1. I am bad at blogging. Every time, I say to myself “now I will really do the weekly blog” and every time I do it for 1 or 2 weeks and that’s about it. Maybe I need a less boring life, so that I actually have things to blog about? Or I just need some more discipline, to start up my PC once a week and go online and post my blog (I am online every day at work, but blogs are blocked, so no posting from work). Am I going to promise I will post every week? No, because I know I’ll break the promise, but I’ll do my best!
2. Less than 3 weeks and I’ll be on vacation (aha, one week I won’t be able to blog is coming up, lol). On October 8, we’ll be flying to Malaga (in Spain ), to board the Adventure of the Seas on the 9th. We’ll then cruise the Med, get off the ship on the 16th and stay until the 17th in Spain (we intend to visit Gibraltar ). I am really really looking forward to it. We haven’t booked any excursions (yet) because it’s supposed to be a relax vacation. At first, we said we wouldn’t go to Rome while in the port of call for Rome , because I have visited before, my mom has visited it many times and we don’t feel like rushing around and spending a lot of money to just quickly see it all over again. But now we have decided that we might take the train into the city, take some pictures, have ice cream, shop around and go back to the ship. But that is the most I will do there, I will not be the one running from the Vatican to the Colosseum to the Forum Romanum to the Spanish steps. In Mallorca I want to shop for the Mallorca pearls. I have also seen en excursion at one of the other ports to some sort of turtle farm. And that’s about what I intend to do and see. :-)
3. The day before my vacation is the last day for me on this part of the project at work, after my vacation I’m moving to another stream within the project, and I’m very very very happy with that. Less than 2 weeks before the person who will replace me is going to start, and then 1 week of handover and then I’m gone. Woohoo!
4. This whole change at work makes that I’m going from extremely stressed out to just a normal stress. And while I can’t diet when I’m extremely stressed, I can diet when I’m just normally stressed, so I went back to Weightwatchers. Over the summer, I gained some weight again (hello, twice to DLP, a couple of birthday parties, and then of course all the boulimic episodes everytime I was about to explode from stress) but I still weigh less than when I started Weightwatchers in June, so that’s a good thing. J It’s hard to keep to my diet because of irregular working hours etc, but I really hope I can find some rhythm that allows me to do something about my extra weight.
5. Weighing less is very important, because it’s getting so difficult to find clothes. I must say that I’m actually very disappointed in the private shopping session that I did. Yes, we went to some nice stores that I didn’t know before, and yes, I saw some nice clothes that I would have never considered before. However, I have to lose like a gazillion pounds if I ever want to fit in those clothes. I now realize that that day didn’t help me at all. I still didn’t find a skirt or pants or whatever that I can buy now because I fit in it now. I only saw clothes that don’t come into my size. I had hoped that the personal shopper would show me stores that do carry clothes in my size and look good. Not so. So I’m rather disappointed. Last weekend, I went shopping, because I really needed some things for when the weather is getting less good now. I ended up with some boring old-fashioned clothes. The only things I could find in my size. Although I had hoped that I would have known where to go to find more glamourous clothes. Oh well…. I guess I’ll just have to keep up the diet.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
5 on Monday
1. Yesterday, we had to go vote. I got up early and got there by 8.15 am (which I thought was going to be early enough as to not have to wait forever and ever, but late enough as to not risk having to stay there all day to “volunteer” with the organization of the election). I had to wait about 25 minutes before it was my turn, and that was not one minute too soon. Every time things like that happen and I have to go a bit “deeper” into my neighborhood, I wonder why exactly I wanted to live there. It’s not Brussels anymore, it’s the “brousse”.
2. Last week, I had an “offsite event” from work, from Thursday late afternoon until Friday late afternoon. An evening with dress code “black and white, life at the castle”, a princess-room and bathroom, a morning of presentations and an afternoon with teambuilding games. It was a fun event, it was great to talk to some colleagues I usually never see, …Oh, and alcohol is the devil, and I will once again have known it!
3. This evening, I am going to my second Weighwatchers meeting. I am going to ask to re-calculate the number of points for me again, because it seems really way too much to me. If I eat the healthy way, I just can’t eat that much, and it doesn’t seem right to me to eat unhealthy when on a diet, just to reach some number of points. If after that, I am still not satisfied by the way the diet goes, I will keep on going to the meetings to keep me motivated, but use the Weightwatchers-system they had so many years ago when I tried it first. That worked really well for me.
