This week my mum, Gary and Lucy came to visit us in Muscat! Finally! Since it was mumsie and Gary’s first time in Oman (the Middle East in general actually) we wanted to make sure that they had a great time, doing as much as possible to get a feel for the place.
The first day we took it easy, we went for an evening swim at the shafaq club, which was a lot of fun! Florence loves swimming and splashing about in the water, and we try to go most evenings before bed (to help tire her out!). We ate there this time too, we just got pizzas which were actually pretty good!
On the Tuesday, we went camping in the desert at Wahiba Sands. It’s about a two and a half hour drive from Muscat, and we stayed at Desert Nights camp in a shared tent. It’s amazing how the landscape changes as you get further and further away from the city! We chased some camels down the sand-road once we’d turned off at the sign for Wasel, then almost got stuck on the side of the track when Peri tried to make it less bumpy! We had an amazing time at the camp, we went quad biking twice, sand boarding, camel riding around the camp (which was complimentary, along with a drive up the dunes to see the sunset), and drove out to Wadi Bani Khalid. We didn’t actually get to see the sunset unfortunately, or have a dip in the wadi, as there was so much rain! There was a sandstorm followed by a huge thunderstorm on the first evening, and even though the weather cleared up, it rained again when we got to the wadi the next day! I couldn’t believe it…rain in the desert! But actually it was amazing to see and such an amazing experience- who else gets to see that! We also had a great time sitting under the stars – it’s so clear out there, and we saw loads of shooting stars. Desert Nights was such a lovely place, I’d definitely recommend it. The staff were lovely and the food was great too. We were half board so breakfast and dinner was included. The only thing that bothered me was the price of the activities – everything was so expensive! My mum, Lucy and I also got some henna done on our hands, it was a great atmosphere and was a lot of fun, but actually not the best henna I’ve had. For more information visit the website at http://omanhotels.com/desertnightscamp/
On the way back to Muscat, we drove down to Sur, then continued on for a swim in Bimmah sinkhole, which was lovely but a little stressful with Florence as it was much too hot and there isn’t any shade.
When we got back to Muscat, we went to Muttrah and walked down the corniche to the souq, where Peri’s bartering saved us a little cash on all the things we bought! As soon as Peri told them “I live in Muscat, give me the real price!” Surprisingly all the prices went down! 😉
We also went to Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, which is open every day (except Friday) 8-11am. The mosque was a gift to the nation from Sultan Qaboos to mark the 30th year of his reign. The huge Persian carpet is the second largest hand-loomed Iranian carpet in the world; it took 600 women four years to weave. First you enter the women’s prayer hall, then walk round to the main one which is for the men. It can accommodate 20,000 worshippers, and the chandelier is amazing! I think I was told by one of the guides that there are over 2100 light bulbs, and it’s 14 metres high and weighs between 8-9 tonnes! Although the website says that children under 10 are not permitted, I’ve been in twice with Florence now (under one!) and there were other children there too on both occasions. It’s important to dress modestly, so make sure to be fully covered including a head scarf for the women. If you do arrive in unsuitable clothing, you can always hire an abaya (for the ladies) for a couple of rial when you get there. There’s also an Islamic information centre which is also open til 11, where you can grab a drink and receive info and books about Islam in many languages.
You can see a 360 virtual panorama tour of the mosque at http://sultanqaboosgrandmosque.com/
Finally we went for a tour of the Royal Opera House, which is open 8.30-10.30am daily. It’s such a beautiful building and we even got to see them setting up the stage for the opera Turandot. You can visit the website at http://www.rohmuscat.org.om/ or follow them on Twitter @ROH_Muscat
The best food we had in Muscat came from the Lebanese restaurant at The Wave, and a delicious Indian from Begums in Al Khuwair.
Yesterday was the first day of Eid, the Muslim celebration which lasts 4 days. As Nick and Helene were already staying with us, and Joelle was visiting from Doha, we decided to go out on a day trip around Oman.
First, we drove to Nizwa, which is about 140 km from Muscat. We went down route 15 through all the beautiful mountains which looked amazing. Such wonderful colours in the rocks. Unfortunately the driving here is just as crazy as Qatar and Nick and Helene almost crashed not long into the journey. Some guy pulled right in front of them, and it was a close call but we were all ok thankfully.
