#my husband took a photo of me googling definitions sitting in the corner like a rat

[icaruspendragon]

babygirl i sit hunched in ways you’d never fuckin believe

#my husband took a photo of me googling definitions sitting in the corner like a rat #and i look like an honest to god shrimp #shrimp posture #how humbling

[soyouthinkucanwrite]

Chapter 4 – A new day

Synopsys: The name of the series is super random, don't mind me. Reader is a postgraduate student at NYU, made a docuseries on her research, and the show got picked up by Netflix. She goes on a press tour and meets Tom on a ‘chat show’. They get together and she decides to stay for a few days in London with him. This could be an amazing few days or more? It’s been interesting writing how they’ll deal with distance and tight schedules once ‘honeymoon’ is over...

Heads up: my first language is Portuguese, so that might explain some things here - of course, I wrote thinking about myself hahaha

Warnings for the series: mention of illicit drugs, angst caused by distance, smut (next chapters, very explicit), anxiety caused by paparazzi, and rude random people taking photos.

Other than that, this is just my guilty pleasure writing so lots of caring sweet Tom and fluffiness.

Chapter 1 - A new city

Chapter 2 - Show time

Chapter 3 - Unexpected texts

Chapter 4 - A new day

This is 1.8k words (approximately)

A while after overthinking it you closed your eyes and next thing you knew you were opening them at the sound of your alarm clock. Shit. ‘Should’ve sleept more’ was your first thought but then you remembered why you didn’t. You checked your phone. There was one text from “Tom Holland”, you just loved the quotation markes there, they reminded you of the mess it was your first interaction.

Did he really just Google-translated ‘beautiful’? And are you really swooning over that?

You got up from bed smiling like an idiot and went to get ready for the day. You were getting breakfast with David at the hotel so you had to hurry cause the Breakfast show begins at 7. It was supposed to be a bright sunny (and hot) summer day, which you knew was rare in London. But it was still a work commitment, so you decided on pants and maybe you could change before going to wherever you were going with Tom. Tom! Should you reply to him?

Ok. Play it cool. Now, focus on why you’re here in the first place, will you? You wore capri pants, a t-shirt tucked in with a belt and some stylish shoes. It looked cool, you were comfortable and that’s the best we can expect in a situation like this. No one’s expecting you to show up ready for a red carpet or anything like that anyway. You texted David and he was already downstairs getting some food, so you just went to meet him.

“Good morning” You greeted David at the buffet.

���Someone’s in a good mood. Good morning” He was in a good mood too, probably cause you’ll be going home today. Your good mood had nothing to do with that. If you’re honest, that was a reason for ruining your spirit.

“Uh-hum” You agreed.

“So, I was looking and I think I can change our tickets. You know, for earlier.” He told you as you were sitting in a table at the corner and you couldn’t help but look at him like he was saying something absurd. “Ok, you don’t look so happy about it.”

“No, I was just hoping to see the city today. You know, enjoy it a little bit before going back.” As you said that your phone lit up on the table, it was a text from Tom.

“The city. Right” David smirked at you.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You laughed at him and smiled when you saw the texts.

“Is that ok?” You heard David talking.

“Hum? Sorry?” You were smiling.

“Gosh I can’t with you. I said I might just change my own ticket, would that be ok with you?”

“Oh yeah! Go ahead. I’ll be fine. I have all my flight info.” He looked at you suspiciously.

“Just…please be in New York next week? The meeting is on Friday afternoon”

“What?” You laughed. “Of course I’ll be there. Why wouldn’t I?” He just shook his head and laughed at you.

You finished your breakfast and went back to the room to brush your teeth and get your stuff. 15 minutes later, you were in a cab with David going to the Radio One studios. On the way, you snapped a pic to send him, you know, keep the conversation going.

You rolled your eyes at him but still couldn’t help but agree.

The breakfast show was from 7 to 10 am, but your interview was not until 8 am. So you and David just hang out in the studio in the meantime. “The first hour is mainly for music”, the girl that welcomed you guys explained. Soon after, Greg James walked out to the little reception and greeted you and David. “Hey guys! Thank you for coming! I’m Greg, nice to meet you.” He offered.

“Hi! Thank you for having us! I’m (y/n), this is David.” You replied and gave him a quick hug.

“Hey! How’s it going?” David said and gave him a man’s hug/handshake. Boys.

“So this is basically standard, since it’s a live interview, I like to ask if there’s any topic you want to avoid or something you’d like to talk specially about?” He asked you.

“Oh…I don’t know. No? Just…let’s talk about how great the show is so people want to watch it and we can keep making more” You laughed.

“And it IS great! I’ve seen it, really loved. Congrats!”

“That’s kind of you. Thank you!”

“No problem, so…I guess I’ll just direct it towards the interviews you did, you can tell me some funny stories? Awkward ones preferably.”

“You got it! I’ll give you my worst embarrassment stories, you know, for the good of entertainment” You laughed.

--

A little while later you were sitting in the studio with Greg on the other side of the table. You told him about the show and some embarrassing stories as well.

“So, what are the plans now? Will we be seeing more seasons of the show? Maybe in other cities, London perhaps?”

“Well, I can’t say”

“Oh come on! Is Netflix the next Marvel on terms of keeping secrets?”

“No, I mean, I don’t know. I literally can’t say because I don’t know what the future looks like for us. It’s been so great to go out and talk about the show, and see how much people liked it but I’m kind of just enjoying while I can.”

“No! Don’t say that! They won’t let you get away like that!”

“I hope not! If they want us, I’m all in! I’d love to make 10 more seasons and in other cities, even! Can you imagine?"

“Now that’s more like it! Let’s make a deal, if Netflix don’t renew with you, BBC will take it!”

“Ok! Sure! Are you in charge of it?”

“No really, but that’s just a technicality” He laughed. “Alright, so we’ll play some music and when we come back we’re going to hear some unpopular opinions! Are you ready for it Ana?”

“Sure, yeah! I love the theme song, let’s do it!”

“Do you really? You listen to the show?”

“Yes! I really do, I’m a fan since when I was learning English! I genuinely love Radio 1”

“No way! Just for that, I’ll let you choose the next song"

--

When the song died over it was time for the game.

“Hey! If you need a job, you can just come work here with us as international music sommelier, what you think about it?”

“Oh don’t even joke. That’s my dream job, honestly!”

“It’s settled them” The interview was going really well, and it was almost ending. “Alright, so our time is almost over. Shall we hear some unpopular opinions and send you all to the weekend with a pinch of wrath?”

“Yes please! Let’s hear them” The theme song started to play and you sang along. “Come and give us your unpopular opinion, something up to know you’ve been scared to say”

“That was great! And in the first try! You really are a listener!”

“Told you!”

“Ok so, first on the line we have Maya. Hello Maya? What’s your unpopular opinion?”

“Calling people bestie is cringe” The girl on the line said.

“Uh agreed” You said.

“You agree with her?” Greg asked you.

“Yeah. If it’s not ironically, it’s very cringe. Like calling your husband hubby”

“To be fair, most pet names are cringe” Greg offered.

“True, very true. Hey, love is cheesy. Nothing wrong with that. People in love are just not cool, have you ever met a couple that was genuinely cool?”

“No, I have not. Well, I mean…the Beckhams are cool.”

“Uh good one. I stand corrected. But can you imagine Victoria calling Dave ‘hubby’ or the other spice girls ‘bestie’?”

“Definitely not.” You guys laughed together, you were just being silly. “Good one Maya! Alright, next call is Kyle. Hello Kyle?”

“Hi! Flat watered down soda tastes good.”

“What?” You yelped. “Are you ok, Kyle?”

“And that’s why we call this segment ‘unpopular opinions’” Greg laughed. “Do you want to defend yourself there Kyle?”

“Not really, I just prefer it like that.” Kyle said and you and Greg laughed.

“You know what Kyle? You keep doing you. You might want to try some juice or iced tea, though. But you do you man.” You joked and Greg cracked up.

“That was great, I love it!” Greg said. “That will be all for today, don’t forget to check (y/n)'s new show this weekend and spam Netflix about how much we need more seasons!! And bring (y/n) to London Netflix!”

“Oh my god I loved it! Thank you so much for having me, I had the best time!” You thanked him. Music started to play and you took off your headphones. “Thank you, really. I was great!” You said directly to Greg.

“Oh don’t thank me! I really hope we’ll see you more! Come back always to promote the next seasons and projects!” He offered.

You got out of the studio and greeted David. “That was so much fun!” You told him.

“You’re killing it there ! Mission accomplished, finally! Are you coming back to the hotel or are you meeting with ‘the city’ from here?” He asked you using air quotes for ‘the city’ and smirking.

“I’m coming back to the hotel, thank you very much.” You rolled your eyes, but you knew he was just teasing you.

Chapter 5 it's fluffly london date and it was so much fun writing it, can't wait for you to read!

#tom holland #tom holland fic #tom holland x reader #tom holland one shot #tom holland series #tom holland social media au #tom holland fanfiction

[smkkbert]

Time for a story - A little crush

“God, that guy is so hot.”

Hearing Felicity say that, Oliver dropped the dishtowel to the counter quickly. He hurried over into the living room where Felicity was sitting, sprawled out on the couch, while she was watching TV.

“And a jealous husband appears.”

Although Felicity had mumbled those words under her breath, probably trying to hide them form him, Oliver hadn’t missed them.

“Who is hot?”

A smile was tugging at the corners of Felicity’s lips. She continued watching TV like she wasn’t aware or didn’t mind that he was standing there at all. Since Oliver knew her as well as nobody else knew her, he could see that she was very much aware and vigilant about his presence though.

Oliver guessed that she wanted to play this little game of teasing with him because she knew that his senses, especially his ears, were a lot more trained than the ears of most other people. If she hadn’t wanted his attention, she wouldn’t have said anything at all. If she wanted to play this game, he would happily join in though.

“So?” he asked once more and stepped around the couch. “Who is hot?”

Oliver rested his forearms on the back of the couch and leaned forward. He glanced at the TV, seeing some gossip show airing. Photos and videos of a tall Afro-American guy with broad shoulders and strong arms were being shown.

“He?” Oliver asked when Felicity still didn’t answer.

“Hm-hmm.”

