It's been a long time old friend

The Amazing Fahlman Gang!

Soooooo it's been a little over 6 months since I've managed to find anytime to sit down and write an update.... I am kidding I have just been a little too lazy! Well holy cow where do I start with what has been going on with us, since it's been such a long time.  We are both doing really good and just living the Doha dream really. Mike has been getting busier with work, trying to go to Budapest a minimum or 2 times a month :), while I have been pretty busy with work myself. When we are not working we have been playing hockey this year as the dynamic Pados duo. We are one the same team and I like to imagine we look as cool as the Mighty Ducks out there, but I don't think we are at that level yet. Mike is obviously one of the best players in our league, all the skills I have taught him over the years. We have the championship game tomorrow night against the dreaded  Qatari Oryx, do or die situation really.

South Italy Coast Line

Two Italian Cuties

Now into Summer. All of my dear friends and family on who are to the West of us are probably nostalgically thinking back to the warm weather and sunshine of summer while looking out the window to either a) snow,  b) grey skies, c) wind/rain, or d) all of the above. Do not worry and if the weather gets you down just know that right now I would trade the sunshine of Doha for a little taste of seasonal change. As many of you know I managed to get home in May/June/July for a little over 6 weeks and it was just marvellous. The whole point of my trip was to be there for my Grandpa's surprise 80th birthday at the end of  May, and I figured I may as well stay to at least Canada Day. My trip was awesome to say the least, I really managed to feel back at home and got in all the Canadian summer activities I could. Blue Jays games, cottages, wine tasting in Niagara, baseball games in the backyard, BBQ's, and lots of time spent with my family and friends. At the end of my trip I was about ready to come back to Doha to see my furry family, Mike included. I was very lucky as I was able to work from Canada as well, another benefit to working for an awesome company. When I got back I spent a few weeks in Doha, sweating obviously since it was a million degrees, before I HAD to get out and spent 3 weeks in Italy. Now 3 weeks in Italy alone is an amazing and fattening experience in itself, but being able to spend one week with some amazingly beautiful Italians, well it just can't be beat. We got to spend a week with the Mungo's at their family house in the South of Italy and were treated to the real Italian "Mama Mia" deal. Meal after meal of delicious food, followed by wine and the best company. Nights were spent listening to Italian opera singers while getting very nostalgic, and many many laughs, while days were spent at the beach enjoying the crystal clear beaches and endless view of men in speedos. It really couldn't have been any better!!! Summer 2014 was a very good summer to us, however with everything that is good there is always the bad. We lost one of our kitties this summer, our sweet and lovable Bailey. Bailey had a blood clot that was in his heart and blocking the blood flow to his lower body, causing him to become immobile and in a lot of pain. Thankfully he didn't have to suffer very long and it was with very heavy hearts that Mike and I decided that the best thing for him would be if we put him down. We miss him everyday, and so does his brother Winston. But being that this is Mike and I, we now have 5 cats again having adopted a little foster kitten named Florence. This little girl is about 60% blind, but helps to fill the 5th cat void with her endless energy and crazy antics.

All my beautiful Guelph girls

In October we had a very special guest come and visit us for a few days, Mike's 94 year old granny aka Mama. Now Mama is not your average 94 year old women, she lives by herself still, is constantly cooking up and storm, and is very much aware of everything and everyone around her (some may say a little too much). Mama travelled to Hungary for a few weeks to visit family and decided that since she is already in Eastern Europe why not jump on a plane to the Middle East?! Riding in business class Mama made her way to spend a few days in the hot Doha fall to see what life is like here. We are so happy that she came, like honestly who's 94 year old Grandma can travel from Toronto-Budapest-Doha-Budapest-Toronto by herself , and at the same time teach the flight attendants what a Mimosa is. She is an impressive lady!

Florence saying "Feed me!!"

