April 2011
40 posts
Day 15 - New York City
The weather wasn’t great when we woke up, drizzly rain and overcast. Still, we decided to make the most of it and set off towards Bloomingdale’s to get out of the rain! Although the colder season has just finished here, we were having trouble finding warmer clothes that we could take back to Australia for winter. We did eventually find some discounted bits and pieces, as well as a nice...
Day 14 - New York City
Today we headed out for a spot of shopping on 5th Avenue. We picked up a nice bag for my 30th (and another on, just because) and then I wandered around Bloomingdale’s for a few hours. Meanwhile, Simon headed to the New York Public Library and spent some time wandering the reading rooms. He then headed to Little Italy and grabbed a pizza from Lombardi’s. He got a few comments from...
Day 13 - New York City
Today we thought we’d tackle the Brooklyn Bridge. The sun was shining and although it was quite crisp, it was a nice enough day. Refreshing is a positive word. :)
We got the train to the bridge and walked across. It has the most amazing views of Manhattan and surrounds. It’s pretty amazing that the Manhattan tower of the bridge is just sitting on sand! Simon is constantly comparing...
Day 12 - New York City
Today’s goal was to get out to have a look at the Statue of Liberty, so we set off all the way downtown to the ferries at Battery Park. There was a one-hour queue for tickets, followed by a two-hour queue for security, which were a bit daunting until Katie had the good idea of one of us lining up in each queue at the start - genius!
After queuing like cattle for a few hours and going...
Day 11 - New York City
Today, Katie and I decided to divide and conquer with her tackling some more shopping and me hitting the museums and galleries.
We had breakfast in the apartment, then as Katie headed towards Banana Republic and Victoria’s Secret, I set off for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). I have to be honest and say that I’m not that much of a fan of modern art, and even less of most...
Day 10 - New York City
Another early start today - no flight this time, but discount shopping instead! We were heading to Century 21, a designer discount store, and Katie insisted that we get there early (it opens at 7:45). We joined the rush hour crowd and passed by the site of the World Trade Center towers and made it to C21. There was loads of stuff in there and being early was a good idea, as it was packed by the...
Day 9 - New York City
It was a bit of a slow start after last night’s events but we finally got it together and headed for 5th Avenue. I’ve never seen Simon walk so fast as he headed toward his heaven - The Apple Store. It was absolutely packed in there with every Apple product under the sun. I finally managed to drag him away with the agreement that he’s going back to buy some things before we...
Day 8 - New York
We woke to a very cold looking NY. After checking the temperature we confirmed yes, 5 degrees is cold and yes, we’re going to need jackets if we’re going to be sitting outside at the baseball all day. What a great excuse to go and check out Bloomingdales! Simon got himself a nice slate coloured leather jacket and I got a light coloured short trench. Perfect!
We got the subway to the...
Day 7 - Mexico City to New York
We managed to wake up early and get everything together to head off to the airport. It was sad to say goodbye to Vanessa and Manuel after such a good time in Mexico, but we had New York beckoning and soon found ourselves back at the airport. Five hours or so later and the Empire State Building was outside the Aeromexico plane window…
With Katie being a US citizen, I was also able to dodge...
Day 6 - Mexico City
We slept in a little bit and then got ready to see some more of Mexico City. It was another hot day and we got a taxi to the downtown area. It’s another very different part of the city from the airport and from Polenco and there are some really lovely old buildings, including the post office we walked through which was very ornate (and very gold!).
We walked through the Bella de Arts...
Day 5 - Acapulco to Mexico City
Our last day in Acapulco!! I made the most of it by quickly getting breakfast then straight to the pool for a few last hours of swimming and baking. It was just so relaxing in the infinity pool- I didn’t want to leave. Eventually the time came when we had to leave so we called Gerry to get us to the airport. A few bag checks and a 30 min flight later and we were back to Mexico City.
It was...
Day four- Acapulco
Today we woke to another perfectly sunny 30 degree day- spoilt. The weather here is amazing.
Getting back in the taxi with Gerry, we made a quick stop to the shopping mall before heading to the ‘new Acapulco’ area.
Vanessa and Manuel’s soon-to-be aunt-in-law, Luz, has an apartment on the beach, so we were lucky enough to spend the day using the pool and private beach...
Day 3 - Acapulco
After waking up a bit late from a much-needed sleep, it was pretty much straight back to the pool for sun and relaxing. Luckily, the restaurant next to the pools does breakfast, so we didn’t have to go too far out of our way. The afternoon was spent lounging around in and out of the pool, looking out over Acapulco’s small bay, with lunch also at the restaurant near the pool to again...
Day 2 - Acapulco
Today we woke to the most wonderful news that our good friend Elissa had given birth to a baby boy overnight! Samuel Thomas Darmanin was born a week early on Sunday afternoon (Melbourne time). I can’t wait to meet him when we get back! With this exciting news, we were up and at ‘em and ready for our flight to Acapulco. It was only a short flight thankfully, just over 30mins in fact....
Flights and Day 1
After some slight confusion regarding when our flight was actually leaving (itinerary said 10:10 & airport said 9:35), we managed to get checked in with enough time to make some quick duty free purchases and enjoy a freebie snack in the Qantas Club lounge (thanks Simon’s work :)).
Flight was like any OS flight… long and uncomfortable. I watched three flicks; Tangled, How Do You Know &...
September 2009
74 posts
Paris, France, Day eight
Our last full day in France, and for our trip! We had planned to go to Versaille today, so we made our way to the train station and caught the regional train for the 25-minute ride. It was nice to get out of the city center for a little while, and we really noticed the change in smog levels!
We must have timed our trip badly, because the queue for tickets took forever, even though we were buying...
Paris, France, Day 7!
Our apartment was across the road from Invalides, where Napoleon is buried. The huge building was where many of war wounded lived and Napoleon was eventually laid to rest. His body is in an impressive five coffins (ebony, mahogany, tin and two lead) and then in a massive quartz monument underneath the huge dome.
We then headed to Montmarte, a suburb in the 1st district, most famous for the huge...
Paris, France, Day six
After shopping yesterday, we thought it was about time we headed to some museums for a bit of culture. We first went to Musée Rodin, which was quite close to where we are staying. This museum is mainly set in some beautiful (and surprisingly large) gardens, with Rodin’s sculptures scattered around the grounds. We saw his most famous work, ‘The Thinker’, but there were also a lot...