Felicity hummed in agreement, nodding her head. Her eyes were almost like glued to the TV. When a video of that guy training shirtless started playing, Felicity sat up a little more upright and almost caused her head to bump under his chin. It would have probably ended painfully for both of them if Oliver hadn’t managed to pull away by the last second.

A low growl built in his chest when Oliver was watching the video. That guy would definitely not be able to hold himself in a fight against him, but he’d match his muscular appearance anytime. Maybe, his muscles were even a little bit more defined than Oliver’s were.

“Who is that guy?” Oliver asked once more. “I don’t think I know him.”

“His name is Idris Elba.”

Idris Elba. Oliver guessed it was a name he should add to the list of people he didn’t like. He didn’t know that guy at all, but that didn’t matter. Anyone who was able to attract Felicity’s attention with a handsome appearance belonged onto that list.

“Idris Elba,” Oliver repeated that name loud now. “Who’s that?”

“He’s said to be playing the new James Bond,” Felicity told him, “and I think James Bond has never looked hotter.”

“I thought you were into Pierce Brosnan, and wouldn’t accept any other actor to play James Bond after him.”

The report about Idris Elba ended just now. Finally, Felicity was able to tear her eyes away from the screen. She angled her head back and shot him an incredulous look.

“It’s Idris Elba.”

She said it like it would explain everything. Maybe for Felicity it did. For Oliver, it just rose more questions.

“I think I will have to google a photo of him and save it as my new background for my phone,” Felicity told him. “What’s better than seeing his face every time I grab my phone?”

Oliver had an answer for that. He actually had a thousand answers for that. Instead of voicing any of them, he just bit down on his tongue though. Felicity was way too good at playing this game of teasing.

“Well, my face for example,” he said despite knowing better after al. “I mean…”

He gestured up and down his face, and Felicity shot him an incredulous look. suppressing a chuckle which ended in a snorting sound. She turned back to the TV, shaking her head slightly. The corners of her lips were still twitching from amusement.

Oliver figured it was time to switch tactics. He had the choice between trying to make Felicity jealous as well and going into utter romantic mode. While the first would probably be the most fun, he knew that he’d get a kiss much sooner with the second.

“I guess he is on your three-listen then?”

The three-list. If it hadn’t been for Iris and the fact that he had been on her three-list, he wouldn’t even know that a list like that was a thing. Since he had been with Felicity, they had talked about that list from time to time though. Neither of them actually had a list like that, but sometimes it was fun to tease each other with it.

Felicity puckered her lips, looking at Oliver again. He could see that she senses that there was something going on. Still, she didn’t say anything about it yet.

“I think he is,” Felicity replied.

Oliver nodded slowly. “Who else is?”

“Chris Evans,” Felicity replied without hesitation. “Definitely Chris Evans.”

“Not Christ Hemsworth?”

“He would be because he is hot and he’s great daddy material, but I already have an army of kids,” Felicity replied. “Besides, Chris Evans has a super-cute dog.”

Oliver nodded slowly. “And the third?”

Felicity puckered her lips and hummed thoughtfully and narrowed her eyes slightly. Apparently, finding someone who matched Chris Evans and Idris Elba was too hard. Or maybe there were too many guys on her mind.

“Do you want to know who’s on my three-list?”

“Oh, let me guess,” Felicity said. She shifted on the couch, pushing her legs under her butt and resting her hands over Oliver’s on the backrest of the couch. “Margot Robbie, Jennifer Upton and Bar Rafaeli.”

Oliver didn’t even know who that last person was, but it didn’t matter anyway. He shook his head.

“Second try?”

Knowing how competitive Felicity was, he smiled and nodded his head. She could have a million tries and she probably didn’t know. It was one of the many things he loved so much about her.

“Gigi Hadid, Blake Lively and Emilia Clark.”

“Wrong, wrong and wrong.”

“Okay, one last try,” Felicity suggested and didn’t wait for him to answer before she already made her try. “Natalie Portman, Jessica Alba and Julianne Hough.”

Oliver chuckled, shaking his head. When Felicity took in a deep breath, probably about to suggest another three ladies, Oliver captured her lips in a gentle kiss, making every sound that could have fallen from her lips die on her tongue. She just released a low sigh and leaned into the kiss.

When Oliver leaned back, Felicity’s eyes were almost a little hazy. A dreamy smile spread on her lips.

“I don’t need a three-list,” Oliver told her and leaned forward to brush his lips against Felicity’s once more. “I already have the one woman I need in my life.”

Felicity smiled, cocking her head. For a moment, he thought he had won, but it didn’t take long for the expression in her eyes to change. Oliver could see that she was looking right through him.

“Well,” Felicity said slowly, pulling her hands away from his and playing with the topmost button of his henley, “that’s sweet.”

She leaned forward and placed a firm kiss on his lips. Oliver wanted to deepen the kiss, but Felicity pulled back already.

“But I guess that means that you will stay here and watch the kids while I will let Idris Elba, Chris Evans and whoever else I choose to be on my three-list screw my brains out.”

With a chuckle, she pecked his lips once more. She got off the couch and walked towards the door. Stepping into the frame of it, she shot a look back over her shoulder and winked at him though. Oliver couldn’t help but chuckle and shake his head.

What was life and love without a little bit of teasing? 

* * *

I'll be on vacation for a couple of days. As soon as I am back, I will start posting the next drama storyline.

Wish me luck, so I will hopefully find my muse again while I am away. That little b*tch is hiding from me lately. :D

* * *

@fannaz @promiseyoullbepatientwithme @bytemegeekette @felicity-said-just-in-case @phanseptiic @orangeisorange @mspotatohead14 @whentheheavenfades @emmaamelia95 @smoakingskye @seaolicity @ourwritinginvein @1022bridgetp @felicityqueenforever @leagueofolicity17 @yryssss @myhauntedblacksoul @sherlock44 @sinceriouslybea @arrowsalways @olivyflavescentdeer @olicitys-castle @ofnothingcharming @vaelisamaza @smoakedandcharmed @alexisa1206 @mysaudadespt2 @florence-bubbles @addictiontelly @queens-of-arrows @memcjo @hysterical-for-joshifer @oswinelevenforever @olicitylovemaking @bandanab310 @mymusiclove101 @lynslogic @scarletqueen23 @olicityshipper19 @alex-wesley @arrows-4ever @unabashedlynerdypatrol @louehmysoul @ligiapimenta @chattyyana @charlie-leau @coal000 @samcrowleys @ishippolivia @julianegomesqueen @malafle @miriam1779 @charlinert @melaux @ontheolicityship @myshipperlife @wrightainsley @lexi9515 @ladygreenwood @multi-fandom-crazy-fangirl @morinamel @mje-thomas @kebarry @canadianheartgirl @nannett2307 @almondblossomme @paarti12 @kathrynelizabeth89 @imdfabulous @cutearrowgirl @mrt2501 @mecha1330 @arsipaci14 @mzminx @salasvia @brandis91 @cainc3 @morganmiguess @pr0fessi0nal-fangurl @iamisalima @nessafrancis-blog @jonhdiggle @niki-is-amazing @universed-posts @hopeful-warrior @senoritaswiftie @bellemmie @green-arrows-of-karamel @iheartarrow @olicityovereverything @oliverfel4 @navyaarsha @fandoms-breathe-life @simone4mcswarek @olicity-in-the-heart @fullychippedcreation @geemarie @everything-but-normal-cat @myarroworld @tjmartinez @pleasantfanandstudent @itsmagnoliagirl @j69confessional2 @scentedcolorpirate @icanica74 @javinancupil @tjmartinez98 @certainmentalityface @tatianadamaceno @ryelew @wildwillowzepplin @missafairy @letsplaymurde-r @lipizette @positivepiper @nuttymilkshakehologram @laksagirl @turnupthemusicandscream @pumpernickle93 @onceuponanolicity @1106angel @jaspertown @fadinglands @morganashimi83 @mochababychristy @omglovechrissie @mariejr88-blog @thetaufactor @onceuponanolicity @speakandseethetruth @bri206 @aglasgo @thats0klaroline @geemarie @pineprincess @nerdgirljen @peterpanslostgirl666 @eternal-olicity14 @allyouhadtodowas-stay-stay-stay @lovelycssefan @tsseract @flowerandsunshine @dcnmarvelgamergeek @blondeeoneexox @monetsmark @soaring-cities @bb-olicity @mashamarty @rulerofsilence @erika-amber @felicity087 @i-claim-only-emily @pattid1 @westallenandolicityshipper @olicityfluv @nothingmorethanmyotps @kayleenyc @tonto16 @olicityfluv @olicitea1990 @olicity5ever @haahaaa2408 @pattid1 @faegal04 @24karatgem @wrldtravler @readerkas @valery6488 @lemmyeatspeaches @olicity-beliver

(If you want to be tagged or untagged, just let me know. :))

#arrow #olicity #olicity fic #olicity fanfic

[waltzshouldbewriting]

Nemesis (Ghostmind Story 4)

By JD Jackson

First thing first, yes we are all fine.

That being said, you are all probably wondering the reason behind my recent online activities. Well, it all started about two AM when Dan was out helping investigate some weird gas thing.

It started for me when he barged into my room at 2:45 looking like a truck ran him over, minus the injury part.

“What’s wrong?” Was the first thing out of my mouth before my instincts finally kicked in. “Don’t answer that.” I ran from my computer (yes I was still up, sue me) to my bed, where I brushed off the papers I had all over it. I grabbed my weighted blanket, ordered Dan to lie down, and told him to relax.

“You need music - no you don’t,” I said, running through what Dan usually needs while in shutdown mode. I turned off my writing playlist, dimmed the lights, and fetched him a bottle of water.

Aaliyah called me just as I was about to call her.

“Is Dan at your place?” Aaliyah asked. She sounded half-asleep.

“Yes,” I replied, balancing the phone with my computer as I walked out to the living room. “He’s completely zoned. Do you know what happened?”

“Someone attacked him.”

“What?”

My parents were already in the living room, both on the phone. I plopped on the floor and opened up a window on my laptop.

“Let me find a picture,” I said. “See what I can find out.”

I put the phone down, already switching to research mode.

I found a video of the attack in half a minute. My mom handed me a notebook as I wrote and sketched what I saw.

Young. Our age? Design on shirt. One-way fight. Obvious training. Wasn’t seeking to kill, only hurt.

Questions began to form, and that’s when I started with the weird posting on social media.