Compulsory visit to Cat  

Mike loving Ramen

At the end of October Mike and I made our first trek to the Far East, aka Japan for some of you who may be as confused as I was about this the first time I heard it. Well what can I say about Tokyo other than how much I loved it!!! It is a huge and crazy but amazing city which so much to see and do and eat and drink that being there for a week barely scratched the surface. Now we did have an incredible tour guide with this who knew some in's and out's as he has been to Japan about a million times. Our friend Eric flew in from Toronto to spend the week with us, while our other friend Mark made the trip from Vienna (only in business class I might add). We managed to hit up quite a few American chain restaurants which was on the top of my "To-See" list, (I hope you are picking up on the sarcasm here), specially Hooters which I think we managed to visit 2 or 3 times?! We also visited some very classy venues such as a maid's cafe to celebrate Mark's 26th birthday. I will let you google maid's cafe it is something best done at home. The highlight was definitely Halloween where it was the definition of sensory overload. To be fair Japan is a country that does enjoy dressing up a little fancier than the normal North American on a regular basis, so I think a lot of Japanese really look forward to Halloween. Our friend and his amazing fiancee, Brendon and Robyn, live in Tokyo so we were able to meet up and spend some quality with them as well. Basically it was just a huge Porter reunion in Japan. From Japan Mike and I made the 7 hr flight, in economy blahhh, to Bangkok, Thailand. Talk about day and night, I'll go out on a  limb and say the cleanliness standards in Bangkok are not as high as those in Japan. Once I managed to express my dislike of the smell to Eric he managed to knock some sense into me. Our conversation went like this:

Ain't no thing like a G thang

"Bangkok is disgusting!!"
"It's a third world country what do you expect?"

Oh well, touché..... ermmm I guess I hadn't thought about that before. If you like cheap beer (I do), cheap and good food (Yup), and an abundance of places where you can get into a lot of trouble, then book the next flight to Bangkok. We didn't spend the whole time in Bangkok and flew South to Kho Phangan for 5 days which was stunning, minus the rain. So all in all we had a successful vacation, different, but successful. I am not saying I didn't like Thailand, because I did, but maybe I won't rush back there straight away. As my friend Prit would say "I'am just too posh".

Happy Birthday young man!

Well other than that Mike and I have just been chillin' like villians'. Everything in Doha remains the same, construction everywhere, but the weather is cooling down and I have had to put the heat on in the car once or twice when it's gone down to 17 degrees. Qatar Airways has finally gotten some A380's and will become the launch customer of the brand new A350 this month. Mike and I will fly on it before Eric, it is our New Years resolution.

San Merino 

Signing off and wishing everyone the Merriest of Christmas's and the Happiest of New Years. If you have a white Christmas this year think of me whilst you sip your eggnog.

Missing and loving everyone

Mike, Megan, and the kitty gang xxxxx

Hold on , I'm coming home...

Mike's trip to Myanmar/Burma

Judge me all you want but I am a proud Drake fan and love telling people that he is from Toronto, what I am not so proud of is the crack-smoking ,michelin man of a mayor that runs the city. As my dear friend Angie would say "what a bozo".

Monks in front of Shwedagon Pagoda

Looking over to Saudi Arabia

 I just googled "Toronto weather" and all I can say is I am sorry. Mother Nature sure seems to be have it out for Canada this year .Side note it's 37 here today but with the humidity it's 41 , and what I like to call the beginning of bad hair and sweat season. For your sake and mine ( yes it is all about me ) , I hope she gets over it asap because baby I am coming home!I will be spending half of June and July in Toronto and I can't wipe this smile off of my mug!!! That's right ladies and gentlemen I am coming home for a good month or more.  I can not wait to be back in Toronto for part of the summer , no matter how warm it is. I am going to be spending the majority of the time in my amazing , beautiful , generous friend Naz's place while she is back in Iran!دختر شما بهترین دوست یک دختر می تواند برای درخواست ( according to google translate that is secret message to Naz) If it makes no sense at all , blame it on google. All I can think about is seeing my friends and family , food , jays games , cottages , food , steam whistle and mill street , greenery , food ,and just the beauty of Ontario. This is the stuff sweet dreams are made of. So please let me know when you are free because I will actually have time to see everyone and not be rushing around!

