So I thought I should write a quick post and let everyone know that I FINALLY got a job. Now bobby can stop being disappointed with the fact that I ended up making a horrible housewife because I refused to cook or clean while he was at work.
I'm working for an international NGO called the Global Leadership Foundation (www.g-l-f.org). They exist to, and I quote from the website, "promote good governance - democratic institutions, open markets, human rights and the rule of law - and to contribute to the prevention and resolution of conflict through mediation." I do basic admin work and some research. It's not exactly what I want to be doing, but i'm happy to have a job. The people I work with are really great and I work in a BEAUTIFUL area of London. (Right next to Hyde Park and Green Park).
I have to say, having a job has made me like living in this city all the more. I'm sure i'll get over this fairly quickly, but I love taking the bus into work and going past all the famous sites (like St. Pauls). It really is an amazing city.
Plus, now we can use my income to travel! Scuba diving in Egypt, here we come!
10 March 2008
16 February 2008
Our Weekend in the City of Light
We decided on Paris for our birthday weekend celebration in order to continue our tradition of going on holiday instead of buying birthday presents for each other (last year was Amsterdam). At the end of the weekend we determined that we need to start going someplace warm since we have birthdays in the middle of winter. An Egypt/Red Sea scuba diving adventure is on the drawing board for 2009.
So, what did we do in Paris? Well, it was my first time there, and Laura's second, so Laura had already done a lot of the big tourist stuff, and neither of us a very "tourist-y" travelers, so we spent most of our time walking around and relaxing in the city.
We both like to travel in pretty much the same way. No tight schedules, no long lists of sights that we "absolutely must see!" Instead we tend to wander around, maybe with an end goal like "check out Notre Dame today" in mind, maybe not. It's so much more relaxing (it is vacation after all), and there's no disappointment if we don't see all of the hundreds of museums that a city has to offer.
We got the Eurostar from London at 6:50 am Saturday and had a very pleasant train ride down to Paris, just over two hours. I thought it was interesting that the train conductor made all his announcments in English first then French until we crossed over the English Channel. Then the switched to French first. Luckily they allowed payment in both pounds and euros no matter which landmass the tracks were on.
Saturday was pretty packed full of sightseeing. We dropped off bags at the hostel and then headed out for Notre Dame. We walked along the Seine to the Louvre, then up le Champs Elysees (a very, very long avenue) to L'Arc de Triomphe.
We ended up getting a great dinner at the restaurant next door to the hostel, then crashed after miles and miles (sorry, kilometers and kilometers) of walking caught up with us.
Sunday was much more relaxed. We had a nice late start and hopped on the metro to head for Sacre Coeur. We stopped for a snack at the base of the hill and had a perfect view for people-watching from the outdoor cafe. After making the hike up the steps and into the basilica, we determined it was much more beautiful from the outside, so we left and did a lot more people-watching. A nice ramble through Montemartre and then we headed back home for a nap before dinner.
Sunday night was our big night out, a dinner cruise along the Seine, so we dressed up and made our way out to the boat. It was a great experience, and a really fun way to take in all the sights a night. The food was "meh", but that's obviously not what we paid for. A bottle of wine and a bottle of champagne later, and we stumbled back to the hostel.
Monday was our last day, so we kept the plan very flexible so we wouldn't miss our 6 pm train back to jolly ol' England. We took the metro down to the river and then walked along to the Eiffel Tower. We spent the next hour or two walking along the grassy mall in front of the tower, then headed back across the river for a horrendously expensive cup of tea with a great view of the Eiffel Tower.
It was a great weekend, and hopefully we'll be making some more European adventures soon.
Not wanting to be stressed trying to get back to the train station, we picked up our bags from the hostel and made our way in the right direction. One last delicious crepe (filled with Nutella) for the road and we were back on the Eurostar and headed home.
So, what did we do in Paris? Well, it was my first time there, and Laura's second, so Laura had already done a lot of the big tourist stuff, and neither of us a very "tourist-y" travelers, so we spent most of our time walking around and relaxing in the city.
We both like to travel in pretty much the same way. No tight schedules, no long lists of sights that we "absolutely must see!" Instead we tend to wander around, maybe with an end goal like "check out Notre Dame today" in mind, maybe not. It's so much more relaxing (it is vacation after all), and there's no disappointment if we don't see all of the hundreds of museums that a city has to offer.
We got the Eurostar from London at 6:50 am Saturday and had a very pleasant train ride down to Paris, just over two hours. I thought it was interesting that the train conductor made all his announcments in English first then French until we crossed over the English Channel. Then the switched to French first. Luckily they allowed payment in both pounds and euros no matter which landmass the tracks were on.
Saturday was pretty packed full of sightseeing. We dropped off bags at the hostel and then headed out for Notre Dame. We walked along the Seine to the Louvre, then up le Champs Elysees (a very, very long avenue) to L'Arc de Triomphe.
We ended up getting a great dinner at the restaurant next door to the hostel, then crashed after miles and miles (sorry, kilometers and kilometers) of walking caught up with us.