Does anyone recognize his style of fighting?

Any idea on his symbol?

Anyone recognize him?

Another video came up, this one with a clear picture of the other person’s face. I snapped a screenshot and did a reverse image search just as a few responses came back in.

His fighting is very mixed. Can’t identify any one style.

If I had to guess, he had some jujutsu training mixed in with it.

I found his Facebook page, but it only listed what was definitely a false age and location, and a friends list. So I started searching for his friends.

That logo reminds me of Divinity White’s logo when she was Savage Serpent.

More googling, and I started connecting the dots. A photo on a friend’s timeline here, a jujutsu studio website from his hometown here.

After about thirty minutes, two police officers came to check on Dan. After some convincing from my parents, Dan came out to meet them.

“Any idea who attacked me?” Dan asked. His voice sounded flat, uninterested, but to me that just meant he was still in shutdown.

Police officers don’t know how to deal with him. And they haven’t had to yet, I realized. Not with his device. Which was still on his arm, shattered.

“Not yet,” one of the police officers responded.

“I know,” I offered. “His name is Jason White. He is sixteen years old, trained at an old rundown jujutsu studio in his hometown. He’s the son of Divinity White AKA Savage Serpent. Ms White was a member of the FOCOPI, back twenty years ago. She quit after a bad injury, and eventually married and became a lawyer. Her old secret identity was found at two years ago, shortly after which she and her husband were murdered by someone orphaned by the FOCOPI, which then left Jason orphaned. He moved in with his aunt, who still lives near the FOCOPI headquarters. And there’s an ongoing investigation to see if his aunt is the person behind the new FOCOPI member Avidizer.”

“FOCOPI may be evil, but they don’t involve kids,” one of the police officers said.

“Unless,” I replied. “The kid takes it upon himself to be involved. Jason has had two amber alerts since moving in with his aunt, but resolved quickly. One of the kids in his school with a less secure account seems to think he ran away.”

The other police officer raised an eyebrow. “So what you’re saying is the kid has a role model whose in FOCOPI, which is motive. And he likely tried more dangerous initiation tactics by himself.”

“Until FOCOPI gave in and gave him a safer mission,” I concluded. “Taking on Ghostmind, a superhero with no physical skill.”

“I’ll admit, it makes sense,” the first police officer said. She looked at my parents. “Your child is a good researcher.”

My dad chuckled. “It’s probably all that time they spend researching for that novel.”

“We’ll look deeper into what you’ve found, but we’ll still stay open to other explanations- though this one sounds solid.” The police officer looked at me. “Ever think of getting a job in criminal investigations?”

I made a face and shook my head. “Not creative enough for me.”

The next hour or so, police came and went from my house. I showed them how I did my research and the photos I’d found. Those who had time to react were impressed.

Dan’s parents came over, and the whole Davis Family stayed the night. Then, just a little after sunrise, it was time to start the next day.

Dan was already excused from school, and his mom called in with a family emergency, but the rest of us had to trot on to work and school. Not that I didn’t try to stay with him, but I was close to failing in two classes (like that mattered in the moment) and neither Dan nor my dad wanted me to stay.

So I went to school, despite having no sleep. And slept through most of my classes. When I got home, Dan and his mother were passed out in my room, so I took a nap on the couch.

The rest of the day was spent recovering from that morning. My mom forced us all to eat, even with no appetite. I spent the evening scrolling Tumblr while Dan played video games on his phone and his mother conversed with my parents.

She wanted to head home, but Dan was feeling sick from anxiety and was wary of riding in a car. Neither of them like the house (we are a messy family), and Dan complained once or twice that he should’ve walked the extra ten minutes back to his place initially. I did the best to keep the area clean, but it felt hopeless. Claudia and Aaliyah both showed up after dinner, and Aaliyah brought a tool kit to work on Dan’s device.

That night I didn’t stay up until 2 AM, but I still found myself woken up with a crash around the same time. I was sleeping on the couch, Claudia in one of the recliners, and Aaliyah had moved downstairs to work.

“What was that?” Claudia asked, sitting up.

“I don’t know,” I replied.

My parents creeped out of their room, my mom with a flashlight and my dad with a bat.

“Did you hear that?” My mom asked.

Claudia and I both nodded.

“Get Dan and go downstairs,” my dad barked.

“Why?” Claudia asked. “There’s police officers-“

“Do it.”

Dan was already awake, and he barely complained about the woody smell as we descended the stairs. I led them to a corner, and Aaliyah and Claudia moved a table to cover us.

Dan sighed and leaned his head against the cold wall, his breath speeding up. I could feel my heart hammering in my chest.

“It’s just a precaution,” Claudia whispered. “There’s no reason to panic.”

“I know,” I answered. “Doesn’t mean I can stop.”

“Shhh,” Dan hissed. “Stop talking so loud.”

Something thumped, startling me and Claudia.

“Aaliyah, how long is the repair going to take?” I asked, keeping my voice low.

“Too long,” Aaliyah said.

“That’s not an answer!”

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’s not a good idea.”

I sighed. “It would make me feel better if we had a plan.”

“It’s four to one,” Claudia stated. “We could take him.”

“This is a horrible idea!” Aaliyah said.

Dan shook his head. “He’s too good of a fighter.”

“It’s four to one,” I repeated.

“I’m sure he’s trained for that,” Dan replied. “And none of us has.”

“I know a thing or two about strategy.” I looked around the room. “Now if I could only think clearly...” Closing my eyes, I did my best to concentrate. Just pretend it’s a scene in a novel.

“We have only one entrance,” I reasoned. “Umm, let’s see - we could take him by surprise - maybe, uh, nevermind, that wouldn’t work.” I continued to ramble, but slowly an idea began forming. “I think I have a plan. We need a net.”

It wasn’t hard. Claudia and I were able to sew a few stronger pieces of cloth together, and then I found small bolts in my dad’s work box that we tied to the end. Claudia took the net as we moved into position.

Claudia and I pressed our bodies against the wall next to the stairs just as the door creaked open. My heart was pounding even harder, but I forced myself to breathe slowly and softly. I listened as an unfamiliar gate walked down the stairs, ignoring the shaky feeling through my limbs.

Then Jason White stepped into the room, and me and Claudia tackled him with the net.

The good news is that we caught him by surprise. But, as Aaliyah expected, it didn’t take long for him to react. He landed an elbow into my stomach, and I stumbled backwards as pain flared. I hit the wall and collapsed, muttering a few of my favorite curse words under my breath.

Claudia recovered. Apparently, cheerleaders have high pain tolerance (which I do not, hence me lying on the floor in pain at this moment in time). She threw herself onto White and managed to wrap the net around his face in a smooth motion. It wasn’t enough to bring him down, but Claudia grabbed the edges and yanked, bringing White’s head down and making him stumble. Claudia elbowed him in the side of the head, knocking him into the wall, while he still struggled to get the net off. She kneed him in the stomach, and he punched her in the face in defense, making her stumble backwards.

White managed to toss the net off. Aaliyah had yet to finish her repairs.

I took a deep breath in, going through a quick grounding exercise. It made the pain worse, but I found I could focus. Now, all I needed was a stroke of genius.

And, impossibly, I had one.

I pushed myself up and forced myself to move to the other side of the room. White, who was still focusing on Claudia, turned my way just as I reached my target - a basket of spray paint. I grabbed a bottle, popped the lid, and sprayed it right into White’s eyes. It didn’t blind him as I’d hoped, but he did stumble backwards with a nasty wince.

Sometime during that sequence of events, Aaliyah managed to fix Dan’s device. Which was good, because a second later White punched me in the face and I went down.

“He has some type of device on his waist!” Dan called.

“What?” White asked, spinning around. He nervously patted his belt. “No I don’t!”

“A little protective of your doodad?” I asked, forcing myself up onto my knees despite the massive face ache (is that a thing?) spreading from my jaw.

Claudia, who, despite a bloody nose and a black eye, was sneaking around the side of White, took the hint. She launched forward, grabbing the device with amazing reflexes, and tossed it at Aaliyah. Aaliyah caught it, and held her wrench up to it like a knife to a throat.

White halted.

“You like this, don’t you?” Aaliyah asked. “It would be a shame if something... happened to it. But I figure if I’m smart enough to invent, I’m probably smart enough to destroy. After all, it’s supposed to be easier, right?”

White scowled. “What do you want?”

“For one, stop punching my friends. In fact, if you leave now, in the morning I’ll leave this somewhere for you to find.”

“Why would I trust you?”

“You don’t have much choice, do you?”

White huffed. “If you don’t return it, you’ll pay.” Then he turned on his heels and left.

Later that day, someone informed us that White used that device frequently to sneak pass police officers and guards. None of us know what happened to the device, since Aaliyah turned it over to the SGU.

And honestly, none of us care.

All I know is that two days later and Dan is still in panic mode and my cheek still hurts.

#writing #from my patreon page #JD Jackson #Ghostmind #original writing #patreon #superheroes

[licencedtoretire]

Time to move on from Bulmers Landing. Not because we had too instead, we were keen to continue exploring the area. The road map shows a couple of possible routes alongside the Waikato river one closer than the other. Deciding to hug the river on the narrower backcountry road, we found ourselves almost alone on the fabulous scenic road. I say practically alone because despite there being no other cars, there were numerous cyclists.

We did wonder where all these cyclists had appeared from and where they were all heading. It wasn’t until later on this trip, when we got to Mangakino, that we found out they were riding the 2020 Tour Aotearoa. This is a 3000-kilometre cycle ride from Cape Reinga to Bluff following most major cycle trails as well as lots of back roads. There are over 1000 cyclists taking part with the ride needing to be completed within 30 days. Start days are staggered to prevent too many cyclists on the road in one place at one time,  but it still seemed like a lot to us. If you would like to find out more or maybe even take part next year, you can visit their website here.

As we progressed along the road, we arrived at the turnoff for the Arohena DOC Camp. In the back of my mind, I remembered reading about a rather narrow access road. That’s never stopped us before and wasn’t going to stop us this time either. My memory was correct, it is a rather narrow access road, but thankfully we met nothing coming the other way. What the reviews neglected to mention is that to get down to the camp, there is a reasonably steep hill to drive down. That probably wouldn’t be too much of a problem if there weren’t two hairpin bends on the hill. I was closely observing the back of the motorhome in the mirrors as we negotiated these bends. At 9 metres long we are probably the maximum length for these corners.