After about an hour and a half to two hours, we arrived in Nizwa and parked next to the souk. We walked up to the fort, which unfortunately was closed because of the holiday. We even saw a bus tour company pull up outside with a load of unimpressed looking tourists! Great planning there! We managed to have a little look over the wall, but to be honest the fort doesn’t really look all the authentic – like it was actually built last week or something… But apparently it is the oldest fort in Oman.
Anyway…. We had a look around the souk where there were lots of pottery places and souvenir shops – very expensive and overpriced- Joelle wanted to buy a mug for her mum, but it was 4 rial! Only worth about half of that, but oh well. We walked down a little street and tried to ignore the Indian men coughing their guts up, to look at what we thought were some ruins, but was actually just an old house that was being demolished!
We then walked back through the main souk, and around into the stinky (and empty) goat and fish souks. There were barrels full of rotting fish guts and god knows what – delightful in 38 degrees I can tell you! I (unfortunately) needed to use the bathroom, which were also smelly squatter toilets. Nice!
After that, we drove to Bahla via a small village and played I spy all the way. We saw some ruins but we didn’t stop. Bahla is about 40 km from Nizwa. We stopped in the middle of a wadi looking for the waterfall which is supposed to be beautiful as we couldn’t find it. We did however get (?) to see a skinned goat ready for the barbecue – a tradition during Eid is to slaughter and skin goats, cows or sometimes camels. I really REALLY hoped we wouldn’t see that.
At the wadi, we saw a big family walking from one side of the town to the other. Nick and Peri were outside the car, and upon asking for directions to the nearest restaurant, met a lovely Omani man named Aza who invited us all into his home for food and drinks. It was so nice of him to make us feel so welcome, especially considering it was the first day of Eid, a time to be with family. We met two of his sisters and 3 of his brothers, one of whom had studied in Australia. His sisters were very shy, and initially wouldn’t come in to meet us, but after a while one of them came in and shook all our hands. It was so cute! She had a nice new dress and henna for the celebrations.
Because it was the first day of Eid, they had a lot of food prepared for any guests who may drop in! We ate makboosh- chicken and rice haha but delicious!- followed by lots of fruit and Omani sweets, including halwa, a traditional sweet eaten during times of celebration.
Aza wanted to show us around the area, so together we all drove back along the wadi, then up a hill that overlooked the whole of Bahla. It was really beautiful. We wouldn’t have thought of doing that, as the hill just had the electricity pylons on the top! But we got some great pictures with the gorgeous scenery behind us.
We then went on to jabreen castle, which again was closed for Eid. We walked around outside, then carried on. We drove up the mountain jebel hatt. I thought it might be a bit dangerous in our rental car, but the roads were actually great! At the top there’s fantastic views of the mountains, including jebel shams or sun mountain, the tallest in Oman. Peri Even managed to Skype Jules and his mum from the top! We played the name game with Joelle all the way, then all of us played again when we got home!
Peri and I somehow managed to wake up early to catch the train from Roma termini at 7.30am on Friday. We’d just found our seats when this middle aged group of four just started shouting No at us! They were a bit annoying about their seats so we had to sit in a four with two of them, even though the whole rest of the carriage wasn’t even reserved. Never mind, I slept almost the entire way to Milan!
We got an orange juice at the station, then went to the platform to try and get on our train to Ventimiglia on the border, but the doors were locked and no-one came to let us on our carriage! Finally we got on the subsequent carriage, and then a woman came and told us that this carriage was closed, so we had to run up to another one! We just took the same seats, which was in a Harry Potter type carriage, with 3 Germans, one Italian guy who eventually got off and was replaced by a very tired French girl. The German girls were so annoying as soon as they got on, they were giggling hysterically and talking really loudly the whole time. The French girl kept nodding off and snapping her neck, and the Germans just kept laughing at her and making fun of her, it was so mean.
Anyway, we finally arrived in Ventimiglia and ran straight onto another train to Antibes, even though we hadn’t reserved anything – but we did have our interrail passes and no-one even checked our tickets anyway. In fact, I was quite surprised that we’ve been to so many European countries without having to show our passports or anything. The train to Antibes was really busy, and I was so tired I kept trying to put my head down, without much luck. There was a man who got on with his bike, and Peri thought he was a bit mental as he kept singing to himself, talking to everyone, and playing knee-drums to himself really loudly!
