch.

We woke this morning and packed, ready for the trip home.  Some ducks knocked on the door, demanding breakfast, then another little chap popped round to see us.

After a 20 minute walk to find the car in the main car park, we dropped the bag in the boot and headed for the exit, fearing to see SS guards or stormtroopers ready to deny us our freedom.  We made it through the gate and hit the A36 like a bat out of hell.

Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the family, as I always do, but curled up on the sofa with my gorgeous wife killing zombies next to me makes life about perfect right now.