We made it to the bottom of the hill. Where we couldn’t quite shake the worry that we would need to make it back up the hill rounding those corners again to exit the camp. But that would be a worry for the next day when it would be time to leave. Much better to not let these things bother you when there was a charming DOC camp to enjoy.

The campground is massive with a technical limit of 50 unpowered sites. I would, however, imagine that in the height of summer quite a few more would squeeze in here. On the day we visited we had our choice of spots with only a few other campers here.

There are two primary levels to the campground, with us choosing one on the upper level affording some great views over the lake. An interesting feature of this place is way areas have been divided by massive bollards. These are quite a distance apart and would allow for multiple campers between them. We wondered if the reason for these was to prevent “boy racers” tearing up the ground when the camp was empty.

Will my usual efficiency, I neglected to take any photos of some vital infrastructure in the camp. On-site are some really modern, well maintained, clean toilets along with a decent cooking shelter for those staying in tents. There is water here but on a boil water notice and only 2 taps that we could find.

Even though I was blocking out thinking about our return journey back up the hill, Sarah was still concerned. So much so that she tried to convince me to take a walk up the hill to inspect our return journey. Thanks to my lymphoma, I have a lung condition that makes this sort of thing difficult, so I declined to accompany her. The following day I would realise what a mistake this was, more about this later. Anyway, she took several photos of the road, the corners plus this one of the motorhome looking tiny parked up at the campground.

We spent a very relaxing time here wandering around the camp and just sitting watching the world go bye. As you can see from the few photos I have published this camp has plenty of space for some decent R&R and is well worth a visit.

I decided against a swim in the river whereas Sarah was in and out 3 or 4 times cooling down on a sweltering day. She assured me that the water was “lovely”, but I remained unconvinced.

You can see in this photo that there are fireplaces here. You are allowed to use them under normal circumstances except there is currently a total fire ban. Just bring your own wood next time and away you go.

The following morning it was time to brave the steep hill and depart the camp. Not having walked the route the previous day I wanted to get up the hill, slow and steady, but not so fast that I would have difficulty getting around the first hairpin bend. We almost made it with the motorhome running out of puff only a metre or so from the top. But as they say, a miss is as good as a mile. I backed down slightly and tried to restart, but the tyres only chewed up the road surface. The big problem here is that the steepness of the road increases just before the corner. A real momentum killer.

Sarah and I had a discussion deciding that I would back down the hill, then walk back up so we could plan a better exit strategy. Huffing and puffing I walked back up where we looked at the corner. We both realised that actually, I didn’t need to get around the corner I could drive onto grass beyond. This would then enable a new start at the second corner. Sarah stayed at the top of the hill to watch for oncoming traffic.

Back at the bottom of the hill, and back in the van, I got out my lead-weighted boots and pressed the accelerator of the motorhome to the floor. Rocketing up the hill (Imagine, Bat of hell by Meatloaf at full volume in the background.) was somewhat unnerving, slightly worried about bouncing sideways and then down the cliff. In a cloud of dust, I blew past Sarah and stopped on the grass verge. Part one – Mission accomplished.

Still shaking somewhat I got out to rejoin Sarah and have a look at the next hill/corner we would have to surmount to leave the camp. We again wandered up the road to inspect the corner noting that this time there wasn’t a big run-off area. There was however a bit of swing leeway onto the grass that I hadn’t noticed the previous day.

So once again, Sarah stayed at the top, and I walked back to the motorhome. The lead-weighted boots certainly did their stuff with me rocketing around the second corner and onto the road back to civilisation. When Sarah joined me in the van, she relayed how my left front wheel became airborne as I rounded the corner. She wished she could have taken photos of her mad husband playing rally driver with the motorhome.

This story might set off a debate about the benefits of rear-wheel drive over front-drive. Maybe in this situation, they may be correct. I do, however, believe that any motorhome of 9 metres or more would struggle with these corners. The traction control on the Fiat definitely helped, especially when one of the front wheels became airborne. We have only ever been truly stuck twice in 30,000 km’s. One of those times it wouldn’t have mattered what we were driving so I don’t mind that we are driving a front-drive, in fact, I am very happy with it.

Anyway, it all add’s to the fun as well as giving me something to write about. I should also mention that it wasn’t just us with problems a few campers leaving in cars could be heard wheel spinning as they tried to leave the camp. Another camper with a trailer told me he started his run from the lake getting up enough speed to get around the corners.

I don’t know what we would have done if we hadn’t made it. With no phone signal to call anyone for help, it could have been interesting. Maybe we could just have waited for a 4WD to arrive and then asked for their assistance. Although without a tow rope in the van that could have been interesting as well. Something we now need to go out and buy.

Just one final point if like us you have a long low slung motorhome don’t try to turn right back on to the main road. The camber of the road is such that you will get stuck, we almost did. So turn left then reverse into the driveway next door and then accelerate away 😀😀😀

☕ If you liked this post (click here) to buy me a cup of coffee and help keep future posts coming ☕ To view the places we have visited click here to see them on Google maps. You can click the links to read the blog about that area. [cardoza_facebook_like_box] To view the Ratings, we have done for places we have stayed click here 

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What Goes Down Might Not Come Up Time to move on from Bulmers Landing. Not because we had too instead, we were keen to continue exploring the area.

#campervan blog New Zealand #campervan holiday New Zealand #Doc camps #Motorhome Blog New Zealand #Motorhome Holiday New Zealand #Rail trails

[drtanstravels]

We returned a little over a week ago from our final trip for 2017 which revolved around Anna speaking at the Fifth International Congress on OCT Angiography, “En Face” and advances in OCT, an annual conference held by the American Society of Retina Specialists, on this occasion in Rome, Italy.

We’ve been to Italy before, back in September of 2012 on a trip that took us through Florence, Rome, Pisa and Milan for another of Anna’s conferences, although that little adventure is a bit of a blur for me. This time we’d be spending four nights in Rome and although I knew I had been before, it still all felt completely new to me. We have done quite a bit of flying this year so we were able to upgrade to Business Class for the flights both there and back, which is great for a 13-hour overnight flight to Europe. We were supposed to depart at about 1:50am on Friday morning, but it was probably closer to about 3:00am by the time we took off. It didn’t matter to Anna, she fell asleep almost immediately, however, I had to wait until we were airborne and my “bed” was laid out before I could drift away, the last thing I heard being a small Chinese lady who had walked down the aisle to yell at her husband in the seat next to mine, “Cover your stomach!”

Friday, December 15 Due to the seven-hour time difference, we touched down in Rome at about 8:30am and were out of the airport relatively quickly. It was about a 45-minute taxi ride due to the morning traffic to where we were staying, the Ergife Palace Hotel, which was also where the conference was being held. The entire drive there I had this playing on loop in my head:

Sure, I realise it’s not about Rome, but it’s a homophone and that makes it close enough for me. Anyway, before long we arrived at our hotel and one thing soon became glaringly obvious — There is not a whole lot to do in that part of town. It was a bit before 10.00am when we got there and our room wasn’t ready yet, but Anna was happy because she wanted to attend her professor’s talk which began at 10 o’clock. All she needed to do was freshen up a little and change her clothes, something she was able to do in a bathroom in the lobby. Anna attended the talk while I sat in the lounge area with a coffee or three and read my book. I saw Anna chatting with her professor at about midday so when she saw me we tried to check into our room, only to be told it still wouldn’t be ready for at least another hour. We decided to have another latte each and waited for the buffet lunch to begin at 12:30, which was complimentary for speakers at the conference. I on the other hand, had to pay €20.00 (approximately AU$30.00) for some pretty average food and there was no way of faking my way through this one, I clearly didn’t appear to be a doctor, although I did kind of blend in Italy; I was decked out in a pair of black Adidas track pants, a t-shirt with dinosaurs on it, and a cap. Add to this the fact that I was slowly marinating in my own juices from our flight over and smelled more than just a little rancid, most in attendance probably just assumed that I was some homeless guy that Anna had taken pity on and decided to give a free meal.

A sure sign that apartment prices are going to double in the next five years.

Our room was finally ready by the time we had finished lunch so I eventually got to peel off my soured clothes and scrub off a layer of grime. Anna cleaned up too and went back to the conference, leaving me with a few hours to kill so I decided to check out an area of town that had a few shops I wanted to have a look at. It had been raining quite heavily for most of the afternoon so I jumped in a cab that was out the front of the hotel and went to Quartiere XI Portuense. Clearly this was a recently gentrified area, as I was immediately greeted the second I stepped out of the taxi by a bucket surrounded by syringes with an old belt for a tourniquet and some used tissues inside (left). Nice. I continued looking around the shops for a couple of hours, dodging the intermittent downpours, and then spent almost another hour in the rain trying to find an ATM that would accept my card and then attempting to flag down a taxi back to the hotel. It’s quite difficult to get a cab in Rome so I ended up getting an Uber, but that took about twenty minutes because of the traffic. In fact, the Uber booking came with a warning that the driver was either deaf or hearing impaired so I wasn’t quite sure how to respond when the driver called me on my phone; trying to communicate with a deaf person on the phone has trouble written all over it, but one would expect it would be even more difficult as a foreigner. Fortunately, everything went fine, he was calling me to say that he would be at least another 10 minutes, then he called me again when he arrived to ask what I was wearing so he could pull over and pick me up.

When I arrived back at the hotel, Anna had been looking at places to eat and suggested going to the very area I had just come from. I explained that there didn’t really seem like much in the way of nightlife in that spot and fortunately people eat quite late in Italy so we went and grabbed a drink at Matrix Bar, a dive bar down the road from our hotel and really the only bar in its general vicinity, while we looked for somewhere else to go for dinner. Matrix Bar wasn’t a particularly classy establishment, averaging a whopping two stars on Google Reviews, the first of which just reads “Sad and dirty,” but we were glad we stopped by for the amusement alone. We both ordered a beer and cringed as an angry guy played the poker machines while a heavily pregnant woman and her mother both chain-smoked and drank. As for food, there was a pizza restaurant out the back and a fridge full of desserts in the bar that inexplicably had the entire range of Magnum ice-creams without wrappers. That’s right, to choose your flavour of unwrapped Magnum, you had to read the sign in front of them.