We’ve been staying with Jules’ sister Manu and her two kids Naomi and Tom. Her husband Stefan works on boats and we only saw him the first night before he had to leave. Apparently the people rent out the boats for £35000 a WEEK! And he said its mostly Brits which is just beyond belief! That first night we had a BBQ on the balcony, and got really drunk and decided it would be a good idea to go for a swim at 4am. Jules and his neighbour, John Baptiste told us we’d have to climb over a small wall – when in fact it was an 8 foot fence! Jules went over first, then I had to get up, but when I got to the top I started falling off backwards! Thankfully Peri was there to catch me and I made it over, but it was a bit scary and I’ve got a humongous bruise on the back of my leg! I thought the pool was going to be really cold, but it was actually really nice! But not worth the bruise or possible fall!
Since then, we’ve just been relaxing as much as possible – watching movies, swimming and playing table tennis. We’ve finally booked our train back to London on Wednesday, then we’ll go and meet Robin then drive to Manchester on Thursday ready for the wedding party on Friday.
I can’t wait to get home for a bit, as I’ve been suffering quite a lot from anxiety and something called depersonalisation for almost a month now, and I really think it will help me just to get back home and try to chill. I’ve been trying some self-hypnosis which is helping me to relax a little, and I think now it’s just a case of waiting it out and letting these feelings run their course. Basically I had a really horrible panic attack at my mums, and ever since I’ve not felt like myself like I might not be really me, or that the world isn’t real. It’s been really hard, and keeps making me think horrid negative thoughts, particularly about death and dying. I’ve read a lot about it to try and snap out of it, but I don’t think it works that way. It’s just a symptom of anxiety and lots of people suffer from it, I think I just need to keep reminding myself of that and that its only bad feelings which will fade eventually. It has made me feel better that I’m not going mad or losing it, and that other people feel this way too – but the thought that some people have suffered with it for years is a little terrifying to say the least. The thing to do I think is to try to address the anxiety, and then the feelings of depersonalisation will fade away with it. Perhaps I need to keep my mind busy with other things.
Peri and I left Florence in the morning of the 30th July, and on our way to the station we saw an old building that was decorated with thousands of one dollar bills! As we walked past, some men were pulling them all down. It looked really surreal and was totally unexpected, but I don’t think they were real anyway.
The train journey went quite quickly, and before we knew it, we had arrived! Looking at the map, we decided it was too far to walk to the hotel so we took a taxi from outside the station (which was actually quite fast and cheap, and our driver pointed out a few places of interest along the way). Our hotel is called San Anna, and is on Borgo Pio, right near Saint Peters Square and the Vatican! The hotel is really nice, and when we arrived they gave us a choice of rooms – we took the one with the balcony so naughty pants can smoke.
Once we’d settled into our room, we decided to go for an explore. We went to see Saint Peter’s Square first, and then we walked back on ourselves to Castel Sant’ Angelo and over Sant’ Angelo bridge, which crosses the Fiume Tevere river and is decorated with angels. From there, we walked down to Piazzo Navona and along to the Pantheon, which was a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and is now a Catholic Church. It’s an amazing building and free to go inside, so well worth a visit!
After the Pantheon, we continued on to see the Trevi Fountain. It’s a truly beautiful fountain and its massive! I’d heard it wasn’t as big as you imagine on TV and stuck down some alley, but it’s not true! Unfortunately we didn’t have any coins to throw in – it’s said that should you throw a penny over your shoulder into the fountain, you will return to Rome one day.
There are hundreds, possibly thousands of churches in Rome and my feet think we’ve seen them all! There is something to see round every corner, and so much history! We watched Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons, as it is set in Rome, so we could try and follow the route and see the famous sites!