Myanmar

So what is new with us.... well I have hung up the lady of leisure lifestyle and am now a working woman again. I pretty much have the best job in the world ( I am not just saying this because there is a chance my boss will read this ), but I get to work from home. This means that I don't have to dress up for work and can literally stay in my sweat pants for an entire day. I do however fear that I will become a recluse with only my 5 cats to keep me company. If you don't hear from me for a few days or more it might be a good idea to send help. I work for a company called World Air Ops which is a flight support company , similar to what I was doing back in Canada . If you have time look it up , it's an amazing company. Not too many people can say they get up 5 mins before work and get to sit around wearing coffee stained shirts ( not that I do) . So besides now hanging out with my cats almost the entire day and looking amazing, things have been pretty quite around here.

At night

Mike on a recent trip to Budapest

Mike's sister managed to get here for a week after a hellish standby adventure which took her from YYZ-DXB-DOH. She also got to fly on the 380 which made Mike and I super jealous. We showed her the sights and sounds of Doha , which took about 4 hrs , and then pretty much just ate for the remainder of the week. The weather was perfect for her trip and it was so nice to be able to show our family our new life. Mike's dad was next to visit for a few days on his way home from Hungary. Finally our friend Adam came for 10 days. Like I just said showing people around Doha only takes a few hours , we decided on a 3 day trip to Dubai. It is a very nice break to go to Dubai and see what a finished city looks like, kinda gives us a little glance into the future of Doha.

Beautiful Budapest

I managed to get away with Mike on an overnight to the Maldives , and what I can remember between the Pina Coladas was that this place is absolutely stunning. Definitely a place I would say to add to anyones bucket list , but make sure you start savings your nickels now because it is expensive. You can literally wade out into the clear blue waters and see so many tropical fish and baby sharks it is beautiful and terrifying at the same time. We are heading to Baku , Azerbaijan next week to enjoy a few days along the Caspian sea and to celebrate Mike's 33rd birthday on the 13th!

My new friends and I at the pool bar in the Maldives , the water was 3 feet deep

Beach in Male

Niki and I enjoying some Tandoori

Mike has been good working away and heading to and from Russia twice this month , Georgia , Muscat , Iran and other exotic places in the Gulf. He has been flying around 50 hours so we have had a lot of quality time together and to watch the playoffs. And that is pretty much all that is happening with us. Hopefully I will get to see everyone when I come home!!!



Sorry for the lacklustre update , but we are getting old and things just aren't as excited as they used to be

Male

Lots of Love,

Mike , Megan and 5 cats xo

Startin' to feel like summer

The most beautiful birthday girl , with the coolest cake

Mike and Dario Cute-in' it up

First of all I want to start of by telling you how truly sorry I really am to all of my sweet Canadians that are stuck in the coldest and shittiest of winters in recent history. I just felt like I had to say that so you wouldn't hate me for what I have to say next..... SUMMER IS HERE. The weather is getting hot, hot, hot , and nights are getting to be the perfect combination of a cool breeze and warm temps. Mind you I have had to air con all winter , but people are just starting to need it on. It is moments like these that I think back to our visit in Jan and am so damn grateful that I live where I live during these months.One of my fondest memories of Mike was in Ottawa when the car said it was -39 and he turns to me and says " I don't know how people deal with this shit , it is too cold " . Babes you did it for 32 years , ohhh how easily we forget. I do miss winter  , but the pretty winter that comes with -5 temps and some snow. The kind of winter you hope to get on Christmas Day but is gone by the end of Jan. Not the winter that has been there for 5 months , dumped enough snow that you realistically could build a snow replica of the CN Tower , and has been so cold that meteorologists have had to come up with a new word "Polar Vortex". Back in my day we just called that a Canadian Winter , but hey I don't make the big bucks and this comes from highly educated people...... even though I am pretty sure that guy on channel 18 weather used to be in Student Bodies on YTV...........

