montmartre

montmartre was amazing - we only went there once during our 5 days and i wish we had gone there more. it's very touristy but i still loved it.

we went up inside the dome of the sacred basilica...i'm not usually scared of heights but for some reason that day i couldn't deal with it...of course my husband thought it was hilarious.

the streets were soo pretty

and the windows!

...milo...

...ok so i may have overreacted...

...just so EVERYONE understands...this was a very rare commodity on my mission...so of course if you were ever in an apartment with me when I had this product...AND you didn't appreciate it, I may have overreacted!

ps. once again this applies to the minority not the majority of readers...if you wish to be a little more familiar with this post you can read back a few posts in comments posted...:)

paris - palace of versailles and surrounding grounds

i can't begin to explain how amazing this place was! my first impression upon arriving was - 'what's everyone going one about' - because the front looks somewhat gaudy had scaffolding everywhere...but then you get in side....and then when you experience the grounds...!!!!! we spent nearly 5 hours here and still didn't get to see all the grounds it was so massive!
you can hire bikes to ride around the lake and through the gardens or you can hire a boat to go out for a boat ride on the lake...this was by far our most tiring day in paris but probably the most amazing as well...the RER had been cancelled that day (sat) so we had to fight the crowds to change train lines a couple of times and then we stood in a one hour line for our tickets to get inside...i was about to give up! I was soooo glad I didn't!

I threw in a touristy shot for you...yes that's a rare shot of the husband and i!
I'm so glad we went on the saturday instead of during the week because Marie Antoinette's house, hamlet and grounds were open as well (apparently they are only open on the weekends).

apparently she didn't like the' grandeur' of the palace so decided to build her own place - a single level house/palace.

and she also had this hamlet built...it was perfect!

paris - notre dame

it's so hard to choose which paris photos i want to show - i have 5 days worth!

we went to notre dame 3 times during that 5 days...because somebody's father is an architect and he has inherited some of the fascination that comes with being in a building such as this!...and even for those who knew nothing about architecture...it was still fascinating.

i didn't manage to get here at night - i think i could do another 5 days in paris an still not see everything i want to see!

...a bit of rome...

ok so the rome pictures are finished...
rome was interesting...when you ask people if they enjoyed rome - there are always mixed opinions...i'm guessing it's because if you've been to any other city in italy - rome will probably be your least favourite.

we chose rome because we actually wanted to take a trip down to the amalfi coast and go to pompeii - but as it turned out we didn't get there. despite the disappointment in not being able to get down there, we still enjoyed ourselves.

i absolutely loved the piazza's - every alley way seemed to have quaint little places to eat. the husband had a large pizza for lunch every day...still can't believe he ate the whole thing!

we had gelato's nearly every day - our favourite little gelato place even had profitterol mousse!!!

one other thing i loved about rome was the paintings just set up on easels in the piazza's

all up rome was pretty fascinating, we enjoyed our time there. i can't wait to go back to go back and see more of italy!

...teaser...

we were in Rome for 3 days, that means I have 3 days worth of photos...in case you don't know me that well, that means heaps of photos to process! So here's a little teaser for you from the first day.

Ok so I just thought I'd let you all know that I have a another blog...it's only in the beginning stages - the plan is that I'll go private on this particular blog...but I've said that before...and haven't followed through...but the husband and I have been talking more and more about it lately.....

Anyway you can check out the other blog here.

Please note that the link address has changed from what it was previously. (for those that have already been accessing this blog for a while - ok so I'm lazy - I had to shorten it!)

uhhhh I just changed my template....feeling a little upside down and back to front here....

I want this in my house....

This makes me want to draw again!...I come from an artistic family we can all draw...I was talking to my Aunty on Sunday and she asked if I still drew ...I mentioned that when I start drawing I get into my 'zone' and I don't like to be disturbed...it doesn't quite work with kids! Thus I haven't really drawn much since having kids. When I saw this I recognised that old familiar craving to sit down and draw something...this particular drawing by Leigh reminds me of my older sister's drawings...

I think she looks good as a bee....

Lenka...

love, love, love this girl!

I always seem to find the best inspiration at 'a little sussy'

It all started with Analiese...

For some of you T2 girls you may remember a night in the North Visitors Centre in one of the theatres where we were doing some kind of role playing/skits - I'm not really sure because there was only ONE skit I remember from that night...and it's left me feeling somewhat NAKED!...emotionally anyway...there are at least 3 of you that may read this that were a part of that skit...it was the MTC class....and each of you were playing yourselves...12mths - 18mths previous to this night and how you were feeling...yes...that's right you were sharing your FEELINGS! I remember Analiese standing up and saying: 'you want me to WHAT???...I ain't sharing my feelings!!' This got a huge laugh from the audience...mine included...but there was something DISTINCTLY different about my laugh to the rest of the audience that night...mine was coated with that 'nervousness' where you feel like you've totally been found out and you're not sure what your next move should be...while everyone else was sitting there laughing because it was funny and that's where it ended for them...me??? I was sitting there thinking: ' OH MY GOSH...SHE must have had the same teacher as I did in MTC...no way! I knew if that had been my MTC class up there...I would have had EXACTLY the same thing to say that night as Analiese did!
I may talk alot (yes...I AM aware of that fact), I may talk alot about surface stuff...and even things that might be personal..I'll talk about the 'facts' of that particular personal subject...but it's downright RARE for me to talk about my FEELINGS!!!