4. On Friday, I will make lots and lots and lots and lots of desserts for a charity. I will have to calculate today or tomorrow how much I will make and how many ingredients I will need for it, so that I can do the grocery-shopping on Thursday at the latest, and bake all evening/ night on Friday and again on Saturday morning. I will make apple cakes and also vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with butter cream (Belgian recipe of butter cream, way less sweet than all the American recipes I found). I already have bought the cupcake-cups: red-with-white-dots and red-with-white-stripes. They look really cute J
5. Last Thursday, we received all the Victora-jewelry. I brought most of it already to the people who were at the party and ordered, I think one more order has to be delivered (in Antwerp ). I am very happy with the jewelry I got and have already been wearing some pieces. I am already looking forward to the party of next year!
2. Last week, I had an “offsite event” from work, from Thursday late afternoon until Friday late afternoon. An evening with dress code “black and white, life at the castle”, a princess-room and bathroom, a morning of presentations and an afternoon with teambuilding games. It was a fun event, it was great to talk to some colleagues I usually never see, …Oh, and alcohol is the devil, and I will once again have known it!
3. This evening, I am going to my second Weighwatchers meeting. I am going to ask to re-calculate the number of points for me again, because it seems really way too much to me. If I eat the healthy way, I just can’t eat that much, and it doesn’t seem right to me to eat unhealthy when on a diet, just to reach some number of points. If after that, I am still not satisfied by the way the diet goes, I will keep on going to the meetings to keep me motivated, but use the Weightwatchers-system they had so many years ago when I tried it first. That worked really well for me.
4. On Friday, I will make lots and lots and lots and lots of desserts for a charity. I will have to calculate today or tomorrow how much I will make and how many ingredients I will need for it, so that I can do the grocery-shopping on Thursday at the latest, and bake all evening/ night on Friday and again on Saturday morning. I will make apple cakes and also vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with butter cream (Belgian recipe of butter cream, way less sweet than all the American recipes I found). I already have bought the cupcake-cups: red-with-white-dots and red-with-white-stripes. They look really cute J
5. Last Thursday, we received all the Victora-jewelry. I brought most of it already to the people who were at the party and ordered, I think one more order has to be delivered (in Antwerp ). I am very happy with the jewelry I got and have already been wearing some pieces. I am already looking forward to the party of next year!
Monday, June 07, 2010
5 on Friday. Uhm… on Monday.
1. I really suck at this Blog-thing. Every single time, I have good intentions to keep up with it, but then something happens and my good intentions are long forgotten. I have been busy writing my trip report (in a Word document). Next step is to upload pictures and then I will start posting it. I think this is about the first time I have actually finished writing a trip report (for trips longer than 3 days). Will I get all the way to the end to actually post it? We will see.
2. Today is a big day. I will finally go to Weightwatchers again. Many years ago, I managed to lose quite a bit of weight thanks to their “diet”, but unfortunately, because of many issues, I have gained the weight back (plus some more) over the years. I have now decided that it is really time to do something about it, so, today is THE DAY. The last day I will eat a “good” sandwich at work and have Martinis in the evening, because from tomorrow morning on, I will have to count points. Anyone knows how many points a Martini Rossato is?
3. Talking about Martini Rossato, I have a weird “obsession”. I love when you get items as gifts when you purchase food or drinks or cosmetics or what not. Like “buy 4 6-packs of Diet Coke and received 6 Coke glasses”, kwim? The past few days, I have stocked up on some drinks *ahem*. I bought Diet Coke/ Coke Zero because there was an offer where you got Coke glasses with them (I have 12 glasses now). I also stocked up on Bru sparkling water, also because of glasses (12 Bru glasses have found a new home in my basement). Next to all that, I bought lots of bottles of Martini (Bianco and Rossato) because they were accompanied by the glasses that are used in the commercials (the glass George Clooney is drinking Martini out of, ha!). I already have 6 of the small glasses and 2 of the Martini Royal glasses. I saw in the ads that next week, Lipton Ice Tea has promotions with the Ice Tea glasses when you buy 6-packs of their Ice Tea. I know that is an obsession leading to hoarding, but damn, I love my glasses! Oh, and Bacardi has this Mojito gift box: 2 bottles of Mojito, 2 glasses and a couple of straws (also as in the commercial, lol). By the end of “glass-season”, I will be an alcoholic!