The following day we went to the Vatican museum and went inside the Sistine chapel. The museum was amazing, with so much to see, and surprisingly we didn’t have to queue very long at all to get our tickets and get inside. The Sistine chapel is beautiful, but unfortunately you’re not allowed to take any pictures. I’d also heard that you weren’t allowed in the Vatican without proper dress I.e. you must cover your shoulders and at least to your knees. I’d dressed in chinos and a t-shirt so we wouldn’t have any problems, however I think it’s actually more relaxed than I thought as lots of people had shorts or summer dresses on (it was roasting again, for a change!). There is so much artwork and statues inside the museum it’s hard to remember everything we saw! Outside in the gardens there are some steps leading down to what Peri referred to as ‘the popes garage’, where we went down to see all the old ‘pope-mobiles’! It was really interesting to see all the old stage coaches right up to the modern cars, they even had the car from the 1981 assassination attempt which was a little eerie. I don’t think many people realised the pavilion was there, as it was really quiet.
Today is our last day in Rome before we take the train to Antibes in the south of France tomorrow. We’re leaving from Roma termini at 7.30am and taking the train to Milano, then Ventimiglia on the border between Italy and France. We’ve not booked our tickets from there yet, as apparently they come every half hour anyway. We’ll be spending a couple of days in Antibes relaxing on the beach, before we head back to the UK. We’re going to go to London first to meet our new nephew Robin! Then we’re going to Manchester in time for mumsie and Gary’s wedding on the 12th!
This morning, we got up early and went to Saint Peter’s basilica. We wanted to go yesterday but the queues were literally circling around the square! We arrived around 9am, and while it was still busy, we didn’t have to queue very long at all, and it’s free to enter. We took lots of pictures inside, it’s a beautiful and ornately decorated building, and there were even a couple of masses going on
inside. To the left of the building, there is another smaller museum filled with religious artefacts, such as reliquaries for various saints, robes worn by the pope and donations from Catholics around the world. We decided not to go up the dome, as we’ve done it in Paris and Venice now, and I don’t like heights really! And we thought it was too morbid to go into the crypts where they have the remains of all the past popes. Instead, we decided to get lost in the streets on our way to the colosseum! We walked past the archaeological gardens, walked round the colosseum (it was too busy and expensive to go inside!) and saw the arch of Constantine. After that, we were so hot and tired that we came back to the hotel and have enjoyed a lazy afternoon eating pizza and relaxing!
We arrived in Florence yesterday at around lunch time. We left the apartment in Venice and walked to the canal boat taxi at Rialto bridge, which wasn’t too far really and meant we cut out a few stops (which is good as I’d felt queasy on there when we arrived!).
The weather is still hot hot hot! We’ve been really lucky with that (although we were hoping for some cooler European weather after our year in Qatar!), and also with our accommodation. We’re now staying at a place called Novecento’s, which is a nice B&B right in the centre of Florence close to the dome (Florence cathedral)- which we have a fantastic view of from the roof terrace! It’s a really nice place, behind an unassuming wooden door, up 61 steps above another place that looks like a B&B as well. The room is lovely and really pretty, with a real double bed this time (instead of two singles shoved together) with a decorative purple mosquito net above it, and a nice little wet-room bathroom. The only thing is that the air conditioner doesn’t really seem to cool the room down much! The owners, Franco Novecento and Sawako are really friendly and helpful – they gave us a map when we got here and circled all the good things to do on it, and gave us some ideas for restaurants and a really delicious ice-cream shop nearby!
After we’d arrived, unpacked a little and showered, we went on a really long explore of the city. We started off by walking onto the square where the dome is. It’s an enormous and beautiful building, but the long queues dissuaded us from going inside, which we’ll save for later (also the prospect of climbing over 400 steps was a little off putting in the heat of the day!!). Peri went and bought his Fiorentina football shirt from the sports shop in the square (there’s a shop opposite us, but they were all knock-offs!), and we took Franco’s advice and went for an ice cream – we got three scoops each and they were all delicious! Peri had chocolate, vanilla and pistachio, and I had coconut, yoghurt and chocolate hazelnut! Yum yum!
After our bellies were full, we walked to Ponte Vecchio bridge. On the way, we saw Dante’s church (which was small, modest, dark and creepy!), and Dante’s museum round the corner, the Bargello, and we saw an outdoor museum in Piazza della Signoria near the Palazzo Vecchio (town hall) called Loggia dei Lanzi, where we saw lots of large statues including The Rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna, marble lions, Perseus with Medusa’s head and other roman statues.
