ROME

We had an overnight stay in a little hotel near the station called The Adriana.  The room was tiny but quaint, it felt a bit like being in a nunnery. The Italians penchant for marble was taken a bit far I think by making the mattress and pillow from it – never slept on such a hard pillow in my life.  It hurt my ears! 

 

We had our first Italian breakfast at a little trattoria on the corner.  The croissant not quite up to the French standard but the sandwich – bellisima!  A lightly toasted sandwich filled with tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil and garlic. 

After breakfast we wandered the hilly streets of Rome to the colloseum.  It is SO BIG!  We had a nice chance to sit in a café opposite it and take it all in while waiting for service.  The service never arrived but we got these photos. 

Rome at lunchtime smells fab-u-lous! We were lured into another trattoria near the station for pizza and pasta.  How do they get the crust so tasty and ‘crusty’?  It’s like the very base of it has been fried as well.  The waiter was kind enough to let us know that we could leave whatever tip we wanted.

After lunch we headed back to the hotel, had a cuddle with Maria Rosa and then onto the train station to take the fast train to Florence.  The train trip was a pleasant hour and a half ride from Rome.

Italy here we come (Christmas holiday 2010 day 1)

Reading her book on the floor of the Frankfurt Airport - all seats taken.

The day started well but rapidly declined starting with sitting for 1 hour on the tarmac at Abu Dhabi. We had a stop over in Frankfurt. I hope I never see the inside of that airport again – modern and clean but a communication nightmare. Our 1-hour stopover turned into 4+ hours, 2 of which were sitting on a plane again on the tarmac. By the time we reached Rome the trains had stopped running (which we didn’t discover until we had made the long trek to the station). We paid a high taxi driver 60 euros to get us to our hotel which was probably worth it as we got a high-speed thrill ride thrown in for free. It took us 19 hours to get to Rome.

Pre-Christmas Party at our apartment, Dubai

We had a pre-Christmas party with our friends the Mazzawis and the Sears and ‘Grunty’.  The meal was Australian in flavour – pate, prawns, cold chicken and salads.  Susan made a fabulous Christmas pudding with brandy butter.  A fun day and a great way to get into the Christmas spirit. 

We got a new tree this year (thanks mum x).  So much nicer than last years, and the cats didn’t play with it at all.

Khasab, Oman - second trip.

We took another trip to Khasab, Oman last weekend.  This time we joined the Mazzawi family.  We arrived late afternoon and enjoyed a lovely al fresco meal at the beach that Susan and Eli had brought.

The girls sorting the shells and coral (dead) they collected while snorkelling.

Lilli doing some social networking.  She created a form and had the passengers fill in their name, age and pets.

This time we took a full day boat trip.  It was fantastic.  Lots of dolphin sightings including some babies.   Three snorkelling stops - I really wish I had an underwater camera. 

Lilli and Niamh.  I love this photo, it just sums up the whole day.

Maddy and Lilli. Chillin' on the deck of the boat.

BARGAINS!

Loads of sales around at the moment.  Mostly not the stuff I want, but every now and then we strike gold.   I bought very expensive red sheets at 75% off.  Today Tim got Lilli her school bag for next year.  Was 160dhs($50), now 40dhs($12). And a cabin bag was 405dhs($125), he got it for 105dhs($30)!!!  My only regret is that I didn't find it myself.  I LOVE a good deal!  

BABY JANE

Baby Jane and her mama.

I went to a lovely baby shower yesterday.  Our friends Darren and Debbie and 6year old Charles, finally brought home their new baby, Jane, from Ethiopia.

Jane is six months old but is only marginally bigger than Lilli was when she was born!  She is adorable. 

Yummy food

I made a pavlova and got so many compliments - I should make them more often.

There was no shortage of 'aunties' to give Jane cuddles.  We had to play nice and take turns.  I want one!

YAY - TOFU!

It is becoming increasingly more difficult to feed Lilli any flesh food other than tuna (canned).  So we are going to eat more vegetarian meals.  On the menu tonight - Gado Gado and Nasi Goreng.  She was very excited when I told her we were having tofu. Tim was equally excited (not).