4. Last week, on Monday, I had my Victoria-party. Which is a sale of jewelry through house parties (comparable with Tupperware). I organized the event, but it took place at my parents’ house, because their living room is way bigger (like almost bigger than my whole apartment). I provided the drinks and the dessert buffet (Brownies, lemon cupcakes with lemon cream cheese icing, orange cupcakes with orange butter cream icing, apple cake, strawberry bavarois and an assortment of cookies and chocolates. I will post pictures of it later on). I invited some friends, my mom invited friends and neighbors, and I think in total we had about 20 people who came. It was a nice evening and everyone enjoyed themselves. Well, I guess they did because many already asked when I would be doing another one! A lot was sold that evening, which meant a lot of free jewelry for me, woohoo! Next weekend the sales consultant will bring all the jewels, it will be like Christmas in June!
Victoria jewels: http://www.victoria-benelux.com/index_nl.asp
5. Talking about Christmas, I already had Christmas-in-May. I got my tax refund, I got my vacation money, I hope my employer will pay my expense note soon, … I am rich! I am stinking filthy rich! That is, as long as I don’t look at that Visa bill that arrived. No, I will stay in denial and just pretend that I am rich!!!
See you next time!
2. Today is a big day. I will finally go to Weightwatchers again. Many years ago, I managed to lose quite a bit of weight thanks to their “diet”, but unfortunately, because of many issues, I have gained the weight back (plus some more) over the years. I have now decided that it is really time to do something about it, so, today is THE DAY. The last day I will eat a “good” sandwich at work and have Martinis in the evening, because from tomorrow morning on, I will have to count points. Anyone knows how many points a Martini Rossato is?
3. Talking about Martini Rossato, I have a weird “obsession”. I love when you get items as gifts when you purchase food or drinks or cosmetics or what not. Like “buy 4 6-packs of Diet Coke and received 6 Coke glasses”, kwim? The past few days, I have stocked up on some drinks *ahem*. I bought Diet Coke/ Coke Zero because there was an offer where you got Coke glasses with them (I have 12 glasses now). I also stocked up on Bru sparkling water, also because of glasses (12 Bru glasses have found a new home in my basement). Next to all that, I bought lots of bottles of Martini (Bianco and Rossato) because they were accompanied by the glasses that are used in the commercials (the glass George Clooney is drinking Martini out of, ha!). I already have 6 of the small glasses and 2 of the Martini Royal glasses. I saw in the ads that next week, Lipton Ice Tea has promotions with the Ice Tea glasses when you buy 6-packs of their Ice Tea. I know that is an obsession leading to hoarding, but damn, I love my glasses! Oh, and Bacardi has this Mojito gift box: 2 bottles of Mojito, 2 glasses and a couple of straws (also as in the commercial, lol). By the end of “glass-season”, I will be an alcoholic!
4. Last week, on Monday, I had my Victoria-party. Which is a sale of jewelry through house parties (comparable with Tupperware). I organized the event, but it took place at my parents’ house, because their living room is way bigger (like almost bigger than my whole apartment). I provided the drinks and the dessert buffet (Brownies, lemon cupcakes with lemon cream cheese icing, orange cupcakes with orange butter cream icing, apple cake, strawberry bavarois and an assortment of cookies and chocolates. I will post pictures of it later on). I invited some friends, my mom invited friends and neighbors, and I think in total we had about 20 people who came. It was a nice evening and everyone enjoyed themselves. Well, I guess they did because many already asked when I would be doing another one! A lot was sold that evening, which meant a lot of free jewelry for me, woohoo! Next weekend the sales consultant will bring all the jewels, it will be like Christmas in June!
Victoria jewels: http://www.victoria-benelux.com/index_nl.asp
5. Talking about Christmas, I already had Christmas-in-May. I got my tax refund, I got my vacation money, I hope my employer will pay my expense note soon, … I am rich! I am stinking filthy rich! That is, as long as I don’t look at that Visa bill that arrived. No, I will stay in denial and just pretend that I am rich!!!