On the way back we went over the Ponte Santa Trìnita bridge, which is the oldest elliptical arch bridge in the world. Then we walked along Via Tornabuoni which is, according to Franco, a great shopping street – there were lots of high end boutiques and shops like Tiffany’s and Armani etc. from here, we came back onto the square with the dome and had a slice of pizza and a Nutella waffle!
Today, Peri got up early for breakfast (I was far too tired, and didn’t even hear him come and go a couple of times!). After a lie-in, we decided to venture out into the heat again for some lunch. We walked the other way out of the B&B (away from the dome) and found a little cafe with seats outside, where we stopped for a bagel and coffee, close to Galleria Accademia. Peri got a message from a friend who we worked with in Malaysia – he’s getting married next year, and has invited us along! Very exciting, and we had loads of questions for him as it will be a Muslim ceremony, but quite different I think from the weddings I went to in Qatar.
After lunch, we decided to go and see Michelangelo’s David. As we hadn’t reserved any tickets, we had to queue for a while, maybe 40 minutes but it wasn’t so bad really – the queues were double at least when we walked past yesterday! It was 11 euros each to get in, but there was quite a lot of things too see, lots of religious paintings and statues etc. and another section for musical instruments. When we got in to see David, we were both quite surprised at how big it is! Unfortunately you’re not allowed to take any photographs inside (lots of people were doing anyway, but security guards walk round endlessly shouting ‘no photos!’). Peri and I are quite rubbish when it comes to museums, but we had a good time and it was quite interesting – there are also a few unfinished sculptures which was quite interesting to see how they developed.
Next, we went and bought some postcards for people back home. I’ve written mine but Peri hasn’t even started yet! We did find out though that there are separate black post boxes for postcards, you don’t use the red ones in the streets. There is a market at plaza San Lorenzo, which we’d actually walked through on the way to our B&B from the train station, and after a rest we went for a look. There are so many stalls here selling everything you can think of, mostly leather goods. Peri bought himself a new wallet, and he bought me a gorgeous coat and satchel style bag! Quite expensive to say the least, but we managed to barter them down a little on the prices. Everyone seems to be taking a shine to Peri wherever we go – probably because of the local football shirts! Sometimes they even shout ‘Eskell!’.
On our last day in Venice, Peri and I spent most of the afternoon in a small cafe drinking juice and waiting for our clothes at the launderette! I tried my first espresso, which was tasty but a bit too strong for me!
We also managed to go inside Saint Mark’s basilica, which is a truly beautiful building. We went at around 3 when the queues weren’t so long. I was really hot as I had to cover up with two blankets – one for my shoulders and one for my legs, as I’d worn a short dress. You’re not allowed to take any pictures either which is a shame, but we lit a candle for Oscar, and grandad poppy and grandma fi.
At night, Peri took me back to Saint Marks square, and we had a night-time gondola ride through the canals. It was quite expensive at 100 euros, but the man said we could have as long as we wanted, and it wasn’t at all busy like in the daytime. He was really nice, and took us to lots of places – you go a bit faster than I was expecting, and he told us a few things about the places we saw, which included the old courts and prison, connected by the ‘bridge of sighs’.. So called because the prisoners who walked along here got their last breath of fresh air. He also told us there was only one person to ever escape the prison – Casanova! Although we didn’t get many pictures because of the bad lighting, I think going for a gondola ride at night is much better than trying in the day – it’s a lot cooler and far less people, and much more relaxing and romantic!
On our return to Saint Marks, we decided to sit and listen to the musicians playing outside one of the restaurants. I chose the one round the corner as they were playing a song from Aladdin as we went past! We sat there for a couple of hours, under the stars with a nice glass of prosecco. Although it was quite expensive (Peri also got a tiny ‘microwave’ pizza for about 10 euros), we were sat in tourist central, and there was also fantastic entertainment til midnight.
On our last day in Amsterdam, we rented a pedalo and took to the canals to try and see as much of the city as possible. It’s an excellent way to see the city, as you can rent it for as long as you like (we did 2 hours), and although there are suggested routes, you are free to go wherever you fancy – except for the main canal as its too choppy and you’ll capsize! I thought it would be really tiring, but it’s actually really fun and easy… The hardest bit is steering the thing, we did a few spins along the way and almost got stuck under a bridge!