Fast Forward 10yrs: OH MY GOSH, Analiese is SHARING!!! haaa

Me???: 'I ain't sharing my feelings!!!!!!'

Who's 'evolved' here?

ps. some of you will be sooo lost on this post....it's ok...don't feel bad...you're part of the MAJORITY not the minority!

New York, New York

We only had 2 days in New York...we knew that it was not long enough to see EVERYTHING...but we figured we'd still be able to see a few things and get some great pictures...um yeah...we arrived in New York late at night...early the next morning we called the kids to see how they were doing...my sister-in-law told us that our bank had been trying to get in touch with us concerning 'suspicious' activity on our account...we got on line to see what they were talking about...and our bank account had been CLEANED OUT!!! Sooooooo our first day in New York was somewhat stressful - we basically spent the day going between our hotel, calling our bank back home, calling NSW Police to file a report (which they wouldn't do over the phone), going to the Australian Embassy to get a statutory of declaration signed and stamped...etc it was ANNOYING to say the least...then we went to broadway that night to de-stress...the bank insured us and replaced our little stash of cash...so the next day was much more pleasant...BUT because of this we really only had ONE day in New York...has anyone EVER tried to see NY in one day??? We did our best and to tell the truth as I look back I'm pretty surprised at how much we ended up seeing BUT I was a little sad about the opportunities lost for some great photos...we basically had to see what we could when we could regardless of whether the time of day was going to make for a crappy photo!

We went to Broadway both nights we were there....there were soo many shows to choose from...I wish I could have stayed for a week! The first night we went to see Mary Poppins, and the second, The little Mermaid. They were both great but Mary Poppins was definitely my favourite!



We went up the Rockefellar building...didn't get to go up for my sunrise/sunset :( but it was still great...


We took a walk down Wall Street...it was on a day that the stock market had plummeted...so the place was full of CNN media etc...since 9/11 they have Wall street permanently blocked off to traffic and police with machine guns monitor the area. The New York Stock exchange building is permanently blocked off to pedestrians etc.


So I had to take some photos at the Natural History Museum for Jake...he was so excited that we went to the 'night at the museum'!! :)


Time Square - the atmosphere was great and this is the heart of broadway! But I have to admit...after fighting tour groups and crowds nearly ever place we had visited I was REALLY getting sick of battling the crowds!

Central Park


This was the only shot we got of the Statue of Liberty...we didn't go over to the island simply because there was an hour and a half wait for the ferry...it was ridiculous and we figured there was still plenty of stuff we wanted to see. The top right is Brooklyn Bridge...and the bottom left is Manhatten Bridge (taken from the Brooklyn Bridge).

So like I said...we did pretty darn good for only seeing ALL this in one day!

Nigella Lawson describes these as jewels....

For some reason completely unknown to me these beautiful things are not common here in Australia...'apparently' we have so many other fruits here that the demand for these are very minor...



While on holiday my friend introduced Mike & I to our latest indulgence...now, although I'm grateful to her, I'm not sure if my purse is...since you can't find these at the supermarket and have to go the fruit shop, they're sporting a price of $3.50 each (which is above US$5). So um...I'll say 'thanks Kim'...but my purse won't...it's struggling with resentment issues!

And to think that my in-laws who are most likely moving to the Abu Dhabi in the Middle East in the next month will be surrounded with gorgeous amounts of these since the Pomegranate is native to the Middle East...and apparently was cultivated in Egypt before the time of Moses...and was quite significant in the Jewish culture...to the point of the design of the pomegranate being woven into high priests robes, and brass representations were part of the Temple's pillars. This fruit is mentioned 8 times in the Bible...and some believe it to be the fruit on the Tree of Life...whatever the truth be...I can totally see how they might describe this fruit as 'divine'.

And just for those of you who may not be religious & need some other reason to spend ridiculous amounts of money on gourmet fruit - here are some health facts about the pomegranate...(which is how Mike & I are justifying our expensive indulgence...) :
1. High in fibre
2. High in Vitamin C
3. The juice possess's almost 3 times the total amount of antioxidents found in green tea or red wine.
4. Supposed to work like 'aspirin' in preventing blood clots
5. Recent research has shown that 8 ounces of Pomegranate juice per day for 3mths improved the amount of oxygen getting to the heart in patients with coronary heart disease (prevents plaque building up in the arteries)
6. Research suggests that Pomegranate juice destroys breast cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone
7. Inhibits the development of lung cancer
8. Slows the growth of prostrate cancer
9. May protect the neonatal brain from damage after injury
10. Assists in the prevention of Osteoarthritis
11. It may prevent and slow Alzheimers disease
12. Lowers Cholesterol
13. Lowers Blood Pressure
14. Natural way to prevent Dental Plaque
....and the list goes on....

....hmmmm maybe it really IS the fruit from the Tree of Life...???? :)