God she loves me

Anywho let's get over the depressing things in life and move forward. Listen I am always under the impression that when life gives you a Polar Vortex , you are due for the best summer in years. If it is any consolation the summer's here are just as bad as the winters there. Did you know that last summer a man cooked chocolate chip cookies on his dashboard, all the way through in something crazy like 2 hours. They probs weren't as good as PC Decadent but it is impressive none the less. Sidenote what the heck is with PC trying to flavor infuse everything with decadent chocolate chip cookies. When I was home they had pop that apparently tastes like cookies , if you haven't tried it don't , save your taste buds the pain it is not worth it.

It was amazing to see you all xo

Can't you feel the love

So what has been going on with us. Well we have had two amazing visitors in the month of Feb. My dear friend Eric graced us with his presence for 5 days while on his way to his fav continent of Asia. We made sure he was well rested and fed for the continuation of his journey. This guy is such a plane geek that he bought a ticket to go via Russia just so he could flight on two dilapidated , Russian death traps of airplanes before they retire. I say this all with love and deep admiration that you follow your dreams and passions Eric ;) It really only takes about 6 hours to show people what Doha has to offer , 2 if there was no traffic , so Eric taught Mike and I his favorite form of art expression - " The Art of Couch". It worked out for us because the Olympics were in full force and we had some Stella's that were about to expire and needed to be drank. Next came Mike's sister Niki , who unfortunately had a hellish time getting here. Poor girl had to fly Emirates from Toronto to Dubai and then proceeded to get offloaded and delayed , and then ran through the airport to another terminal and barely made the flight to Doha 6 hours later then planned. Again because the tour time is not long in Doha , we wined and dined and plumped her up. Not really , but we did eat a lot. We have this great coupon book that gives you hundreds of buy one get one free , so we are using and abusing that bad boy. It is almost at the point that I can audition for extreme couponers on TLC.  We went to one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants where it was so fancy you weren't allowed to pour your own water. I had to mentally remind myself to keep my elbows off the table and eat like a woman.  I find that so ironic that he would have such a fancy place , when all he does on TV is be a loud arrogant a-hole , who is always yelling and making people cry.

Best jumping shot ever - Ali just started river dancing ;)

Post sand face plant pic , took me 3 days to get rid of all the sand

Christmas 2013 - Spent with some of the most amazing people xo

Pretty much some of the best looking girls from GCVI

Wild Wangs with some wild thangs

Mike and I were also playing the 2014 Desert Cup here in Doha while Niki was here. She got to see our sick hockey skills up close and personal , well actually Mike is a really good hockey player while I just float around. It works in my favour that I am the only girl because people tend to take it easy on me so I get the puck for an extra 3 seconds which helps me build my ice cred , ( which is similar to street cred). The Desert Cup was pretty cool , we played teams from Kuwait , Oman, Saudi Arabia , Bahrain , and the UAE. Some teams were solely nationals , while others were comprised of expats , 90% of them being Canadians. I played in the B league and we won silver , it was totally deja vu to the woman's gold medal game. We had 2-0 lead with like 5 mins in the 3rd and then lost in OT ...... we didn't cry though. Mike's team got the bronze in the A league , so he gets an A for effort. If you check out the Toronto Star there is an article written by a Canadian here called " Hockey Night in Qatar" , it's pretty cool. I beat those guys in the picture , whats up!!!! The tournament was really good and they played so many songs that remind me of all the nights I spent watching hockey. It's funny because there are tons of people watching , I would say about 1/16th of them actually know what's going on , and "The Good Old Hockey Game" is blasting. Oh and the tourney was held on the rink in the food court in the mall ..... I have never played hockey where to smell of KFC and McD's overpower the smell of sweaty equipment.

So yeah that's us , we are heading to Hungary on Friday to spend a few days with our amazing family there. We always get so excited to head to Gyula , and we always make sure we bring an extra big pair of pants that will fit us when we leave :)

Keep it real my friends and stay positive , WINTER WILL END!!! Just think of Game of Thrones winter lasts for years ..... months isn't that bad in comparison.