After we’d finished and dropped off the boat (which you can leave at any of the stops), we went to the cheese museum, and then the tulip museum next door. We also saw Anne Frank’s house, but we didn’t go inside.
All the buildings in Amsterdam are at least a little squint, and when we went to The Grasshopper for a steak dinner, I felt so queasy because I was so off-balance! Peri couldn’t even feel it!
We also went to the red light district for a look around, apparently this is the oldest part of the city. It was really surreal and a bit awkward, like you don’t know where to look, all these girls half naked in shop windows tapping on the glass! We went in a few coffee shops too, and Peri bought his AJAX football shirt! In the afternoon, we went to the Magnum shop in Rembrandt Square, where you can design your own Magnum for 3.99! We got a dark chocolate one with fudge, marshmallows and white chocolate sprinkles – it was delicious!
We took the overnight sleeper train from Amsterdam to Munich, where we slept in a 6-bed dorm with two Americans. There wasn’t much room, and it was a bit weird because it was a high speed train, but Peri slept ok (me not so much!).
From there, we jumped straight on the train to Verona. We went through the alps and saw lots of Germany and Austria which was beautiful. Because the train was a little delayed, we had to wait about an hour for our connection to Venice.
When we got off the last train, we had to get the boat taxi along the grand canal to find our apartment. Straight away we got to see a lot of the city and take some pictures – unfortunately we had to get off a few stops early as I felt really sick! We stopped for a rest and the most expensive glass of coke in the universe, then carried on. Walking through the narrow streets is really surreal but beautiful – and our apartment is really nice and close to St. Mark’s Square. Yesterday, we got lost in the streets (a great way to see the city – every turn is a photo opportunity!), went to St. Marks and took lots of pictures from the top of the Campanile tower, and went to Margarita Square for dinner (the further you go from St. Marks, the cheaper everything gets!).
Tomorrow we are taking the train to Florence, where we will stay for 3 nights, then we’re off to Rome for 3 nights. We managed to reserve all the trains when we got to Venice station, so all that is sorted already. Today, we tried to get to St. Marks basilica for when it opened to hopefully miss the queues, but it was still really busy so we plan to go this evening. We’re also going to try to get to the music museum this afternoon, and see as much of the city as possible before we go.
After a day and a half of relaxing on a canal boat, wandering the narrow streets and visiting the Van Gogh (pronounced Van ‘Hohc’ apparently) in Amsterdam, Holland’s quirky capital, we are having a chilled out morning after a lie-in at the Croisanterie d’Oude Brug cafe just opposite our Hostel.
We will be visiting the newly refurbished Rijks Museum later today or tomorrow morning, before we set off to the next destination.
Chances are we’ll rent a pedalo and get lost in the canals somewhere!
Having finished our contracts in Qatar, we decided to use our well earned money on a trip around Europe for the summer, before we head off on our next adventure to Oman.
With katie busy in Ilfracombe, and after trips to Oxford for the first wedding of the year, Kingston in Devon for the friendly moon, and some time in London and Manchester, we decided to bring Lucy with us to Disneyland!
We took the Eurostar from London, which was great apart from me being sick all the way!
We managed to navigate our way on the metro to trocadero, where we stayed with Jules and Charles! The apartment was amazing, with great views of the Eiffel Tower. So kind of them to let us stay – it was a little surreal to see them again after so long, but not much seemed to have changed once we were eating carbonara and playing cards and dice!
On that first night, we went for a walk to the Eiffel Tower and had a Nutella crepe, and sat in the park watching the lights flashing.
On the first day, we all went to Disneyland with a one day, two park pass. It was soooo hot and sunny, we had to buy a very expensive bottle of sun cream! We went into the studio park first, and Lucy, Charles and I went on the tower of terror. We had to queue for ages in the hot sun, but Lucy and Charles really liked it – I thought it was too scary! It’s like a lift that keeps going up and dropping – nice view of Paris, then whoosh! Down again! We then went through to the other park, and we went on space mountain (terrifying but fun once it’s over), big thunder mountain (even Peri went on that one), star tours (a space flight simulator which I thought was awful), pirates of the Caribbean (long queues but quite nice and relaxing), sleeping beauty’s castle where we found the dragon in the basement, and Aladdin’s cave. We shared a massive candy floss and went on the carousel, had a drink in hakuna matata while Lucy went on the indiana jones ride, and had a nice ice lolly. We watched the parade at 7pm, then ran to the haunted mansion before any more queues could form! Super long day but it was really fun, and one of my favourite days. So happy we could take lucy and that she had a good time! We bought a couple of souvenirs like pens and a notebook, and Lucy and I got a Disneyland Paris souvenir coin.