See you next time!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Five on Friday
1. My Florida vacations are doomed. Really. First time I went, I had back problems and could hardly move. Second time, I fell down the stairs 2 weeks before the trip, broke my ankle and went on crutches while in a cast (I now know that that was a stupid idea, I should have stayed home). Third trip, I had a good vacation until the last day where I fell and spent 4 months at home.ยต
This time, meaning leaving next Saturday, everything looked good. I still have not broken anything, no… But there happens to be a volcano in Iceland who decided to become active. I hope by next Saturday the sky has cleared and the airlines are flying as normal. If this trip is going to be ruined by an exploding volcano, I will also explode.
2. Tomorrow is my style & colour session => yeay! On Monday, I already had the first follow up session regarding the use of Artistry products. You have to put your head in a box with special lighting that allows looking “under” the skin. Well, using those products has improved my skin a lot. It is still not perfect, but I’m felling way better and prettier.
3. Next week, I will be going 2 days to Paris for a training. I really hope it will be interesting and fun. I will leave Thursday morning early by Thalys (train) and coming back Friday evening by Thalys too. It will be late by the time I will get home, so I will have to make sure I am somewhat prepared regarding my packing.
4. Packing. I really should start this weekend, at least to see if I need to last-minute buy some things. I don’t like to pack early, but this time, I really should get organized. Want to bet I don’t do anything this weekend and will just freak out next Friday around midnight?
5. I have butterflies. I can’t do the whole story on a public place like this blog is. But I have butterflies. :-)
This time, meaning leaving next Saturday, everything looked good. I still have not broken anything, no… But there happens to be a volcano in Iceland who decided to become active. I hope by next Saturday the sky has cleared and the airlines are flying as normal. If this trip is going to be ruined by an exploding volcano, I will also explode.
2. Tomorrow is my style & colour session => yeay! On Monday, I already had the first follow up session regarding the use of Artistry products. You have to put your head in a box with special lighting that allows looking “under” the skin. Well, using those products has improved my skin a lot. It is still not perfect, but I’m felling way better and prettier.
3. Next week, I will be going 2 days to Paris for a training. I really hope it will be interesting and fun. I will leave Thursday morning early by Thalys (train) and coming back Friday evening by Thalys too. It will be late by the time I will get home, so I will have to make sure I am somewhat prepared regarding my packing.
4. Packing. I really should start this weekend, at least to see if I need to last-minute buy some things. I don’t like to pack early, but this time, I really should get organized. Want to bet I don’t do anything this weekend and will just freak out next Friday around midnight?
5. I have butterflies. I can’t do the whole story on a public place like this blog is. But I have butterflies. :-)
Friday, April 09, 2010
5 on Friday
It seems to me that I pretty much suck in this whole blog thing, lol. Or it could also be that I suck at writing trip reports…
Someone I used to read her blog from had this “5 on Fridays” thing. I think I will steal that idea from her and see if I can keep up with posting at least once a week.
Since today is a Friday, here we go with my first 5 on Friday!
1. Two more weeks. I am not counting down or anything, but it’s only 2 more weeks until my next vacation. Flying to Miami, going on a cruise to Labadee (Haiti), Ocho Rios (Jamaica), Georgetown (Cayman Islands) and Cozumel (Mexico) on Royal Craibbean’s Liberty of the Seas. The cruise will be followed by 6 days in Orlando, to shop and visit the Rat. Err, Mouse that is ;-)
2. Eight more work days. Only 8 more work days at the client, because the last two days before going on vacation, I’ll be in Paris for a training. I am looking forward to it, because this is a training that wasn’t mandatory and that I picked out because I like the topic: Process Methodologies. I hope it’s not too much about the basics and that I will learn more about Lean and/ or Six Sigma.
3. Six kilogram. That’s the weight I managed to get off. It’s not as much as I wanted, but it’s better than nothing and I can feel the difference in my clothes. After my vacation, I’m going to join Weightwatchers again. I have done it before, and I know it works for me (but only when I pay every week to get weighed at the meeting). Probably because it isn’t a diet but a lifestyle and one isn’t hungry all day long.
4. One more week. One more week until my style and colour consult session. I am really looking forward to this! From a previous workshop, I know that I am a summer, but I really want to learn what the good and bad colours are for me, which make-up will and won’t work, what hair colour would look good (I tried a new one last week, and while it’s not awful, it’s too dark). I am very colour-challenged, so I really need help with this.