Hugs and Kisses The Padiis

A Year Gone By....

My incredibly handsome husband - No one rocks the two bars like him

Can you believe that is has been a year since Mike and I have moved to Qatar?! Mind blowing I know . Well technically not quite a year , we left on the 22nd of Dec and arrived on the 23rd but for the purpose of this post it has been a year. I still sit and think and feel like we are back in Canada.  Its like we can walk out our door and go meet our friends or family , or look at the calendar and see an birthday or celebration and think what we will all be doing together. We have been gone for a years' worth of birthdays , parties , and celebrations. It does make me sad to think of all the laughs we have missed , but makes us appreciate all the good times we have with everyone when we do get to come back to Canada. It's not all a sob story though . This last year has been one of the most fun , challenging and rewarding years of our lives. We have met and become friends with some of the most amazing people who have truly blessed our lives and have in many cases been the people who we rely on . Mike and I have been be able to travel so much already having visited France , Spain , Italy , UAE, Georgia, Hungary ( more than once ;) ) , Germany , and Bahrain. Mike has been and flown into too many different countries to count in only 7 months. He gets to fly an awesome aircraft and works for a company where he doesn't daily have to call for lav services or deal with not so fresh catering. To be honest Mike gets treated pretty much like a King , or at least a duke , and he truly does love every minute of it. It's been a challenge to get used to the lifestyle here and the way people and the country go about their day to day business. Like I have said before  , if you don't have patience and resilience before you move here you better get some pretty quick or you will loose your cool. Mike and I have been pretty much the batman and robin of the marriage world. Without each other we wouldn't have gotten through this year as successfully as we have , we are the best desert surviving - cat rescuing team out there . Our biggest blessing have been our 3 new kitties. Yes we have 5 cats now. Winston and Bailey ( the godfathers of the house) have 2 new little brothers Oscar and Nemo , and one sister Sasha. Due to Sasha's inability to get along with everyone else she now lives half outside half inside. Things were getting a little too crazy here and I was worried about getting grays so we made an executive decision and that is that.

Sneak Peek at the Red Arrows in Doha

Okay so I know I have been really really bad at updating this blog , but there are  2 very honest and reliable excuses...
1) I quit my job and planned a super top secret surprise trip home so I couldn't say anything on here because obvi the surprise would have been blown , and
2) Since  my exit from the salary world I have been doing a bit of traveling and not been home.
Let me tell you that I shall repent for my absence and make sure there are regular posts. I am thinking of doing some question and answer blogs , because this is all about Mike and I and I don't want to sound too self involved. So when you see a question posed on here please reply at the bottom of my blog or on my facebook post , this way Mike and I know what everyone is up to as well.

Two dorks at Heros Square Budapest , Mike representing TML

First question , what is everyone's plans for Christmas and New Years?? Mike and I , along with about 40 other friends are going to brunch at one of the hotels here. Imagine Christmas in a dress and sandals..... outside?? Weird to think of. Sorry for all of you in Canada who have been hammered with snow, I do feel for you. When I was home in November it was 6 degrees and I was freezing my butt off. It was even worse in Budapest , -2 , it honestly felt like I was walking through Yellowknife in the middle of Feb. It is crazy how one year can take our away our ability to deal with the cold. It makes me feel like I can no longer call myself Canadian. Speaking on a Canadian note , Mike is playing hockey on Friday!!! WHAT!!! Pretty stoked about it too. The only thing is there are absolutely no places to buy any sort of equipment in Doha , so you better hope to God that nothing breaks or you are aramexing that shiznat over here. For New Years our worlds best neighbors are coming over for dinner and drinks, Mike and I are preparing a feast fit for king and queens. He told me he would help .....

