Where we went on our cruise

This is a record more for myself than for anyone else.

Boston, Massachusetts:

• Quincy Market
• Old State House
• Not much happened at this port. It was really cold, and it started snowing. Not a good combo with a baby

Portland, Maine:

• Victoria Mansion
• We left this port early, so we didn't see much. At least it didn't snow

Halifax, Nova Scotia

• Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
• Citadel Hill

Quebec City, Quebec

• Chateau Frontenac
• The Citadel
• Basilique-cathedrale Notre-Dame-de-Quebec
• Also snowed here and was very cold

Charlottetown, PEI

• Founders Hall
• Cavendish Beach and
  
• Anne of Green Gables House (near Cavendish)
  
• New Glasgow

Sydney, Nova Scotia

• Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Park

Saint John, NB

• Loyalist house

What's been happening lately...

This past month has been interesting. Here's a lowdown of what's been happening.

Cruise

I was quite looking forward to the cruise. We visited New England and Eastern Canada. Specifically, Boston, Portland (Maine), Halifax, Charlottetown, Quebec City, Sidney (NS), St John (NB). We started and ended in New Jersey, with a quick stop into New York City for a few hours before heading back home.

Eating. Well, the day we left Vancouver to drive down to Seattle was the day BabyL decided to have teething issues. By that I mean his gums were so sore that he refused to suck. Period. He wouldn't suck on the boob, he wouldn't suck on the bottle and he wouldn't even suck his own finger. We ended up spoon feeding him breast milk, formula and solids. I think once or twice we even use a medical syringe. I was so stressed that this was going to go on for the rest of the vacation, that I wanted to cry. Fortunately, this only happened for two days. BabyL either got used to the pain or it had lessened, but he started sucking again.

Sleep. The plan was to keep BabyL on PST even though we were in EST/Atlantic time, because I'd realized that once BabyL went to bed, we had to go to bed. Sleep went into the toilet because BabyL was in a strange environment, and despite the fact that I tried to keep the same routine, it wasn't enough for him. For the entire trip, someone had to hold him to sleep, so Hubby and I didn't get as much sleep as we wanted to. My mom offered to switch rooms with us one night, and even though I ended up sleeping on a crappier bed, I had the best sleep during the whole trip that night.

Bingo. About the third or fourth day, I played bingo. And won the big prize. Normally when they play bingo, they allow all players to check their cards against the numbers, and not take the first person who yells bingo, so sometimes there are more than one bingo winner per game. Well, this time, we couldn't share the big prize, so we had to play a tie-breaker game between the five winners. You cannot believe the shock I felt when I was the only one standing. And the prize: a free upgrade to one of the Royal Suites on the ship (it's the second largest stateroom on the ship). So we went from a 200+ sq ft room to a 700+ sq ft room, with a separate large bedroom, walk-in closet, large bathroom with jacuzzi tub, living area, dining area, a balcony with yet another hot tub and a butler! Whoo hoo! However, as much as we enjoyed the suite, it really helped us out with the sleep situation. We could put BabyL down for naps or for bedtime, and still allowed us to move around the suite without waking him up.

Fame!
Although there were a few people on board under the age of 18, BabyL apparently was the only baby on board, so it's safe to say that EVERYONE noticed him, particularly since he's so cute! We had people come up to us to pinch his cheeks or play with him. Both crew and passengers alike recognized him. They only recognized us as "the family with the baby who one the Royal Suite at bingo" because I was asked a few times how the suite was. It was a constant "Hello Baby!" or "Hey BabyL!" from everyone. BabyL certainly loved the attention!

All in all, despite all that, and the semi-crappy weather we had in a few of the cities, we had a pretty good time. I swear that BabyL grew an inch during the trip, even one of the passengers who sat next at the table next to us at dinner commented on it. I can tell you though, I was never happier sleeping in my own bed, and BabyL didn't have any problems falling asleep on his own like I feared once we got back home. He also has a tooth to show for his teething pains too!

Illness

Unfortunately, after we got home, I got sick. I had some GI thing, and an ear infection. Both Hubby and I had a bit of a cold during our trip. Hubby was allowed to take drugs. I couldn't take drugs, except for regular Tylenol, because I was breastfeeding, so I was left to suffer. My ear infection was probably from the cold. It took close to a week for it to clear. In the meantime, I had to contend with puking, feeling rotten and having the room constantly spin.