Anna out the front of Matrix Bar

My beer

Some of the entertainment options available

Possibly counterfeit Magnums down the bottom

We eventually decided that we would have dinner at Ditirambo, a great looking restaurant in Campo de’ Fiori, and we definitely didn’t regret our decision. We ordered some ham and burrata, then we got our mains. Anna had homemade tagliolini with pork cheek, artichokes, and sheep’s cheese and I got the same pasta but with drunken octopus and it was all spectacular! The only problem with proper handmade pasta is that is so filling and sometimes the portions here are enormous. It was a Friday night and there was a cool shisha bar a few doors down in the square so we dropped by for a drink but there were a few drawbacks. First, it was freezing cold, we had to sit outside and, although there were heaters, we were still a little underdressed for the conditions. There were giant clear screens around us to block the breeze, but huge gust of wind came up and blew over the one behind us, shattering it! The other problem was that we were both still running on Singapore time so it was the equivalent of being about 6:00am and we aren’t that young anymore. The jet-lag had caught up with us both and Anna had a presentation to give the following day so we finished our drinks and caught an Uber home for the earliest night we’ve had in quite some time. A few sights from that tiring evening:

Anna and her dinner

Mine

She’s always loved the old Fiat 500

In the square at Campo De’ Fiori

Where we attempted to have a drink before realising we were too tired

Saturday, December 16 Anna was giving her presentation just before 9:30am, immediately after two of her former colleagues and good friends from New York, Chandra Balaratnasingam and Rosa Dolz-Marco, who we had recently visited in Spain. I couldn’t attend so I chose to sleep in, but I was told Anna’s talk went exceptionally well and was sent some photos. The pictures aren’t particularly clear or flattering, but it should give you the general idea:

I always feel kind of proud when I see these

Anna is bottom left

Doing her thing

After it was over we decided not to have the free conference lunch, but maybe go to the market around the corner to get a bite to eat, but upon arrival it was somewhat of a letdown. A lot of the stalls weren’t open and very few of the ones that were had food, however, I would’ve had no problem getting a birth certificate printed there for some reason. Instead, we walked further into town and had more pasta, more cheese and a Roman artichoke.

Anna still had a bit of spare time before she had to go back to the conference so we walked around and looked at some of the shops in the area, mainly secondhand and vintage stores. First we went into a place that had a lot of cool secondhand clothes where Anna bought a really nice dress and I tried to purchase a Vegas-era Elvis statue to no avail, then we found what is the epitome of my kind of store — Mercatino Compra Vendita Usato, a giant thrift shop the size of a department store and it sold everything, including an old slot-machine. Unfortunately, the slot-machine was too heavy and too expensive so I just settled for an enormous Spanish tambourine that’s about 45cm (18″) in diameter that Anna talked me into buying, as well as a couple of records. Anna left before I did to get back to the conference, while I took my time and then enjoyed the walk back.

Some of the services available at the barely-open market

It’s a shame we wouldn’t be there for the opening

A Roman artichoke

Elvis wasn’t leaving that building

At the entrance of a store where I could happily spend all day

Old record player

The slot-machine

The tambourine with Anna’s hand for perspective

This looked kind of cool

Is there a correct term for a group of nuns?

One that strayed from the flock

I got home and we had plenty of time to relax for an hour or two before it was time to go out for dinner again. One of the speakers that Anna has worked with is from Rome so he booked a restaurant for a group of us, including Rosa and Roberto, her husband, as well as Chandra and his family, however, Chandra, his wife, and his son had all developed an awful stomach virus and would be unable to make it, instead opting to try and get in better shape for their long flight back to Perth, Australia the following day.

Roberto had the brilliant idea of having a look at the landmarks and ruins around the city before dinner to see what they look like at night, something I would recommend to anyone visiting Rome, be it for their first or fiftieth time, for several reasons; not only does everything seem to have a much more spectacular appearance under lights, but also you’re free from all the annoying people trying to sell you stuff and offer completely unwanted assistance, as well as the other shady individuals that seem to migrate towards the world’s tourist attractions. Roberto, Rosa, Anna, and myself started out at the Colosseum, down past the Basilica Aemilia and the Imperial Forum, to the Altare della Patria and then slowly made our along the Tiber river, taking in all of the sights along the way en route to the restaurant. Once there, Anna’s Italian colleague chose a selection of his favourite dishes for us and we just ate and drank until we could no longer move. This might seem like a lot of  pictures, but it is merely a taste of what we saw, ate, and drank that night:

The Colosseum

Arch of Constantine

There are shoes hanging from power-lines in every city, but the ones here are really nice too!

Making our way up the street

Still going…

Campitelli

Some columns near Basilica Aemilia

More of Basilica Aemilia

Rosa, Roberto and Anna

Still more…

and more…

Julius Caesar

Still walking

A fountain on the side of the Altare della Patria

The Altare della Patria

A column near the Alter

Up close

Some ruins around the back

More ruins

Near Capitoline Hill

The view across the Tiber

What’s left of a bridge

More of the Tiber

And more of that broken bridge

Anna and Rosa chatting and eating

The whole gang… and I

Sunday, December 17 Today was to be the first of only two full days Anna and myself would have to ourselves this time and part of that would consist of changing hotels. The Ergife Palace wasn’t a bad place, but there was just nothing nearby, the nearest areas worth visiting were a 90-minute walk or a €20.00 (AU$30.00) taxi or Uber away. Fortunately for us, Anna had found the QuodLibet Guest House, located a relatively short walk from the Vatican and it was an upgrade we definitely welcomed. We checked out of our hotel and caught a cab straight to the QuodLibet, but initially it was a little difficult to find the Guest House. It turned out we needed to go through a common doorway for several other business and then take a tiny vintage elevator with inward-opening doors to the fourth floor, but once up there the place was beautiful. It had a bunch of uniquely themed rooms and the owners were great, really friendly and offering us heaps of free croissants and coffee.

“Hey Denim Dan, where’d you get the Canadian tuxedo?”

Once we had settled in we took a walk into the city, but made a point of avoiding the Vatican as one can only imagine how crazy that gets on a Sunday. Instead, we opted to check out some of the markets and then go into town and spend the afternoon just shopping, eating, and taking in the sights. The markets were a bit of fun, although there was not a lot there that really appealed to us. What does become abundantly clear when you spend a bit of time looking through markets and vintage stores in Rome is that there must’ve been a period of time around 15-20 years ago when the place resembled an entire city full of at-liesure Jay Lenos (right) — There is so much secondhand denim available! It’s not just jeans, shirts, and jackets, pretty much any wearable item was available made from denim at the turn of the century in Italy. People often consider Italy one of the world’s fashion capitals, admittedly they are generally referring to Milan, but let’s not forget that there was a time not too long ago when visiting one of the most historically significant cities on earth may have easily been mistaken for a trip to the mechanic’s.

We walked into Campo Marzio, one of the main historical districts that also has an abundance of great restaurants and pedestrian shopping avenues. The first thing to greet you as you approach these streets at any entry point will be at least one military vehicle and a bunch of heavily armed military personnel, obviously in place to prevent a vehicle attack, as has been one of the more common terrorist methods of late, such as that which occured just before we visited Barcelona, Spain earlier in the year or in my home city of Melbourne, Australia just days before Christmas, which several friends of mine witnessed. Needless to say, we felt exceptionally safe with these guys around so we just relaxed and did what we set out to do; spend the afternoon eating, shopping and exploring, including looking at some of the same sights again, this time during the light of day. Another huge bunch of photos:

Walking to the market from our place

In the market

Selling pastries

In Piazza del Popolo

Anna hangin’ out

One of many water features

Another obelisk

They actually make you feel pretty safe

Walking around

My octopus

Lamb and artichoke

A Cardinal doing his thing

STEAK!

Trevi Fountain

More of Trevi Fountain

Anna striking a pose

The side of the Altare della Patria

Some more columns

Part of the Forum

Some horses

If I had a vespa, it would be this one

We were planning to have dinner and some drinks with Rosa and Roberto again, but first we had a look at some of the shops and bars in a kid of hipster district called Monti. There was a brilliant artist’s market there that we spent a lot of time in, then it was off for a couple of libations at a bar that had some great beer and some even more controversial local art. When it was time, we met up for dinner and then headed to the same shisha bar, this time well-rested and better dressed to handle the cold. Here is a sample of some of the paintings from that bar, as well as the token shot of us all drinking:

Frida Kahlo shaving

Pimpin’ ain’t easy

Doing what we do

Monday, December 18 It was our last day to soak in everything Rome had to offer and we both had only one thing on our collective minds to begin the day; breakfast. Anna told me she had found a place simply called Eggs and as a part of their essentially egg-based menu, they apparently serve ostrich eggs for breakfast! We tried to make our way down there posthaste, but there was one minor setback we hadn’t considered; we had to walk past the Vatican, which meant we were going to get hassled constantly. “Why?” I hear you ask. Well, here’s a little background on the Vatican:

Vatican City is a country located within the city of Rome. With an area of approximately 44 hectares (110 acres), and a population of about 1,000, it is the smallest state in the world by both area and population. However, formally it is not sovereign, with sovereignty being held by the Holy See.

Within Vatican City are religious and cultural sites such as St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums. They feature some of the world’s most famous paintings and sculptures. The unique economy of Vatican City is supported financially by the sale of postage stamps and tourist mementos, fees for admission to museums, and the sale of publications.

They even make phone covers of these guys!

What that means is that there is a never-ending throng of people trying to sell you shit and they don’t quit! Without any exaggeration, there is one of these guys, some of them local, but many of them foreign, standing every four or five metres along the footpath in the general vicinity of the Vatican, some trying to sell stuff, others trying to point you toward the entrances for museums, chapels, and other tourist attractions, most likely in an effort to get tips from American tourists. They just assume the only reason everyone is there is to do the touristy stuff and they will do anything to make a buck, especially off the Sistine Chapel. “Sir, the entrance to the Sistine Chapel is to the right. Sir? Sir…?” said one as we walked past him and was approached by another. “Sir, if you are looking for the Sistine Chapel, it’s just to the right,” said the next one, “Sir, do you need help?” inquired another, but my favourite had to be one we passed while walking through St. Peter’s Square; “Sir, this is not the Sistine Chapel.” No shit, Sherlock, I was able to figure that one out for myself because probably the most famous visible feature of the Sistine Chapel is its ceiling, covered by a world-renowned and critically-acclaimed painting by Michelangelo, consisting of nine scenes from the Book of Genesis. We, on the other hand, were standing in a sprawling outdoor area with an unobstructed view of a cloudless blue sky. Anna remarked that the Vatican had been cleaned up a lot since we were last there. Sure, the people trying to make a buck are a pain in the ass, but she told me that there aren’t as many gypsies, pickpockets, and criminals in general there. Just people bugging the shit out of tourists or trying to sell cheap souvenirs and fake handbags and quite a few homeless people and beggars. Apparently, last time we didn’t feel particularly safe in the Pope’s neighbourhood, but that wasn’t a problem this time so we took a couple of photos. Maybe it was just the time of the year, but it was a good thing we didn’t want to visit any of the sites because it was crowded as hell and this was on a Monday. Just look at the queues to get into the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica! I guess those annoying bastards are earning their keep:

Ann in front of a small portion of the queue

Panoramic shot of St. Peter’s Square

And another

That’s a long-ass line!