Our ride to and from Munich - The beautiful 787

PSG and Real Madrid are playing a friendly match here on the 2nd of Jan so we are going to be watching that. This are the type of perks that we are privileged to by living in Doha.. After that the tennis open will be here. It's a sporty month for us. But the best part comes on the 10th when we leave to come to Canada for a few weeks!!!!! MARK YOUR CALENDARS boys and girls!!! We really really really want to see everyone so please send us messages with your days off so we can make sure to get together. We will likely be heading back to Doha around the 24th but as Mike's sked isn't out yet we don't have firm dates.

Shoes on the Danube - tribute to all the Jewish lives lost in WWII

So a quick little recap of our lives over the last few months. When I last left you guys my mom was on her way here. Well Cyndy came and conquered and I think she learned a thing or two. After many hours she now knows what the word Souq means ( it's market), and to not believe about 90 % of the things Mike says. We took her to Dubai for two days and that place is crazy. I got a little Dubai envy. There is everything you could imagine and more . You have to see it. They honestly have about 20 Tim Hortons and every other store you can think of. The malls are ridiculous , the marina is so happening and the city is literally the Vegas of the desert. The even serve pork and you and find alcohol in other places then just hotels  They say Doha is about 10 years behind , so it does give me some hope for the future. At the same time we acquired our 5th and final kitten Nemo. When I saw Nemo for the first time he had half his tail severed and what was remaining was skinned to the bone. We took him to have it amputated , and now he has the cutest little bum in the world. He is so sweet and cuddly , Mike and I are very happy. I also quit my job which was honestly a huge relief. I was not happy at my job , and as Drake says, you only live once so you gotta make yourself happy and if that means quitting then do it sista. Well he says the you only live once part but I am sure he would agree with the other things too. I finally got to go on and overnight with Mike and we hit up Tbilisi , Georgia. Super cool city. Mix between Russia and Europe. The food was amazing and we were able to see some old and newer sites and have a huge traditional dinner accompanied by Georgian dancing. Georgian men look great in tights , just an observation.

Beautiful Budapest

Workin it on the Chain Bridge

 After that I came back to Canada for a few weeks. Spent one day back in Doha and then to Budapest . My friend Kim came along for a few days and we had some much fun. There is something to be said about a girls trip , husbands are great and all but sometimes a female companion is just what you need. Unfortunately the flights were full so I ended up going to our cousin's house in Gyula for a few days. The hospitality we experience while we are there is better then any hotel in the world. I absolutely love spending time with them. We  also went to see this amazing light projection show. Here is the youtube link, just look it for like 10 seconds to see just how incredible it is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9yLntmSz7Y . You sit outside and watch these surreal lights being projected so perfectly on a completely renovated castle. I won't lie it kinda spooked me out a bit at first. It would be the perfect place for Freddie Mercury to hit up .... that's if he existed ... which he totally doesn't .... right ?! Budapest was/is in full Christmas Market swing. Christmas markets in Europe put shame on what we have in Canada. I felt like I would explode Christmas cheer and mulled wine. After that Mike and I went to Munich for some more Christmas spirit. We also managed to drink 5 liters of beer each in a night and we had a German headache the next morning.

Munich Christmas Market

So yeah in a coles notes version , that is what we have been up to. I will also point out that in the 10 days I was in Hungary Mike flew and stayed in Budapest three times. This man is seriously reconnecting with his Hungarian roots and has never been happier.

Munich

                                                                           Well I have rambled on enough now and the cats are giving me the death stare to be fed. Please , please let us know when you are free in Jan so we can come and visit everyone!!!

Merry Christmas to everyone and enjoy the time you get to spend with all your loved ones!!