While this was happening, life kept marching on outside of my little bubble I was apparently living in. We came back to news that they had already started H1N1 vaccinations. I was bombarded with news of ever shifting priority lists, and 3 hour waits at clinics. It took me a few days before I had gotten myself together enough to call BabyL's doctor; apparently he didn't have enough vaccines, so that meant I had to go to a clinic. I was prepared for the worst, but apparently, the big rush happened the first couple of days. We were in and out within 45 mins. I'm just glad that BabyL never got sick amidst all this craziness and people constantly touching him, I don't know how I would have handled a sick baby.

Life marches on...

London/Rome Vacation - Part 1 - Itinerary

I really apologise that this post has taken awhile to write. I find that the jet-lag is taking a while to get over. Anyways, here is an itinerary of our trip. My favourite places are marked with a red *

Thur May 15
Fly to London

Friday May 16
Greenwich day trip

• Royal Observatory - For those of you who don't know, the Prime Meridian, which Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is measured from, actually goes through London. I, like so many others, had one foot in the Western Hemisphere and one foot in the Eastern Hemisphere
• Queen's House
• National Maritime Museum *

O2 - Apparently, this is Europe's largest entertainment centre. We wanted to see this place because we've seen it several times on TV shows and we heard so much about it. The place is huge!

Sat May 17
Leeds Castle* - Kent County - Really cool castle

Sunday May 18
Bath day trip

• Jane Austen Centre
• Pultney Bridge
• Fashion Museum and Assembly Rooms * - the museum was cool, but what was really neat was to see the Upper Assembly Rooms as described in Jane Austen's novels
• Royal Crescent and the Circus - more interesting architecturally than anything else
• Number 1, Royal Crescent
• Building of Bath Museum - a mildly interesting museum that describes the architectural development of Bath as a city.

Monday May 19
- Stratford-Upon-Avon day trip - Where Shakespeare was born, lived and buried (if you are going to visit, I suggest you start at Shakespeare's grave and work your way back to Shakespeare's birthplace). Stratford-Upon-Avon is also a pretty town to hang out

• Shakespeare's Birthplace
• Nash House & New Place
• Halls Croft
• Shakespeare's Grave @ Holy Trinity Church *

- Warwick Castle * - another really cool castle
- Jack the Ripper London Walk * - I've always wanted to go on this walk. It's also a nice way to learn more about London's social history in during the Victorian era, and presented in a way that you wouldn't normally see in a museum or in a history book.

Tuesday May 20
Fly to Rome - Stansted Airport was very nice. RyanAir is really no frills, but you can't beat the price

Wednesday May 21 (also know as the 24 hours of hell)

• Roman Forum (Foro Romano) *
• Palatine Hill (Monte Palatino) * - This place is massive, but very interesting
• Colosseum (Colosseo)
• Arch of Constantine
• Trajan's Column, Market & Forum - (Colonna, Foro, e Mercati de Traiano)
• Mamertine Prison - Where St. Paul and St Peter were imprisoned for a time
• Capitoline Hill Square (Campidoglio)
• St. Peter In Chains (San Pietro in Vincoli) - Displays the chains that held St. Peter

Thursday May 22

• Trevi Fountain
• Pantheon
• Castel Sant'Angelo
• St. Peter's Basilica* (Basilica San Pietro), Dome (Cupola), and Pope's tombs - yes, we climbed up the dome, and we saw dead popes

Friday May 23

• National Museum of Rome * (Museo Nazionale Romano Palazzo Massimo alle Terme)
• Baths of Diocletian (Terme di Diocleziano) - No longer Roman Baths, it was converted into a church sometime during it's history
• Spanish Steps (Piazza di Spagna)
  
• Alter of Peace (Ara Pacis)
• Capitoline Museum * (Musei Capitolini) - great view of the Roman Forums as well as lots of interesting artifacts

Saturday May 24
Via Appia Antica tour - good stretch of road for biking

• Tomb of Cecilia Metella (Mausoleo di Cecilia Metalla)
• Circus & Villa of Maxentius (Circo e Villa di Massenzio)
• Catacombs of San Callisto *
• Domine Quo Vadis Church

- Galleria Doria Pamphilj * - lots of interesting artwork collected by the Doria Pamphilj family. The house is really nice too

Sunday May 25
Ostia Antica * - Ruins of what used to be a major port city near Rome. Our guidebook said the tour would take about 2 hours, we were there for 5 hours, the place is massive. We only left because we were getting really hot and sunburnt.