In front of the Obelisk at St. Peter’s Basilica

Back to the mission at hand — Getting those eggs. We were still perpetually getting hassled and I almost got to the point of asking the next person who inquired if I “need any help” if they happened to know how to get to the place that fries ostrich eggs, but I thought it was best not to encourage them. We eventually found our way to Eggs on our own, the walk there was beautiful, but the restaurant didn’t have ostrich eggs. They had the shells of ostrich eggs out the front, but the sole woman who who worked there spoke very little English so I pointed at the shells and she shook her head. Whether they don’t serve them or they just weren’t available that day is still a little unclear, but I still enjoyed the breakfast we had.

After breakfast we just walked around the city, checking out a different district to previous days, especially the market stalls that sold wine, cheese, ham, and salami, but one of the best decisions we made was going into Antica Salumeria, right near the Pantheon. Their website describes the place as follows:

Historical family from Norcia dedicated to salumeria for many generations.

Over the coure [sic] of the time it’s extended its branches in baking, food and pastry.

Loved by their loyal customers and by many tourists who rush into the store.

Screw the baking and pastry, if you love ham, salami, and cheese, this place will be to you what the Vatican is to Catholics! When we walked inside there was prosciutto and salamis hanging from the ceiling, as well as entire walls of cheese.

On our way to Eggs

The Pantheon

Out the front of Antica Salumeria

Once inside

Don’t worry, you were very tasty

Those black things up the top are wheels of cheese

Hemp cheese

We were given plenty of free samples and ultimately bought several shopping bags full of meat and cheese. The shop owners were extremely generous, giving us free bottles of olive oil and biscuits as we left.

We strolled around, another afternoon spent looking, eating, and shopping, be it for ourselves or buying gifts for friends and family back home. We found some interesting products available including a carrot sharpener (left). Judging by the text on the package, this product was most likely Danish, as opposed to Italian, but you never realise that you are coping without something until you first discover it. Still, with my giant tambourine, there probably isn’t enough room in my luggage for a carrot sharpener so I am destined to a life of blunt carrots.

Soon we were getting a little peckish again and it occured to us we still hadn’t had pizza since we had been in Rome. Neither of us felt like a big meal as we had already planned what we were having for dinner so we went to Alice Pizza. It may not have been traditional Italian pizza, more along the lines of fast food, but it was pretty damn good and with some kind of absurd flavours available, although it is hard to find a menu, leading me to believe that they change a lot of them daily. We went back to our apartment to relax for a while before dinner and before too long it was time to eat again, this time at a place that Anna loved last time we were in town.

After relaxing, we went out for dinner at Sorpasso. Sorpasso is split into two different places; Passaguai, which is mainly just a wine bar, and Sorpasso, the kitchen and restaurant area of the wine bar. We pulled up a seat and instantly recognised a couple of the waiters so Anna asked how long they had worked there and it turns out it was highly likely they were the ones that served us five years ago. Just as on that occasion, this time we ate like kings too.  We started off with a prosciutto platter, then had steamed cod with artichoke and some braised beef, followed by some pasta and a cheese platter. Have a look for yourself:

A carved tree stump near by

Anna insisted on a selfie

Ham platter

braised beef

Cod and artichoke

Some awesome broccoli pasta

Dinner was perfect, but our final night in Rome was only getting started. We went to a small nearby bar and sat in the main bar area, but it was little cramped and a tad depressing. It seemed like all the action was happening in the room next door, however, there was a sign that said it was a private function. The waitress said that it didn’t matter and that we should pull up a table and have some fun if there was a spare one. It turned out that there was so we crashed an office’s Christmas karaoke party and to say that it turned out hilarious is an understatement. Initially, we were welcomed with this group rendition of Wham’s seminal Christmas staple, Last Christmas:

The drinks flowed and the singing continued, some of it terrible, some of it quite decent, and on one occasion it was phenomenal. I’m referring to an African girl probably no older than about 12 or 13, the more-than-likely adopted daughter of one of the older employees, who did a mind-blowing rendition of Gloria Gaynor’s I will Survive. Things really got truly entertaining when, during a male employee’s heartfelt rendition of I’m Yours by Jason Mraz, it seemed that an incredibly drunk girl across the room (right) was flirting with me. She was constantly looking over at me, stroking the stem of her wine glass and occasionally mouthing the lyrics while staring me in the eyes, that kind of thing. Anna noticed as well and it was a running joke for us for the remainder of the night, but it was when I had to break the seal that it became clear that she was somewhat serious. The bathrooms in the bar were just two separate stalls side by side. I was in the midst of taking a leak in one stall when the door of the other stall closed and a woman’s voice began to sing seductively, “♫I’m yours…♫.” At first I thought it was just some regular drunk chick in the bathroom singing to herself, but when I went back to my seat I noticed the girl was no longer in hers. Anna then told me that the girl had got up just after I did and walked over to the direction of the bathroom. I informed her of what had happened while I was inside and neither of us could stop pissing ourselves for the rest of the night. Of course, the multitude of beer and wine certainly helped. We eventually staggered home, still laughing, and packed our stuff when we got back. Our flight was at around 11:00am the next morning and we don’t have the best track record when it comes to making flights comfortably on time so we figured we had better get some sleep.

Tuesday, December 19 I don’t usually make a big deal of writing about the day we leave, but in this particular case I’ll make an exception. We got up, enjoyed some of the free coffee and croissants that Gianluca, our host at QuodLebet, had prepared for us, accepted his parting gift of some traditional Roman Gentilini biscuits and half a kilogram of Gragano pasta from Naples and we were on our way to the airport. We got there with plenty of time to spare so we checked in and then went to the duty-free section to do some last minute Christmas shopping. Once that was completed we went up to the lounge and waited for our flight. In yet another example of our incredibly consistent ability to steal defeat from the jaws of victory at airports, we waited for the final boarding call and went to walk down to our boarding gate, which required us catching an elevator. We got in what we thought was the correct lift, albeit one with a bit of an industrial feel, and pressed the button for the floor, but it wouldn’t open when we arrived. Anna pressed the emergency button which rang an extremely loud bell, but the doors also eventually opened. We were then in an unfamiliar area so she pushed the handle on the first door in front of us, setting off a siren. It turned out that that door was to allow employees to access the tarmac. Oops We somehow found our way back to our gate, although we were the last to board our flight again, met with the same looks to what we experienced when we did something similar in Sweden. We made the 12-hour flight home, laughed while we were landing as a Chinese man who was at least in his mid-40s bawled while watching a documentary on the death of Princess Diana, and arrived back at our place at about 6:00am. I showered and, before going to bed for a nap, thought I’d weigh myself. Despite walking anywhere between 10-14 kilometres (6.2 – 8.6 miles) per day, I had still managed to pile on four kilograms (8.8 lbs)! I’m going to put it down to water retention from the flight or possible muscle development in my quads and gluts from all of the walking and climbing. No way was it all of that pasta.

Our second trip to Rome was a blast, just as we expected, but there were a few surprises, coincidences, and things we just generally don’t understand in Italy.

Pineapple, bitches!

First of all, despite all of the memes and everything else you may have read on the internet, yes, you can get pineapple on pizza in Italy (right). This one, however, might be a unique occurrence because it came from that Alice Pizza place and they did have some odd choices (banana pizza anyone?). Also, we never saw an actual Hawaiian pizza anywhere, but if this one exists, then there is nothing stopping anyone from adding a little ham to it.

Quite a lot of Uber and taxi drivers are called Massimo. In fact, almost every driver we had was called Massimo! The reason we noticed was when we ordered out first Uber, Anna said to me, “You’ll never guess what our driver’s name is.” I honestly had no idea what she was getting at so I just said something stereotypical like ‘Geppetto.’ “No,” Anna responded. “But do you remember The Bold and the Beautiful…?” It was hilarious at the time, but the reference lost its edge after we kept constantly encountering Massimos.

The final thing is quite a simple one — Why don’t public toilets have seats? Were people stealing them or something? I do everything I can to avoid a public toilet situation where I’m required to sit, but I think it would make the whole situation a little more tolerable if there were a seat. I’m not particularly good at hovering and that porcelain has to get a little cold on the cheeks during Winter.

Anyway, until next time, Italy, thanks to everyone who helped us out while we were in town and if you visit Rome make sure you stay at QuodLibet Guest House, you won’t regret it. The next time you’ll probably hear from me will be in a couple of weeks after I spend four nights in Bangkok with my mate, Owen.

Want to Gain Weight Rapidly? Visit Rome! We returned a little over a week ago from our final trip for 2017 which revolved around Anna speaking at the 

#airports #Altare della Patria #Basilica Aemila #Campo de Fiori #Campo Marzio #Colosseum #Flying #food #Imperial Forum #pasta #pineapple #pizza #restaurant #Rome #shopping #Sistine Chapel #St. Peter&039;s #thrift stores #Tiber #toilets #Trevi Fountain

[morganjo33-blog]

With my favorite holiday right around the corner, I thought I would compile a list (a “Christmas list”, of sorts) of the things I could not have survived without during my first year as a new twin mom. I REALLY wish someone would have shared this with me when I was pregnant or right after the birth of my girls. Some of the items on this list I received as baby shower gifts, others I purchased during the girls’ first year, and a couple I do not personally own but were recommended by other twin mommies. I have included links so you can purchase them yourself, or throw them on your own registry.