Sending all the love in the world,

Mike , Megan 

Oscar , Nemo , Sasha. Winston , and Bailey xoxoox

All the stalls were so Christmasy - Santa would be proud

Sausage stand

The beginning of the end

That means flaming headache in the am 

A Well Deserved Vacation

View from our B&B on Lake Como

You know how they call it the freshman 15?? Well we found the “ Vacation , eat like a savage 10", on our recent vacation. Don’t get me wrong it was worth it , but boy let me tell you our jeans are feeling such a little bit too snug these days. Mike and I  started our vacation by landing in Milan at 6 am after an overnight flight. After doing the 13 hr flight back to Canada a little 5:30 flight is a piece of cake ( it also helps that there is a somewhat unlimited supply of champagne on the flight). I was awfully tired and little hungry and those two things don’t mesh too well for me , ask Mike it’s sorta my doctor Jekyll , Mister Hyde thing. Anyways after a little delay with the car we got on the road and headed towards Lake Como. We stayed at a beautiful Bed and Breakfast and it was right across the lake from where they filmed James Bond “ Casino Royale” .  Right next door to that was Sir Richard Branson’s villa. I tried to rent it for a few nights but unfortunately for us it was booked and cost 120 000 pounds per week. It was here that began Mike and I’s binge on cured meats and cheese. I think it would be fair to say that over the next 17 days Mike and I consumed almost a quarter leg of pork. It is sick , and we know that....... but it didn’t stop us.

The girl from the Ring sleeping in Florence

From there we went down to Bologna for two nights and ended up in the Italian equivalent of the  “Erin Fall Fair”. For all y’all who haven’t had the pleasure of attending said event , you are missing out. There were tractor pulls , farm animals , food stands , farm boys in wife beaters , and of course food tents. Because Europeans know what is going on , the booze and the food are served together . There is no need to split your times between your two favorite tents , you can fill your face and your thirst together. Of course I had a deep fried pizza dough sandwich with prosciutto and cheese , washed down with a bottle of wine , while Mike had a 3 course dinner. It was a trend on this trip , go to the point where you can’t eat any more , or go home , and let me tell you the Pados’s don’t just go home. I also attempted to drive standard which was a disaster to both the transmission and my pride.

The Last Judgement

Florence from the top of the Bell Tower

From there we went to fabulous Florence where our Persian Princess met us for the remainder of the trip. If you haven’t been to Florence I suggest you go buy a ticket right now and go. It is a great place  full of history and great food. It’s also full of marble private parts ,( since this is a PG blog  I will not go into detail ). We went to the David , Il Duomo , Ponte Vecchio , Palazzo Vecchio , 7 other museums which I can’t remember and 10 gelaterias. Okay maybe not that many but we tried to hit up the top five according to Trip Advisor. On the second night we went to meet Naz after her trip across the universe. Just to let you know she flew from Hawaii all the way to Italy and got her bag lost , and had no means of communication , and is also immune to jetlag. Also side note do not use the pay phone in Italy , they cost on average of $45 USD / min. Yeah huge pain in the butt. We eventually got her bag and her for that matter and spent the last day getting in as much of Florence as we could. In less than 18 hrs we had 3 full meals , multiple beverages  hot and cold , and various types of gelato. I hope at this point you guys are picking up on the trend here ….. we ate … A LOT. We also climbed the stairs to the bell tower and to the top of Il Duomo. That is a combined step-age of over 1000 steps in quite close quarters with a surprisingly large amount of people who do not wear deodorant. The actual church is called  the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore , and just the dome is Il Duomo (however I may be wrong on that). Google The Last Judgement by Giorgio Vasari. That’s the painting that is on the façade of the dome and some pretty serious things are going on in there. Again it’s a PG blog so it I will let you discover for yourself what I am referring too.

 

Crushin' brewskis like a champ

Cinque Terre

I think this was called Ville de Maximus Gluteus - because you would have a killer butt living there

San Sebastian

We were ultimately making our way to Nice , more preciously Opio , to our friends Nina and Julen’s house. Unfortunately enroute we found out Nina would be stuck in the US for the time we were there so it was just going to be Julen L Nina we will be coming back soon just to make sure that we see you !! On the way we spent two nights in a very small town close to the Cinque Terre national park . Also please google this as the pictures will be much better than my explanation.  5 fishing towns perched along the rocky and very very steep Italian coast line. Although in the summer it is very busy , I can not imagine how isolated it must feel in the winter. What is more crazy are the individual houses half up these hills/mountains. I have no idea how they get up or down and in case of emergency  , well as we say here Inshallah.