Monday May 26

• Vatican Museum * - my favourite part was actually watching someone do restoration work
  
• Sistine Chapel *

Tuesday May 27
- Fly back to London
- Wallace Collection * - Lots of cool armour and weaponry
- Watched Indiana Jones movie at the O2

Wednesday May 28

• Museum in Docklands* - This is a cool place because it shows yet a different perspective of London's history. They also had a Jack the Ripper exhibit. I found it interesting that the opinions of the murders varied somewhat between the exhibit and the London Walk, but still a fascinating look at life in the East End during the Victorian era. The Docklands area is super nice, lots of modern office buildings and flats.
  
• Apsley House - the First Duke of Wellington lived here
• London Ghost Walk

Thursday May 29
Fly back to Vancouver!

Pictures and other comments forthcoming! Dave took over 600 pictures, so it may be a while before you see them.

Off to Europe!!!

Yayay! We're going to Europe! I may post, but it'll be highly doubtful that this will happen. Definitely will when I return end of this month or in early June!

Off to Europe!!!

Yayay! We're going to Europe! I may post, but it'll be highly doubtful that this will happen. Definitely will when I return end of this month or in early June!

A few comments on our Paris trip

I wanted to write down some of my thoughts about Paris, outside the sights and attractions that we visited.

Metro system: Hubby did some surfing around pre-trip and found lots of comments about how great the Metro system was. Having been to London, we found the Metro system to be pretty similar in terms of how it works. However, we were a bit frustrated with the service. There were at times no one around to help us out. There was someone in our group that got stuck in the turnstile and we had to figure out how to get that person un-stuck. When we asked for help, people weren't' very helpful (I'm told this may be a French attitude, people are just not very helpful to strangers), or simply not there. I didn't know that I had to ask for a Metro map; in London, you can pick one up at any station. As navigable as the Metro system is, it's still daunting without a map (click on picture above to see what it looks like).

The Metro system itself isn't as efficiently laid out as I would have liked. It annoyed me that if I wanted to go from west to east in a straight line, I would had to take three different lines. It probably was faster for me to walk above ground, but I didn't want to get more lost than I already was. Paris is a very walkable city, but you do need a map. On the last day when I was out and about alone, I had a Metro map in one hand, and map of Paris with all the sights in another, and that helped me navigate through the city.

I was, however, impressed with the fact that there were people movers in between some of the station tunnel links.

Museum Pass: This we found to be a great idea, but it does require you to plan ahead and do a bit of marathon museum visiting, plus it doesn't include the cost of audio guides. The biggest plus is that you get to skip the queue for tickets and go straight in. We were able to do that everywhere except at Notre Dame. I noted that when I flashed my Museum Pass at the ticket check, that not everyone one took a close look at the date (you write the date on when you first start using it), so it may be possible to sneak in somewhere once your pass has expired and you managed to get a lazy ticket checker. Plus, most places will allow you back in more than once, which is nice as the gift shops were annoyingly inside and not outside.

Versailles: You cannot see everything in one day, it's exhausting and overwhelming. While this is partially covered in the Museum Pass, I'd actually suggest the alternative instead: There is a one-day pass that you can purchase at the RER-C stations that will be cheaper, especially if you are going to visit Marie Antoinette's estates. Buy the one-day pass on a weekday, and that will get you the following: train ride there and back, entrance to the main Chateau and Marie Antoinette's estates plus the audioguide. Go and visit the Chateau first, then the Grand Trianon then Marie Antoinette's estates. MA's estate also has some very nice gardens that you can get lost in. (There is a weekend pass that is a bit pricer that includes the main gardens, but trust me, doing it this way will be more fun and relaxing.)

On the second day, try to visit in the summer during the weekends. This is when they turn the fountains on in the gardens. The gardens themselves are MASSIVE, and the fountains, while already nice to look at, are even nicer when they are turned on. You will want to spend a whole day just hanging out at the gardens, trust me. You will have to pay to go see the gardens when the fountains are flowing, but it's totally worth the trip. (As a side note, I am pretty indifferent to gardens and fountains, they bore me. I'd rather pave over our own lawn instead of taking care of it, so you can better appreciate how mind-blowing this place is to have impressed me that much!)

For Versailles, definitely check out their website for information to plan your trip, as not everything is shown outside of the summer months.

Paris Pictures!

Here are the highlights and pictures from our Paris trip. Items with a "*" were the favourite place I'd visited that day.

Day 1

Fly to Paris! We stayed at the Hilton that was about 1.5 blocks from the Eiffel Tower, so you'll be seeing lots of Eiffel Tower pics.

