"Of all the Books in the World, the Best Stories are found between the Pages of a Passport"
One of the main reasons we added the Philippines to our adventures was so that Max could become a Dive Master and I could learn how to dive and take part in other island sports. One of the lovely things about diving is that you can do it all over the world, just you and your boyfriend or husband, exploring the ocean. I think that’s a cool idea and what a beautiful place to learn!
So, from one extreme to the other, we have arrived in the Philippines.
The plane from Dubai was a lot less chic, although still Emirates, and I have never heard so many people coughing. We luckily got a window seat so we both snoozed for the majority of the plane journey. As we woke with crooked necks we touched down in Manila. We needed to get a taxi to a friend’s house in a smart part of town and were immediately offered one for 2100 Peso’s. With a suitcase in one hand, a bag in the other I scrambled for my phone and converted the amount. £30 – Are you kidding me Mr Taxi Man? I pay less for an Uber from Paddington to Fulham. I explained in my most refined Filipino voice, ‘No,no too expensive’ and got him down to 1200 Peso’s which we worked out in the car was still a total rip off.
The day finally arrived after over a year of planning. Our bags were packed, mine slightly more full than Max’s of course.
My Mum and Dad packed the car with us and took us to the airport to catch an evening flight. We planned to stop on the way for some food but disappointingly London traffic had other plans for us and the 22 mile journey to a pub in Surrey took 2.5 hours so we pushed on to the airport as it was now too late to stop. Once we had checked in our bags, we decided to grab supper and luckily La Brasserie at the Sofitel squeezed us in! The food, wine and service were outstanding, I couldn’t recommend it more. Next time we have an early flight from Gatwick North Terminal, I will definitely be booking a room.
By the time we had eaten, it was less than an hour until take off so we left Mum and Dad to finish and made our way to security. As soon as we left the hotel area I noticed a funny smell and smoke. Continue reading “An Explosion at Gatwick and Plastic Fantastic Dubai”
We obviously stayed in Berlin for the Marathon but it was such a busy weekend we didn’t really get to experience what Berlin has to offer… which was fine because we knew we were returning the following weekend for a wedding.
Hello BERLIN!
Wow, what a busy weekend. Early Friday morning we dashed up to St. Pancreas, indulged in crispy croissants and bowls of coffee and tea and jumped onto the Eurostar bound for Brussels. We stayed in a friend’s apartment with a stunning view over the city.
I love to plan and prepare things, writing ‘to-do’ lists excite me and I have certainly written a lot of those recently. We are now T-13 days from take off. I swear it was yesterday when I looked at my countdown app and it was 148 days to go. Whilst at a friends birthday last night, I glanced at my watch at 9pm, the exact time we will be taking off in 2 weeks. The distant and dreamy thoughts of our adventure are suddenly becoming a reality.
OffSheWanders 