View from Casa Diaz xo

Hey GUURRLLL

Windy day in San Sebastian

Tourists

The next few days were spent at the wonderful Maison de Diaz . They live in a beautiful house in a very small little village , with a great view of the valley below. We took a drive through the Gorges De Verdon , which next to the Grand Canyon is the second biggest natural canyon in the world. Now my husband is a great driver don’t get me wrong , but when it comes to a manual transmission and very curvy roads his driving technique tends to cause a small amount of motion sickness….. and multiple stops for pee breaks. The last bit might not actually have anything to do with the way he drives , it might just be me but he doesn’t need to know that. After a few days stop in France we made the 8 hr drive to San Sebastian , which was amazing because Naz and I only demanded one washroom break. High five to us . You know what sucks , tolls suck ......huge. I don’t know how Europe is facing an economic meltdown when it costs 80 Euros to drive 900 kms. In Italy we got stuck going through a 12 km bridge that cost us 40.20 euros. I mean at that point there was no turning back and 12 kms through a mountain is impressive and all  but for 40.20 I expect some sort of scenery.

Waves crashing along the sea wall

If you have not been to San Sebastian I also suggest that right after you finish in Florence you get on another plane and head there. It is such a great city and the food is A-MAZ-ING. All the bars offer Pinchos , which is the Basque way of saying Tapas. They are so freaking tasty that before you know it you’ve eaten 15 and 6 glasses of wine and wonder why your bill is 50 euros. We spent the first few days exploring by ourselves as Julen had to wait in Nice for work. We took a day to go out of the city and see the country side. I am pretty sure that is where they filmed Pan’s Labyrinth , so just picture that. We did not run into any scary monsters so that was a positive. In the Basque region they speak a different form of Spanish , not that I could tell the difference and are sorta like people from Quebec in the sense of their desire to be their own country. I do however believe that the Basque people are a little more hardcore than our beloved Quebecois. Side note Mike and I had a crepe at a place called "Quebec Crepe Shop" in the middle of San Sebastian and it was heavily decorated with Habs paraphernalia and Quebec license plates. Random I know. It wasn’t until Julen got there and unfortunately Naz had just headed home , that we discovered the real and even more delicious foods the city had to offer. Mike and I had the BEST octopus we have ever had and some delicious razor clams. You have to get past their appearance because they look a little sea sluggy , but are well worth the intial fright. I don’t know if the chef personally gave the octopus a massage or what , but god help me I could eat another 8 plates worth right now.  So with our bellies full we drove back to Milan , in one day , with a bit stop in Carrcassonne.  This is pretty much a fully preserved medival city , complete with defence walls , castle , 12^th century churches , and modern day souvenir shops . It’s also a UNESCO site. I don’t know about you but it really burns my biscuits when I go to these beautiful old places and they have been completely gutted to make resturants and hotels. I understand you can’t cook over the open fire , and it’s not so nice to go to the washroom in a hole in the groud , but saving some original characteristics would be nice. All the same it was a super cool town and well worth a stop.

So that was our vacation , Naz spent 10 days with us and it was so great to finally  get her to read my blog . Seriously Naz if you don’t read this , you don’t even want to know.

Things in Doha are good , the heat is finally going away. The nights are great here , almost the prefect temp. The traffic is retarded now though ( I know that is politically incorrect , but so is the amount of horrible drivers causing mass delays). Yesterday the newspaper here said there is over 2 million people in Qatar , a number they didn’t expect to reach until 2016. So it all makes for mayhem.  Mike has been getting a lot of Europe flights and he is pretty happy with that. My mom comes here next week , and God Cyndy is in for a surprise . We are going to head to Dubai for a night and see the sights over there. Oh we also have 4 cats now , it’s a little bit of a problem our cat collection but we are working on it.

Alright homies , hope you are all keeping it real. Also the pictures weren't working too well for me so they are all scattered .

Peace in the Middle East

Much love 

The Padiis xoxoxoxo