Also the style advise should be very helpful: what kind of skirts and tops and what not will help to hide my not so good features and accentuate my good features. I’d love to have a more “Sex and the City” look but have no idea where to start so I hope this will help me in achieving that.
5. 99 euro. That was the maximum I wanted to spend on a new cell phone. My old cell phone worked perfect, and then last Sunday it didn’t want to “slide” anymore, so I had to get a new one. I hate making phone calls and don’t use all the gadgets that many cell phones have (only calls and text messages) and I really hate to spend a lot of money on it. I got an LG touch screen one. It looks pretty fancy, was within my budget and I even managed to make/ accept calls and send text messages. I am so good, it scares me to death!
Someone I used to read her blog from had this “5 on Fridays” thing. I think I will steal that idea from her and see if I can keep up with posting at least once a week.
Since today is a Friday, here we go with my first 5 on Friday!
1. Two more weeks. I am not counting down or anything, but it’s only 2 more weeks until my next vacation. Flying to Miami, going on a cruise to Labadee (Haiti), Ocho Rios (Jamaica), Georgetown (Cayman Islands) and Cozumel (Mexico) on Royal Craibbean’s Liberty of the Seas. The cruise will be followed by 6 days in Orlando, to shop and visit the Rat. Err, Mouse that is ;-)
2. Eight more work days. Only 8 more work days at the client, because the last two days before going on vacation, I’ll be in Paris for a training. I am looking forward to it, because this is a training that wasn’t mandatory and that I picked out because I like the topic: Process Methodologies. I hope it’s not too much about the basics and that I will learn more about Lean and/ or Six Sigma.
3. Six kilogram. That’s the weight I managed to get off. It’s not as much as I wanted, but it’s better than nothing and I can feel the difference in my clothes. After my vacation, I’m going to join Weightwatchers again. I have done it before, and I know it works for me (but only when I pay every week to get weighed at the meeting). Probably because it isn’t a diet but a lifestyle and one isn’t hungry all day long.
4. One more week. One more week until my style and colour consult session. I am really looking forward to this! From a previous workshop, I know that I am a summer, but I really want to learn what the good and bad colours are for me, which make-up will and won’t work, what hair colour would look good (I tried a new one last week, and while it’s not awful, it’s too dark). I am very colour-challenged, so I really need help with this.
Also the style advise should be very helpful: what kind of skirts and tops and what not will help to hide my not so good features and accentuate my good features. I’d love to have a more “Sex and the City” look but have no idea where to start so I hope this will help me in achieving that.
5. 99 euro. That was the maximum I wanted to spend on a new cell phone. My old cell phone worked perfect, and then last Sunday it didn’t want to “slide” anymore, so I had to get a new one. I hate making phone calls and don’t use all the gadgets that many cell phones have (only calls and text messages) and I really hate to spend a lot of money on it. I got an LG touch screen one. It looks pretty fancy, was within my budget and I even managed to make/ accept calls and send text messages. I am so good, it scares me to death!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Look there! And there! Did you see that???
“Mom? MOM! Get out of bed! Go look at the window, is that a cruise ship coming by?” Why I don’t get out of bed myself to go look? Because I forgot my glasses at home, which means I’m blind as long as I don’t wear my contacts. As far as I could tell from the pictures on the website, the cruise ships would have to pass right by the hotel coming in this Saturday morning, and I woke up from noise coming from a bigger boat, so I wondered. “MOM! Get out of bed! What do you see?” She saw cruise ships. But smaller ones (Silversea or something like that). Ha! Maybe I don’t see, but at least I hear!
After spending some more time snoozing in bed, we decide it’s time for breakfast in bed. No, not room service. Did you see the prices they ask for some rolls and coffee? Heck, the 0,5l bottle of water we took out of the mini bar was 6 eur! I do like to stay at deluxe hotels, but I admit, I can’t justify spending the huge prices they charge for breakfast. So we kind of brought Danish with us. We’re cheap that way. Hey, at least we didn’t roast a pig in the bath tub or cooked chuckwagon.
After taking a shower (oh, I love the soap we got!) and getting ready, we bring all our stuff down to concierge and … we order a taxi for 1pm. Yes, the original plan was to take the vaporetto back to Piazzale di Roma, and from there a shuttle to the cruise terminal. The new plan was to take a water taxi from the hotel straight to the cruise ship. My whole body hurts from carrying our suitcases (well, bags actually. No wheels. Remember all those bridges? Oh, and it was very warm in Venice!)
