sing to me

along the canals of Venice...

get your nails did

Okay, I might have subconsciously walked into American Apparel and picked up 3 colours (it's 3 for $15!) to add to my shoe box collection of nail polish. So what if I have 20+ nail polish colours? No biggie.

the swiss do it better

when it comes to chocolate, engineering, and cow bells.

Making FRESH bread at the Farmer's market. SO GOOD.

Band practice near the Lion Monument.

The Lion Monument dedicated to the Swiss guards who lost their lives during the French Revolution.

A whole wall of cuckoo clocks!

city of lights

 Home to the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum, the 3-storey Louis Vuitton store on Champs Elysees, mango peach ice-cream with waffle at the Hagen-Daaz cafe and decadent lemon tart. Sigh. I left my heart in Paris but I still have my wallet!

chocolate chocolate everywhere

There are chocolate shops everywhere in Brussels. EVERYWHERE. Of course, I had to try a Belgium waffle with hot dark chocolate sauce. Uber yummy.

Another H&M collaboration to covet

The comedic Alber Lanvin and H&M are collaborating on a collection that will be in store on November 23rd. Time to save up those pay cheques!

homecooked meals across the ocean

Our lovely host feed us two dinners on our first day in Amsterdam, after getting off a 9-hour plane ride and then insisted on making breakfast for us the next day. When she wasn't cooking meals for us, she was asking whether we had eaten yet. It's a good thing we walked everywhere in Amsterdam, or you can be sure we would be 10 pounds heavier when we got back home.

Pan-fried zucchini in olive oil sprinkled with lavender sea and served with scrambled organic eggs from the Farmer's Market courtesy of our host.

Fig salad with sweet balsamic vinegar and crumbled goat cheese and curry shrimp cooked by our lovely host.

The no-seafood version for Andrea, the world's pickiest eater.

Pan-fried zucchini (prepared the same way as above) with prosciutto and French toast. I was trying to make eggs in a blanket... but it didn't turn out that way.

A lazy breakfast: Hawaiian pizza for the night before with scrambled egg on top, green grapes and a cup of chocolate milk. Gobbles approved.

 A simple breakfast: granola with sliced almonds in milk and a bowl of grapes.

stay tune for regular blogging

Arrived back home on Saturday, but having only one day to recover from jet lag before going back to work on Monday might not have been the wisest of decisions. Trying to recover from a 9-hour time difference is difficult to say the least, and it's taking all my strength not to make a pillow out of my keyboard at work. Will return to regular blogging by next week *fingers crossed* Thanks for your patience!

grocery shopping in europe

Who comes up with these flavours? Do they create test groups to see which flavours will have more appeal to a mass market? I would like to be a participant in one of those test groups... and maybe suggest a Honey Garlic flavour... if that hasn't already been done yet.

Check out the liquor in the background. And no, it does not say 'Trojan' on the bottle. It's Trojika or something strange. The flavour: Pink Nectar. Yeah, that's right. I drank PINK in Switzerland. And it was strong stuff. Like, drink it in the evening and wake up the next morning with the taste still in your mouth strong. Don't let the colour fool you. PINK is not a wuss.

Cereal in a Milan grocery store. It says "Choco Crack!" Very curious. Wanted to buy it but I require milk for my cereal and our hotel didn't have a fridge. Next time... until we meet again, Choco Crack!

Late night munchies... and some drinks :)

A 3-hour train ride to Roermond requires some snacks and water. It is absolutely essential. It would be nice to have some in-train entertainment, like have someone play an electronic accordion (Paris on the Bikram yoga line to the Eiffel Tower!). That would be awesome.

It's like 2 Kit Kat bars in one neat package. I like.

what they say is true

Eating out in Europe is expensive. Especially in Switzerland.

Real Dutch pannakoeken at the Pancake Factory.

Our $60 pizza lunch. My sparkling water was $4 and her Coke was $3. Insane.

Found a Swiss bakery that made too many good things. This somehow made it back to our hotel.

Breakfast at the Best Western in Switzerland. Gobbles likes fruit.

Bought a snack for the train ride to Milan. Salami pretzel sandwich. Yum, although very fatty.

Went out to dinner with our hostess and her boyfriend to this nice little spot that I wouldn't be able to ever find again, even if I had the directions, a map and a compass.

Lunch at a little cafe in a square in De Hagg. I had my first cup of fresh peppermint tea and I loved it! Must find peppermint to grow at home/work so I can have my own fresh peppermint tea.

At a cafeteria-style restaurant by the designer premium outlets in Roermond. The desserts were very rich; they definitely don't stint on the butter in Europe!

Love prosciutto. Ate lots of it in Europe. You can go to the grocery stores there and find a whole section dedicated to different varieties of prosciutto. Back home, there's only ONE brand of prosciutto and it's $7 for a few measly slices. Not fair.