**The majority of these products would work for moms of singletons, too!**

TWIN Z NURSING PILLOW (or any other comparable double nursing pillow, like the My Breast Friend)

This pillow was an absolute LIFE SAVER. Definitely worth the hefty price tag (I actually purchased mine from a fellow twin mom, and then sold it to another twin mom!). It is great for tandem nursing, single nursing, holding babies, propping up babies with bottles, tummy time and more! You can even get various covers for it (I recommend water proof, a lot of milk drippage and puke will end up on it)!

  LARGE DIAPER BAG

I went with a cute, large, JuJuBe diaper bag and I absolutely love it. It fits everything I need, and it isn’t horrendously ugly. Another $$$ purchase but worth the splurge. One thing I might have changed, or purchased in addition to, would have been a backpack diaper bag. But this one had a long enough strap that I could wear cross-body and still be hands free to carry my girls. 15 months later I still use it almost every day and am pretty sure it will last me through a potential baby #3, as well.

  HANDS-FREE PUMPING BRA

DO NOT LEAVE HOME WITHOUT THIS. Truth. Anywhere my pump went, so did this bad boy. I only purchased one, and I will admit it looks pretty gross now, but it was so convenient. While pumping at home I could enjoy my coffee, while pumping in my office I could work, while pumping in my car I could drive….you get the picture. If you don’t want to buy one, or are in a pinch, you can cut small holes in and old sports bra and it works just about the same!

  SLEEP SACKS/SWADDLES (lots)

Every baby is different, but my girls loved their sleep sacks and swaddles. Now you can be one of those moms that swaddles by hand with a blanket, but who really has time for that, times 2? Also, my husband was a better swaddler than me so having these helped keep him from continuously rubbing it in my face. Link above is to my favorite ones (SwaddleMe Pods) that actually fit my preemie size newborns.

  ROCK ‘N PLAYS (2)

These are essential for naps or master bedroom babies. Or babies with reflux. I’ll warn you, they aren’t made specifically for nighttime sleeping, and I have heeded the advice of others telling me they may not be perfectly safe for nighttime sleeping, but they worked well for us! We kept one on each side of our bed, so that Nick and I could be in charge of “one baby” each night. Having these within reach was great for night time feeds and fuss, and for popping binkies back in their mouths every 5 minutes. The slight incline helped the girls with their reflux as well.

  BOTTLE LEASHES (2)

I only wish I had discovered these sooner. These are for the baby that can now hold their own bottle (works with sippy cups, too). I discovered my need for these after countless car rides and walks in which one or both girls would constantly toss their bottles. No one likes a bottle that has been rolling in the dirt, or one that rolls under the seat of your van and is out of reach to you or dad. These genius products strap around the cup on one end and can then be secured to seat belts, strollers, etc. When your kid gets a little older, they can even “reel” their cup back in!

  BINKY CLIPS (several)

Once your babies become mobile, binkies are dropped and lost all day, every day. And there is nothing worse than a screaming baby and a lost binky. With these clips, you can fasten them to your little one’s clothes. Yes, you will still lose them, but not nearly as often. And you can get super cute ones and make them a fashion statement. Win win.

  NURSING TANK TOPS (several)

These serve as both a bra, and a tank top (at least for me). Easy access for the little ones always grabbing at your boobs. Tip: Make sure you wear nursing pads if you are going to put on nipple balm. That stuff stains big time.

  BABY SWINGS (2)

test

I registered for two different swings, and was lucky enough to receive them. Much to my surprise, they were also different in that they moved in different directions (one side-to-side, one forward-to-backward). This allowed me to have both babies in swings at the same time, and I was able to switch up the sways to add variety. The link above and this link are the ones we have.

  BABY MOON PILLOWS (2)

I know, I know, pillows for babies are a big no-no. But these pillows are not really for sleeping, but more for monitored naps, swing time, car seat time, etc. They are made to help avoid flat heads (or to remedy less severe ones). I will never forget the day I took a side profile photo of Lennon and realized the back of her head was super flat. I quickly researched helmets and noted how expensive they would be if insurance didn’t cover them(one, let alone two…Rowe’s head was slightly flat as well), and how uncomfortable they looked. So I Googled some more and found these pillows. I am telling you, after less than two weeks of use, I noticed a huge difference. And at the girls next doctor appointment my pediatrician assured me that they would not need helmets. We obviously would have gotten them the helmets and therapy should it have been necessary (babies are so cute in those fun helmets) but it was nice to not have to worry about it. Again, all babies are different, and this may not be a fix for yours, but I say it is worth a shot!

  BABY SHUSHER

My photographer introduced me to this little gem. It makes white noise, on a timer, similar to what your newborn would hear in the womb. And it is small enough to fit in your diaper bag. I would toss this in one of the girls’ car seats during fussy drives and often (not always) it would calm them down! Just another tool to keep in my tool belt.

  DOUBLE JOGGING STROLLER

A definite necessity. We started off with the Graco double stroller that our car seats could click into, which worked great when traveling. But it was a you-know-what to lug around, the girls were too small to fit safely when not in the car seats, and it was not convenient for quick walks around the neighborhood. So we got this jogging stroller and the rest is history. We use this 80% of the time and we love it. And, get this, it is one of the CHEAPER jogging strollers and works great, IMO.

  NAME BRACELETS (2)

I purchased these for the girls to help us tell them apart when they were first born, and also as a super cute accessory. Our Rowe developed a birthmark on her face at around 5 weeks old, which made it a lot easier to tell them apart, so they didn’t wear these often. But I think these are great for identical twin girls!!

  BABY BREZZA

This is an item I have never used, personally, but comes highly recommended from other twin mamas. It preps baby’s formula for you! It is like a Keurig for formula – how convenient! I hear it is a real game changer.

  CRIB AQUARIUMS

These crib toys help us get a few extra minutes of sleep. The girls have learned how to turn them on and will sit in their cribs and quietly watch (a lot of the time). Side note: my aunt also has one of these for herself. They are that amazing.

  BABY BULLET

If you are a mom who wants to do it all, like me, then you are probably thinking about making your own baby food. It really isn’t as difficult as it may seem, and is made 10 times easier with this contraption. It pulverizes veggies, fruit, meat, table food, etc. into perfect purees for your little ones. It also comes with utensils, a freezer tray and little jars to keep thawed food in (I bought extra trays and jars since, you know, two babies). It also has a recipe book!

  EZPZ PLATES

There is a fun story behind this one. My grandfather’s friend’s daughter (or is it daughter-in-law?) owns this company! His friend actually sent us four of the EZPZ plates as a gift when the twins were first born. We use them all of the time. We take them all over the place, especially restaurants, so we don’t have to put their food on sticky, dirty tables. Score!!

  SILICONE BIBS – W/BUTTONS! (several)

Right around the time R&L started feeding themselves, they also started ripping their bibs off. So I fired up the trusty Google in search of bibs with buttons, instead of the usual Velcro. I came across these bibs, and they work like a charm. The easy cleanup silicone and food catching pouch are an added bonus.

  Feel free to send this list to Santa; I promise you won’t regret it. In my next post, I’ll tell you what I am wishing for THIS year.

Know a new twin mom, or someone expecting twins? Or really any new mom? Check out this list! With my favorite holiday right around the corner, I thought I would compile a list (a “Christmas list”, of sorts) of the things I could not have survived without during my first year as a new twin mom.

#baby #christmas #General #Life #list #Pregnancy #products #twins #wish

[missnicolegray]

Travelling through Switzerland

So today I planned to sit down at my laptop and write my blog about my time in Switzerland, the prettiest country I have been so far and a definite favourite. (I clearly have expensive taste because this country is pricey as heck!) Much to my dismay, my charger stopped working and my battery was already a problem. I'm so upset! I am now working on my tablet and hoping I can figure this all out! Ok, it's now a few days later and I'm back on my busted laptop... Need a new battery ASAP! Please can it not shut down on me... Enough ranting. Let's get to the good stuff!

First Stop: Geneva, Switzerland

I am so lucky to have stayed in an amazing home with a pool! I arrived to a pretty rainy day in Geneva which gave me a bit of time to rest and relax. I was woken up by a knock on my door from a familiar face. My ex-English teacher from high school, Mrs Murray, and her husband were generous enough to open their doors to me. Going for a walk in the area was well worth it. Mrs Murray jumped into her running shoes and told me to come quickly as there was a perfect view of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps! This was a massive opportunity because the days since it has been covered by clouds. I wouldn't have even known it was there!

My First Full Day in Switzerland

Next day was for me to explore Geneva, Switzerland on my own. I was told of the buses and trams to take (first time on a tram by the way!). And off I went on my merry way to see the lake I had been so excited to see! I mean really, what's the point of being in the city and not seeing the gorgeous Lake Geneva or Lac Leman. (Depending on whether you are in Switzerland or France! Clearly both very proud nations!) I wandered around a park called Jardin Anglais, a favourite spot of mine as I revisited it many times. With a perfect view of the Jet D'Eau, a large fountain in Geneva with a maximum height of water jet of about 140 metres above water level. When it is in operation, at any given moment there are about 7,000 litres of water in the air.  I spent a lot of time there chatting to some friends and family back home on the free WiFi and taking photos. I then walked through to the old town of Geneva to find Saint Pierre Cathedral - my meeting spot with Mrs Murray after she was done with work. I walked for quite a while, wandering around with my Google Maps trying to find this place! I was going in circles for quite a while and eventually realised that I had been standing in front of it the whole time... Needless to say Google Maps wasn't on the mark with that one! I was only meeting my lovely host later and since I had found the spot I decided to find the Reformation Wall which was meant to be reasonably close. The Reformation Wall in Switzerland honours many of the main individuals, events, and documents of the Protestant Reformation by depicting them in statues and bas-reliefs. The sculptures were then created by two French sculptors: Paul Landowski and Henri Bouchard. It was located in the grounds of the University of Geneva. Another beautiful park area where I decided to take a nap. Following this, I went back to my meeting place and waited for Mrs Murray so we could climb to the top of Saint Pierre Cathedral to see another view of Geneva, Switzerland. It was completely breathtaking. Going back down to the Old Town we stopped at a cafe for aperitifs and we were spoilt with many snacks while drinking our pretty heavy Gin and Tonic! A nice buffer for the alcohol. We walked a bit more of the city before taking a ferry over Lake Geneva and back towards the tram that would take us home.