I had originally budgeted some money (ha, who am I fooling, a lot of money) to do a gondola ride. Once I smelled the water in Venice and saw the behaviour of the gondola-drivers, I decided a water taxi was a way better use for the money.
Before taking the hotel shuttle again to shop and sightsee some more, we decided to take a look at the rooftop pool. Oh! My! God! The Hilton is the tallest building in Venice, which means you have the most beautiful views! On one side, you could see all the cruise ships! On the other side, the whole city with all the towers. I would have been perfectly happy had we spent our whole morning up there, but alas, we needed postcards, so off we went!
Since we have our priorities straight and had only had a small breakfast, we got gelato as extended breakfast. I love vacation! And gelato!
After walking around a bit more and taking some more pictures and buying postcards and a gift for the grandmother, we decided to go back to the hotel, for the simple reason that San Marco was starting to get flooded! Yes indeed, water was coming out of the ground, and in no time, the whole piazza was filled with ankle-deep water. Nice… not so much.
After retrieving our suitcases, concierge made sure we as well as our stuff got safely on a water taxi, and 5 minutes later, we were at the cruise terminal. Yes, this is very convenient. However, be warned, this is also very expensive. Less than 5 minute water taxi ride costed me 60 eur. I kid you not. But my back and arms and hands told me I made a right decision, lol.
After spending some more time snoozing in bed, we decide it’s time for breakfast in bed. No, not room service. Did you see the prices they ask for some rolls and coffee? Heck, the 0,5l bottle of water we took out of the mini bar was 6 eur! I do like to stay at deluxe hotels, but I admit, I can’t justify spending the huge prices they charge for breakfast. So we kind of brought Danish with us. We’re cheap that way. Hey, at least we didn’t roast a pig in the bath tub or cooked chuckwagon.
After taking a shower (oh, I love the soap we got!) and getting ready, we bring all our stuff down to concierge and … we order a taxi for 1pm. Yes, the original plan was to take the vaporetto back to Piazzale di Roma, and from there a shuttle to the cruise terminal. The new plan was to take a water taxi from the hotel straight to the cruise ship. My whole body hurts from carrying our suitcases (well, bags actually. No wheels. Remember all those bridges? Oh, and it was very warm in Venice!)
I had originally budgeted some money (ha, who am I fooling, a lot of money) to do a gondola ride. Once I smelled the water in Venice and saw the behaviour of the gondola-drivers, I decided a water taxi was a way better use for the money.
Before taking the hotel shuttle again to shop and sightsee some more, we decided to take a look at the rooftop pool. Oh! My! God! The Hilton is the tallest building in Venice, which means you have the most beautiful views! On one side, you could see all the cruise ships! On the other side, the whole city with all the towers. I would have been perfectly happy had we spent our whole morning up there, but alas, we needed postcards, so off we went!
Since we have our priorities straight and had only had a small breakfast, we got gelato as extended breakfast. I love vacation! And gelato!
After walking around a bit more and taking some more pictures and buying postcards and a gift for the grandmother, we decided to go back to the hotel, for the simple reason that San Marco was starting to get flooded! Yes indeed, water was coming out of the ground, and in no time, the whole piazza was filled with ankle-deep water. Nice… not so much.
After retrieving our suitcases, concierge made sure we as well as our stuff got safely on a water taxi, and 5 minutes later, we were at the cruise terminal. Yes, this is very convenient. However, be warned, this is also very expensive. Less than 5 minute water taxi ride costed me 60 eur. I kid you not. But my back and arms and hands told me I made a right decision, lol.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Shop till you drop in Burano!
Since we have our priorities right, the first thing we do when we get from the shuttle boat is buy gelato. Yummy, there is something about Italian ice cream that makes it so much better than any other ice cream! Next thing is look for the vaporetto to Burano. I am in love with embroidered sheets and table cloths etc, so a must for me is to visit Burano. The boat ride to Burano is long and pleasant. I almost fell asleep sitting outside in the sun, being rocked by the boat, lol!