We seemed to walk for miles around Paris, and managed to see an awful lot in such a small amount of time. We went to moulin rouge, and took Lucy in a really skanky sex museum – I thought it would be funny but it was just gross! So horrific! I think she’s mentally scarred for life!
We tried to get tickets to go up the Eiffel Tower, but the queues were too long… Which I’m actually quite thankful for! We decided to get up early the next morning to try and go up, but should have known that wouldn’t happen! Lucy and I wanted to go to Versailles, but there wasn’t enough time. But we did walk to the sacre cour and even went up to the top of the dome! There was about 300 steps and it was already on top of a massive hill where we’d climbed over 100 steps, but it was nice to go up and the view was amazing (until my vertigo kicked in, which wasn’t great).
We took a boat on the river siene to Notre dame, but it was so busy we couldn’t get in. On the bridges over the river, it’s a tradition for couples to put a padlock with their names on the sides, so we bought a small gold padlock, wrote our names on and threw the keys into the river. There were three keys, so we threw one, and kept one each. We then decided to buy another padlock and write all our initials on – EJE, JPLE, LAM, CB, JF – and added that to the wall too. After that we went to a cafe for lunch, Lucy had her favourite egg omelette and I had croque Monsieur (cheese and ham toastie to you and me!). Delicious!
We carried on walking through the Saint Michael area, where we saw the statue of Michael and Lucifer (which Jules tried to tell us was Saint George and the dragon!) and Lucy bought some macarons to take home. We also went in a nice little church where Peri lit a candle for Oscar.
We walked down the champs élysées and saw the arc de triomph. We carried on walking to conchord to see the Egyptian needle, and Peri bought a Paris st. Germain football shirt – he’s planning to buy a football shirt from each place we visit. We then walked down to the louvre, and dipped our sweaty feet in the fountains outside!
On the last night, we played cards and dice, and Peri stayed up all night playing FIFA with Jules. Lucy and I walked down for an ice cream at the Eiffel Tower, and had a look around a little market. Lucy bought a neckerchief thingy to wear at the wedding, and I bought a necklace with a 4 leaf clover in it! Then in the morning we took Lucy to the airport (which was stressful as you do everything on automated machines), and finally Peri and I went back to gare du nord to catch our train to Amsterdam. We didn’t fancy paying extra for the direct train (about 300 euros!), so we took the free ones – first to Brussels, then to Antwerpen, rosendaal and finally we arrived in Amsterdam.
Soooo
There have been a lot of birthdays at work this month. We decided to group them all together and have a joint party on Thursday afternoon in one of the classrooms. We had the usual delicious cakes from Opera, and ordered kebabs for everyone for lunch.
After all the candles had been blown, all the kebabs devoured and all the cake scoffed, I returned to the teachers room. One of the receptionists came and dragged me back into the classroom, and also wouldn’t let our ADoS leave. We were waiting for one other girl, and all the men had left.
When the girl arrived, the door was closed and locked behind her.
Things are getting odd
Then.. Arabic music was put on, shoes were taken off and one of the ladies started to perform a rather too-sexy-for-my-liking dance, as we all watched from the sidelines!
The American woman’s only comment was “This is nice”, the Arabic girls obviously thought this was normal, and the only other ‘foreigner’ besides me had an expressionless face as if she too thought nothing out of the ordinary was occurring.
Finally, Peri came to look for me as it was time to go home. He knocked on the door, and the women ran for their shoes, turned off the music, then finally opened the door.
What a strange day!
Then…. we were invited for a BBQ on the beach. We drove at 60kmph, even though the limit is 120. it took us 2.5 hours to get there! Obv I thought we’d be in the middle of nowhere, but no! We parked up next to a couple of other people! It was actually really nice, but also a good job we had a nap before we went, as we didn’t get home til 5.30 in the morning!
Peri and Emma 