TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Pretty pastel colored buildings from the Baroque Period and tropical palm trees waving along the main boulevard of Santa Margherita harbour. From Deiva Marina, Blondine and I took the train to Santa Margherita Ligure. Our agenda for the day was to visit Portofino and Santa Margherita Ligure. Since many travel reviews said that the best way to arrive in Portofino is by sea, and not really wanting to reinvent the (travel) wheel, we followed the advice and took the boat from Santa Margherita Ligure port to the jet set gulf of Portofino. I will save the Portofino post for the next entry. Santa Margherita Ligure on the other hand (and which is our topic!) is a very pretty and charming sea side town. It was quite a surprise to us when we stepped out of this narrow street that we followed after getting out of the train station. An attractive well-manicured bayside park that also serves as a marina made our acquaintance. Beautiful palm trees weaved on the streets and Baroque inspired build...

My life nowadays is a busy tangle of everything. Work being occupying 80% of my activities. Well, mostly in my mind anyway; they even creep into my dreams at night and when I wake up! Politics are a fulltime job. No wonder politicians grow old (or get grey hair) the next day into their term. But things are doing great at work. So far. I cannot ask for more. Although, a promotion in order would be nice I guess, but unfortunately, I am just 3 months old into this new position. Big boss told me during our chat, “You are not even with us for a quarter!” You know, I can’t have a head as huge as a football field. Meanwhile, headhunters still keep emailing and calling me. I even receive post mails. I wonder where they get my CV? On the domestic chores front, I still do a bit, mostly cooking. I share half of the chores anyway with the Dutchman. Can you imagine having a man do all the laundry, drying, and vacuuming at home? Having someone to pick up things after me is actually the major thing I...

Before I write 3 more travel review entries of my Italian Riviera holiday (Portovenere, Santa Margherita-Ligure, and Portofino), I forgot to post these pictures that I took a couple of weeks ago in Amstel in Amsterdam, so I am posting them now. It looks like there were Marines in there guarding the Amstel Canals. Boats could not go further the bridge where I stood while taking this shot.  The concert stage being dressed up, 2.5 hours before the festivities started. The wooden bridge on the lower photo is the Magerebrug (Skinny Bridge). There was a classical concert dedicated to the Queen (this was a week after Queen’s Day) in the Amstel Canals which was perfect timing as my colleague just moved into his very chic apartment in nearby Keizersgracht and invited us over for a drink. I know it is a struggle to walk in my high heels on the cobblestones but there is no way would I, in my sane mind, bring the car to the Centrum. Not in Keizersgracht! Two glasses of white wine w...

Before this Cinque Terre trip, I did a lot of research online, read many blogs, googled travel reviews, queried Lonely Planet Thorntree, and more. There is one thing though that seemed to be the common denominator, and that is Vernazza being the most picturesque of all the 5 Terres. The picturesque pastoral village of Vernazza from the hiking trails (going to Monterosso). So during the 2 hour hike from Monterosso al Mare to Vernazza I had this I-can’t-wait-to-see-Vernazza feeling brewing up, also because we underestimated the hike. Firstly, we thought its going to be easy just like the Manarola to Corniglia route, and secondly, we didn’t know it will take us 2 hours! So this growing feeling has been staying inside my stomach for the whole journey -– When are we going to get a glimpse of Vernazza? When? And alas, we saw from a distance the little village of Vernazza. Blondine and I were like, WOW... Our tiredness immediately faded away at what we just saw. I had to get off the tra...

Deiva Marina, our temporary home away from home in Liguria is just 18 minutes by train to Cinque Terre’s Monterosso al Mare, making the sea side town a perfect place to use as a base to explore UNESCO’s world heritage Cinque Terre and Portovenere, and the jet set bay of Portofino. So for the day, our plan was to do the trek from Monterosso al Mare to Vernazza. We first went around and enjoyed Monterosso, the only village in Cinque Terre that is not hanging from a cliff and has a beach shoreline. It is also the least authentic among the 5 villages - we saw cars passing through! Who said Cinque Terre is car less? Maybe it is in the other 4 villages but surely not Monterosso al Mare. The Centrum, like any Italian village, is old but what makes it interesting is its collection of impressive antiquated petite churches. While staring at this black and white edifice in front of me, a middle aged woman passed by and said, breaking my thoughts, “Its marble. Everything is marble.” I smile...