Day 2

• Musee d'Orsay
• * Musee de l'Orangerie - My favourite museum of the day as it had some very nice Monet paintings. I particularly love the big ones of the water lilies in the oval-shaped rooms
  
• Musee du Louvre

Day 3

• Cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris
• * Sainte-Chapelle - I loved the stained glass windows, and the pictures don't do the place justice
• Musée de Rodin

Day 4

• Tombeau de Napoleon
  
• Musée National Picasso - not that I don't appreciate the artwork, but I will never in a million years understand abstract and modern art.
  
• * Musée Carnavalet - What I really liked the most about this museum is that it's in two large houses. I really like experiencing what it may have been like living in Paris as a rich person many, many decades ago. The little gardens around the houses were also quite nice. The artwork and objects are also of some interest as it outlines the history of Paris. Best of all, this museum was free! The neighbourhood in which it's situated in is also nice (Marais district)
  
• Avenue des Champs-Élysées
• Arc de Triomphe
• Le Tour Eiffel
  

Day 5
* Chateau de Versailles - Main Chateau - There is no way you can spend just one day here, which is why we decided to go back a second day.

Day 6
* Chateau de Versailles - Versailles Garden and Marie Antoinette Estates - The gardens were my favourite part of the entire place, and we got to see the fountains when they were turned on (they play Classical music through hidden speakers while the fountains are on - very elegant). I would have loved to bring a row boat out onto the Grand Canal, or to even walk around it to see how long it would have taken to walk around it. It was truly the nicest park I've ever seen or been to.

Day 7

• Printemps Department Stores
• Galeries Lafayette
• Palais Garnier (Opera House)
• Le Cimetière du Père-Lachaise - We saw Frederick Chopin, Jim Morrision and Oscar Wilde's tombs
  
• * Seine River Cruise (Bateaux Mouches) - seeing everything from the river gave Paris a different perspective.
  

Day 8

• Le Tour Eiffel
• Musee Marmotten Monet Paris - lots of Monet paintings
• * Les Catacombes de Paris - As interesting as this place was, it creeped me out
  
• La Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre - sitting on the tallest point of Paris
  

Day 9

• Le jardin des Tuileries
• Ile St-Louis - It's a small island next to Ile de la Cite, where Notre Dame is situated. Very nice neighbourhood.
• Panthéon
• *Musee Jacquemart-Andre - Even if you're not interested in the artwork, the house itself is really nicely architected.

View the photos - Click!

Clip of the fountains at Versailles

I'm going to Pareeeeeeeee!

So after frantic packing, buying things last minute, working on homework (which is still not done) and work-work until the last moment, we are finally going to Paris!!! Yayayayayayayay!

We'll be back Aug 30 (yes, it's not that long of a trip), and hopefully I will have lots to tell you all and lots of pics to show you!

Au revoir!

Par-ee!!!

(I thought I'd never live to see the day when I put up a picture of Paris Hilton on this blog. Well, that teaches me to never say never!)

So we've finally booked our flight and hotel for our Paris trip! Whoo!

We booked our flight through Zoom Airlines, and believe it or not, we found it to be the cheapest, even cheaper than flying out from Seattle. Zoom came highly recommended to me, so I thought I'd try it out. The only apprehension I have is that we're not allotted a lot in terms of luggage weight, but I'd just rather pay a bit more if I go over. At least we're flying out from Vancouver.

And believe it or not, the $119/night, 4 star hotel that I found on Hotwire.com was the Hilton in Paris! LOL! I'd managed to guess correctly before making the purchase that it would be that hotel, and read a few reviews on TripAdvisor. My main thing is that the hotel is clean, not smelly (especially of cigarette smoke), everything in the room works properly, and in a quite location. According to Google, it's not too far from the Metro.

Can't wait for August! Whoo hoo! Now to go practice my French...

Paris?

So after a lot of thinking, we've decided to go to Paris for our big trip. For reasons that I won't get into now, this could possibly be our last big trip for a very long time, so we decided to splurge and just do it.

I've been there once in 1994 for a couple of days, hubs has never been. We've been looking around for cheap flights and hotels, and let me tell you, my brain hurts.

Yesterday our friend T lent us his guidebook and phrasebook, so we are definitely prepared. Hubs and I also went to Chapters yesterday to look at the phrase books that they had there.

Until we get everything booked, nothing is for certain still, but I'm beginning to get stoked. Hopefully everything will fall into place soon! Stay tuned!