Joined daddyhan on a biz trip and we covered 5 places this time.
Slept most of the day away in Rotterdam while he works, so not much to write about. We did walk to the Erasmus Bridge this time and it was much colder than last year with temp roughly below 6. Headed to Paris the next day.
To be in Paris again and feeling fine is amazing. I do not have to force myself to sight-see, puke at every nook and cranny and I DO NOT HAVE TO EAT HOT SOUPY RAMEN FOR EVERY $%#@ MEALS. For the uninitiated, I was just into my pregnacy the 1st time I was there. It was downright horrigiiible.
This time it was perfect! A short 2 days in the City of Lights, no ramens, good french food, sitting in the park enjoying the crisp cool air and admiring the Eiffel Towel(I actually typed that! Shall leave the mistake here for me to laff at in future. haaha.) And best of all! I went Rue Cambon. Twice! HEE!
A great sunny evening.
Am trying to potray that it feels great to be able to be out at this time n not feel cold and nauseous. Haaha.
Oh! We finally tried this!
Horrific Qs outside it! But we survived. =)
Yummie yummie little color cookies - the way daddyhan calls it.
The caramel one rocks! I can eat them over n over again without feeling queasy from the sweetness.
London was cold with the strong wind blowing ever so often, but I fully understand why ppl loves london! The shopping is fantastic! The range n variety is staggering, but so is the price! London wasnt exactly a place I wanted to visit becoz its so expensive but I badly wanted to see Stonehenge, and since the exchange rates is at its lowest, we decided to. No regrets! I love love love this place and hope to be able to visit it again for shopping. The food is good too and is cheap if we eat during a certain timing eg 5-7pm(depending on restaurants). A 3 course set menu costs around 11pounds/pax and portion is huge.
So we joined a day tour to Winsor castle(boring), city of Bath(boring too) and to see the highlight of the trip, Stonehenge.
It wasnt what I expected it to be. Many years ago, when I 1st saw the Acropolis of Athens, I was blown away and stood rooted in awe, taking in the beauty that was perched on top of the hill infront of me. When I 1st saw Stonehenge.. it came into view like this...
taken from the bus, see the cluster on top of the tour guide's head.
by the road side???????? I always thought it was located in a very secluded place that requires some light trekking to get to.. well, was blown away, not by the view, but the fact that it was sitting by the side of the road. Lost all of its mystical aura almost immediately.
There! It wasnt as huge as I thought it to be. A storey high at the most.
Oh, we also went on a hop on hop off bus to see the sights of London and froze our asses off....
...like this. So cold till I had to alight somewhere, grabbed a hot cocoa, thawed out a bit and continued with the journery.
Slept most of the time in Hamburg as well since daddyhan isnt around.. Hamburg is a dead city. Even at 12noon, the crowd on the street is pathethic. Good news, because it meant more leisure time to shop without jostling for space with the others. For the 1st time in years, daddyhan and I went for a drink after dinner. Its been donkey years, really. It was cold, there isnt much ppl at all and we talked about everything under the stars. We watched video clips of the monkey from our hps and missed her terribly. It was an enjoyable evening.
Next up, Athens.
Was caught in a huge ass grp of protesters marching down the road while shopping alone. Freaked the hell outta me, but found it amusing much later when I was safe in the hotel room. Hehehe. Saw lotsa police and army personnels on standby, holding the riot shields.
I am still very good with directions in Athens(surprisingly!) and brought daddyhan to my fav restaurant in Plaka. I swear I agreed to come to Athens becoz I wanted to eat their grilled octopus and fried calamari. Needless to say, I settled both my dinners early for the 2 days here, while daddyhan had his with his biz frds at a later timing.
I wasnt aware of this candid shot. I think its quite evident that I was in bliss. LOL
Very yummie grilled octopus.
My fav calamari. The taste is very different from the other calamaris around the world. Cant put a word to it but it is damn nice.
And their greek salad is really the best.
That pretty much sums up the stay in Athens. Didnt even catch a glimpse of the Acropolis this time even though I was staying near it. Had been too busy with shopping in another direction.
On the plane home, I watched 4 and a half movie. Couldnt sleep at all even though the plane was very empty and I had 3 seats to myself. Touched down at 5am, reached home by 6am and started cleaning up the place abit. Was getting drowsy but had to stay awake to meet my princess! As daddyhan left his car in the office, I was supposed to drive him there to pick it up and also to give princess a BIG surprise. However, in my sleepy state, I couldnt. Hence we called up FIL and he came over to picked us up!
When he arrived, I run towards the car and saw ning desperately trying to climb out of her carseat too. When I opened the car door, she was almost in tears and we both hugged each other tight.
Reunion is indeed sweet.
She refuses to sit in her carseat after that and made me hug her tight. Amidst the hugs and wipping off her tears, she asked "Mama! did you buy my toys? Did you buy my big kitchen?"
Oops! Had to quickly lied that we have already PAID for the big kitchen and its going to sit plane plane back becoz its too big for us to carry, so have to wait. That pacified her.
Posts