Carouge in Geneva, Switzerland

Next day off I went to another area of Geneva called Carouge. As I stepped off the tram I was met with a gorgeous little Catholic Church. I spent quite a while in there gathering my thoughts and praying my prayers before heading through the area. I have a thing for parks. So that is first on my agenda when I reach a new place and am wandering around alone. I seem to find a lot of peace sitting on the grass and watching people around me. So back on Goggle Maps, I searched for the closest one. I found one that wasn't too exciting though. I realised I was pretty hungry, so I went in search of good and less expensive food... HAHAHA try find that in Switzerland! Eventually, after searching for a while, I found a random little taco place where a couple of the local youngsters were. I figured it would be cheaper since it was students buying. I walked it and ordered the cheapest item, a single cheese burger. When it arrived I was AMAZED! It was the size of my hand! I was the biggest, tastiest burger I have ever had, definitely a win! I was completely stuffed after that. The following day was spent with Mrs Murray. She took me to another spot with a view of Geneva, I am in love with this city. So much space, so much nature, people really look after the environment.

Yvoire, France for a Day

Then off to Yvoire, France, on the banks of Lake Geneva (or Lac Leman) we went. Geneva is so close to the French border that it's quite easy to go across. Yvoire is a small medieval town only accessible by foot. It is considered one of the most beautiful villages of France and the photos will show you why. (Although photos never do enough justice!) I have to say, this place stole my heart. We walked a bit and then sat down for a bite to eat. Oh my YUM! Give me cheese, cured meats and bread any day and I will be happy! This was too delicious for words. Food is a big deal for me, it can make or break a place. So far, so good! We continued on our journey of the village and found the local church Saint Pancras which dates right back to the 11th century. We then walked towards the lake. The view was stunning. I would live here in a moment. And that was Saturday.

Sunday in Geneva, Switzerland

Sunday was a relatively early one. We woke up for church. It was a great service and I enjoyed the fact that I had gone together with Mrs Murray. There's always strength in numbers! Following church we went for coffee then wandered off to the Geneva Street Food Festival which was around the corner. There Mrs Murray left me to check out the goodies as she had some marking to do. (The life of a teacher... Their work is never done! I have so much respect for them.) I looked around, stared at all of the mouthwatering food and ended up with a couple of slices of pizza in my hand (typical Italian). I went and found another park, as there are many in Switzerland, and ate my goods. Back to the Jardin Anglais park I walked. And this time I decided to get up close and personal with the Jet D'Eau which can be reached via a stone jetty from the left bank of the lake many visitors were surprised to find themselves drenched after a slight change in wind direction! I went back to the edge of Lake Geneva and dipped my feet in for relief from the end of the hot day. Sunday made!

Geneva, Switzerland - Tram Stop: Nations

Monday was spent roaming the United Nations area and the Botanical Garden of Geneva. The Broken Chair sculpture was especially moving as the first stop. With this write up next to it, in this time of uncertainty and violence in our world, I was moved to tears. Following this, I made my way to the Conservatoire et Jardins Botaniques de la Ville de Geneve. Or in English - the Conservatory and Botanical Garden of the City of Geneva. I took many photos, inside and outside the greenhouses. I even stopped at a small pond with ducks to have my lunch which I had bought from the local grocery store (I had decided not to buy from a restaurant today... Travelling on a budget!) I ended up on the lake front and decided to go down to put my toes in. Why pebbles! My poor feet were so hot but pained as I walked on the pebbles, either way, I had to at least feel the water. Quickly jumping back into my shoes I continued through the garden and went home.

An Expensive Lunch in Geneva, Switzerland

Tuesday was spent back at the Jardin Anglais with a walk around the area and a sit down meal of gnocchi with tomato, basil, parma ham and mozzarella di bufala. I decided to treat myself. It was so expensive but totally delicious! I allowed myself one moment of weakness in Switzerland where I gave in to the stupid high price of a meal. I went back home and had a dip in the swimming pool which was amazing! Then later Mrs Murray and I took a walk so she could show me the carvings made from tree trunks in the area made by a local artist. Such creativity! I loved seeing these, people can be so inspirational in their works. Just for the love of it!

Another Day in France

Next day off to another spot in the neighbouring France called Annecy. It was on the top of things to do in my area on TripAdvisor so I decided to make a turn. I got completely lost though. Looking for the old town of Annecy, I walked roughly 10km in the wrong direction. I had seen the name Annecy-le-Vieux and thought I was going to the right place, only to find out when I got home that I should have been looking for a place that had been a stone's throw away from my starting point. Oh the joys of travelling! I arrived at the top of this mountain, completely lost, and found a church. I walked in and was greeted by a very well dressed man. I sat in one of the pews for a moment. A few seconds later the well dressed man was accompanied by others and was carrying in a coffin. I figured I should leave as they were setting up for the funeral and I was in very casual attire. I had taken some photos of the church and only realised when I got back home that there was something like a halo surrounding it. I guess sometimes we have to get lost to be found. I will remember this moment forever. Even in death there is light! The next day I started this blog post and got fed up. So I left it until now!

Second Stop: Interlaken, Switzerland

Friday was my next adventure. After only 3 hours of sleep because of sheer nerves! Jumping on a train, I was readying myself for my first stay at a backpackers! I was so nervous as I had booked a mixed dormitory (the all female ones were full up) in Interlaken. I had been told by Mrs Murray and her hubby that this was a definite must see in the middle of Switzerland! So I booked it. They were not joking. I could have spent all my time there amidst the mountains, forests and rivers. It was totally breathtaking! I met a lovely girl from India, her and I were waiting to check into our rooms so we decided to go for a walk. We went up to Harder Kulm, one of the nearby mountains and took a crazy steep but slow train to the top. Harder Kulm is a viewpoint at 1,321 metres overlooking the towns of Interlaken and Unterseen. Great first impression of Interlaken, Switzerland. I was only in Interlaken for one night so made the most of it by going to the Balmers Backpackers' night club! Haha I lasted there a lot shorter than intended... Headed back up to my room only to find a snoring man ready to keep myself and 2 other girls awake with his noises. I had 3 hours of sleep... Again. 2 nights in a row of this.

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Following morning I checked out and made plans with my new buddy from India to head to another group of mountains in the Lauterbrunnen area. Booking our ticket, we were told we would have to walk from the area of Stechelberg further up the mountain to Murren in order to get the cable car back down... No problem! Boy, was I wrong! The views were amazing. Walking through the mountains was a great experience! But... I had slept terribly and was completely exhausted. My body was angry with each step I took! After 5,5km we finally made it to Murren. It was an UPHILL battle! But I did take some great shots of the mountains, streams and cows along the way. So it was worth it!

Third Stop: Lucerne, Switzerland

Back to the backpackers I went to collect my bags and off to my next stop I headed, Lucerne, Switzerland. I arrived at 9pm to an all female dormitory at the Lucerne Youth Hostel. I loved my roomies here. One Korean girl living in California, one Chinese girl living in Pennsylvania and one Austrian girl there on a conference. Brilliant! And no snoring men! The Chinese girl and I decided to make a plan for a mission the following day and had an early night. Finally some sleep!

Sightseeing in Lucerne, Switzerland

We woke up on this Sunday morning, had breakfast, and headed for the city sights. We went to The Lion Monument, or the Lion of Lucerne. This is a rock relief that commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris. Mark Twain praised the sculpture of a mortally-wounded lion as "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world." Following this went off to Museggmauer (Town Walls) to climb one of the towers for a view of the city. A quick walk to Franziskanerkirche, an elaborate Gothic-style Franciscan church with a large pipe organ & paintings on the walls. Then off to another church, the Jesuit Church. Switzerland's first large church in the Baroque style that was built for the Jesuits directly on the left bank of the Reuss between 1666 and 1677. The interior was updated to the Rococo style in 1750, with an outstanding painted ceiling and ornate faux marble side altars. When we arrived I had been completely distraught emotionally from the loneliness of my journey through Europe. It's not always fun and games I thought it would be, alas, I was struck with thoughts of "What on earth are you even doing?! Are you sure this is the right move?!"

Sunday's Miracle in Switzerland

Being a Sunday and knowing I was going sightseeing with my new friend, I had come to the resolve that I wouldn't be making it to mass. We had reached the Jesuit Church at 14:45, walked around in awe of what people had built and sat in a pew. With my head in my hands and tears streaming down my face I started begging for a miracle. I had noticed the church starting to fill up. (Sheesh, my eyes are watering now just thinking about it.) I walked to the back of the church and noticed that there was a mass on at 15:00. Wow, even when I thought there was no way I was going to go to mass that day, God put me in the perfect place in His perfect time. I was shocked. I asked my new friend if she wanted to stay or wander around some more but she decided she would stay for the mass. After about an hour of German it was over. I felt like a weight had been lifted. As soon as I walked out of there I had a completely new spirit. I'm not saying I don't still feel the loneliness but somehow God keeps throwing me little blessings to remember that He is there, always.

The Last Bit of Lucerne, Switzerland

We continued our walk onto Kapellbrucke, or Chapel Bridge. The most characteristic sight in Lucerne, Switzerland a covered wooden bridge running diagonally across the Reuss. Built in 1333, has more than 100 17th-century pictures hanging from the roof rafters inside, depicting patron saints and scenes from the town's history. We ended our day off at a park (surprise!) called Ufschotti. There was a mass of people sunbathing, swimming in  Lake Lucerne, playing volleyball and practicing the Brazilian martial arts of Capoeira. It was such a great atmosphere filled with music, the smell of barbecues and happy people.

Final Stop: Zurich, Switzerland

Next morning, off to Zurich for my last night in Switzerland. This time I stayed in the Zurich Youth Hostel in a female dorm with only one other person. An Indian doctor who was in Switzerland for a conference and had decided to come a few days earlier to explore. She and I went as quick as we could through the city as I had to be in bed early so I could catch my bus from Zurich, Switzerland to Genoa, Italy at 3:00am. We decided to check out a few churches, the old town then head to Lake Zurich. A very rushed trip but at least I managed to see a bit of the beauty. Now I am in Genoa, Italy. Working on my busted laptop hoping it doesn't crash while I am writing this post! I look forward to doing some good exploring while I'm here for the next few days. I am glad to be back in Italy, after all, it has the best food!   Click to Post

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