Once in Burano, we walk through the little streets, admire the coloured houses and the beautiful embroidered items. And yes, I can’t help it, I have to buy some sheets. Very beautiful old-fashioned hand-embroidered sheets and pillowcases. I love them! What we love less is that it turns out my mom’s credit card doesn’t work. She got a new one days before we left, had the pincode changed but didn’t try it out. So, now we are in Venice with this fancy-schmancy platinum MasterCard that doesn’t work. Good thing there is something called cash, and that I have a very basic normal not so fancy-schmancy regular Visa card. Of which I forgot to temporarily increase the limit of course. After some phone calls to dear old dad who on his turn called the bank and BCC, we decide that we’ll use my CC each time they require a pin, and use my mom’s when they don’t require a pin code but just a signature, like on the ship. For all the rest we’ll use cash and worst case we’ll get more cash out of ATMs with our Maestro card (how much does my mom intend to spend anyway??).
When we’re done shopping, we take the vaporetto again. Not back to where we came from (San Marco) but we continue the itinerary and end up on the other side than San Marco of the main island of Venice, which allowed/ forced us to walk through the city.
I knew Venice from movies and books and postcards, it always looked very beautiful and romantic and… well, a lot of things. In my opinion, in real life, it doesn’t look all that nice. Almost every house/ palazzo looks very moldy, it’s all dirty, a lot looks abandoned (I don’t think it was but it looked that way). The water smells not so nice. Yes, I was rather disappointed in Venice. It looks nice when you see it from far away, but in my opinion it looks far from nice when you look from close by.
After finding our way through small streets, the Rialto Bridge, the Grand Canal, and so much more, we arrive at the very famous Piazza San Marco. Where there are no doves. Which makes me glad because I hate doves but also disappointed because according to the movies, there are always gazillions of doves! Lol.
By that time, we are tired and starving, so we walk back to the shuttle to the hotel, where we get our room keys, find our beautiful room and after dropping the luggage off, we have dinner at a small pizzeria near the hotel. Because we were too tired to go all the way back to the center and walk all around to find a decent (read: non-tourist trap) restaurant. After the pizza, which was good, we end the day in the most wonderful bed and it doesn’t take long before I ZZZZZzzzzz….
Once in Burano, we walk through the little streets, admire the coloured houses and the beautiful embroidered items. And yes, I can’t help it, I have to buy some sheets. Very beautiful old-fashioned hand-embroidered sheets and pillowcases. I love them! What we love less is that it turns out my mom’s credit card doesn’t work. She got a new one days before we left, had the pincode changed but didn’t try it out. So, now we are in Venice with this fancy-schmancy platinum MasterCard that doesn’t work. Good thing there is something called cash, and that I have a very basic normal not so fancy-schmancy regular Visa card. Of which I forgot to temporarily increase the limit of course. After some phone calls to dear old dad who on his turn called the bank and BCC, we decide that we’ll use my CC each time they require a pin, and use my mom’s when they don’t require a pin code but just a signature, like on the ship. For all the rest we’ll use cash and worst case we’ll get more cash out of ATMs with our Maestro card (how much does my mom intend to spend anyway??).
When we’re done shopping, we take the vaporetto again. Not back to where we came from (San Marco) but we continue the itinerary and end up on the other side than San Marco of the main island of Venice, which allowed/ forced us to walk through the city.
I knew Venice from movies and books and postcards, it always looked very beautiful and romantic and… well, a lot of things. In my opinion, in real life, it doesn’t look all that nice. Almost every house/ palazzo looks very moldy, it’s all dirty, a lot looks abandoned (I don’t think it was but it looked that way). The water smells not so nice. Yes, I was rather disappointed in Venice. It looks nice when you see it from far away, but in my opinion it looks far from nice when you look from close by.
After finding our way through small streets, the Rialto Bridge, the Grand Canal, and so much more, we arrive at the very famous Piazza San Marco. Where there are no doves. Which makes me glad because I hate doves but also disappointed because according to the movies, there are always gazillions of doves! Lol.
By that time, we are tired and starving, so we walk back to the shuttle to the hotel, where we get our room keys, find our beautiful room and after dropping the luggage off, we have dinner at a small pizzeria near the hotel. Because we were too tired to go all the way back to the center and walk all around to find a decent (read: non-tourist trap) restaurant. After the pizza, which was good, we end the day in the most wonderful bed and it doesn’t take long before I ZZZZZzzzzz….
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