Sunday was much more relaxed. We had a nice late start and hopped on the metro to head for Sacre Coeur. We stopped for a snack at the base of the hill and had a perfect view for people-watching from the outdoor cafe. After making the hike up the steps and into the basilica, we determined it was much more beautiful from the outside, so we left and did a lot more people-watching. A nice ramble through Montemartre and then we headed back home for a nap before dinner.
Sunday night was our big night out, a dinner cruise along the Seine, so we dressed up and made our way out to the boat. It was a great experience, and a really fun way to take in all the sights a night. The food was "meh", but that's obviously not what we paid for. A bottle of wine and a bottle of champagne later, and we stumbled back to the hostel.
Monday was our last day, so we kept the plan very flexible so we wouldn't miss our 6 pm train back to jolly ol' England. We took the metro down to the river and then walked along to the Eiffel Tower. We spent the next hour or two walking along the grassy mall in front of the tower, then headed back across the river for a horrendously expensive cup of tea with a great view of the Eiffel Tower.
It was a great weekend, and hopefully we'll be making some more European adventures soon.
Not wanting to be stressed trying to get back to the train station, we picked up our bags from the hostel and made our way in the right direction. One last delicious crepe (filled with Nutella) for the road and we were back on the Eurostar and headed home.
31 January 2008
Virgin Atlantic Flight Offer
The dates are pretty restrictive (now through March or Oct - Dec) , but I just saw this offer from Virgin Atlantic.
A quick check had a flight from DC to London for about $540 round trip (including taxes and fees). Not bad, especially from Virgin, which is a fantastic airline in my opinion.
You have to book by Feb 6th it looks like, so check it out and see if it fits into your travel plans.
A quick check had a flight from DC to London for about $540 round trip (including taxes and fees). Not bad, especially from Virgin, which is a fantastic airline in my opinion.
You have to book by Feb 6th it looks like, so check it out and see if it fits into your travel plans.
Paris
For our joint birthday weekend (Laura on the 26th, me on the 30th), we decided that a trip to Paris would be the perfect way to celebrate.
The main theme from our weekend seems to be sitting in cafe's. We did quite a bit of that. Mostly to look at the sights, but also to warm ourselves up from walking around the city. Plus, who doesn't like paying 5 euros for a cup of tea?
We took loads of pictures around the city.
I'm sure Laura will have some more exciting insights soon, I just wanted to share the pics with you all.
The main theme from our weekend seems to be sitting in cafe's. We did quite a bit of that. Mostly to look at the sights, but also to warm ourselves up from walking around the city. Plus, who doesn't like paying 5 euros for a cup of tea?
We took loads of pictures around the city.
I'm sure Laura will have some more exciting insights soon, I just wanted to share the pics with you all.
22 January 2008
Calendar
As Laura mentioned, we've added the calendar to the menu on the right... but it is difficult to actually see what each of those little green blobs mean.
So now, you can reference back to this post and get a full view of the calendar if you need more details, but otherwise just use the one on the right to get an idea for when people are visiting and when we're off on a European adventure. In other words, just shoot for a non-green-blob date when planning your visit.
21 January 2008
Calendar Application
So, as you loyal blog-readers can see, bobby has tried to upload a calendar to the blog (to the right) to keep track of when we're traveling, when people are coming out to visit, when we're traveling with other people, etc. It's not really working yet, but stay tuned for some kind of probably ghetto computer-engineer solution.
We wanted to put this calendar up so that we can help you all plan your trips out to visit! Everyone keeps asking what our plans are for this month or that month, and it was getting a little hard to keep track. So, start thinking about when you want to come out, what you want to see, and reserve your own special little place on the calendar!
02 January 2008
Happy Holidays from Team Harwig
When are the Harwigs going to blog about their holidays already? Well, since I hate blogging, i've been holding out for Bobby to do it, but now that he's back to work I guess the task falls to me.
Here's a picture of the city of Benidorm and the Med. The water was beautiful!
Here's me in a restaurant where we ordered a plate of Paella, not knowing exactly what it was. Can you see the fear in my eyes at the site of all of that very much alive-looking seafood? Good thing bobby was there to teach me how to de-shell crayfish, and to eat all the crayfish after I discovered I hate it.
Here's another picture of the city of Benidorm.
Here's bobby with some palm trees. I think this was the day he had a ridiculously high fever. What a sport.
Bobby's first time in the Mediterranean!! He looks so happy!
Me and Bobby on the beach.
The view from our hotel room.
Us hanging out by the pool on Christmas day.
Us wearing our Christmas Crowns which come out of the Christmas Crackers, a very British holiday tradition.
We had discussed many possibilities for our Christmas break- originally planning on Italy, and then playing with the idea of Paris, next we considered staying in the UK, but, because of my plethora of free time and obsession with lastminute.com, we ended up booking a very last-minute and ridiculously cheap trip to Spain instead.
We flew into Alicante and took a 45 minute bus ride to our final destination, Benidorm which is on the south-eastern coast of Spain. I have to say, this is the least prepared for a vacation i've ever been. We knew nothing about Benidorm, had no idea what to expect, and our spanish is limited to what we've learned from TacoBell commercials, that said, we had a great time! While it wasn't warm enough to go swimming in the Med (it was about 65 degrees out), we did get to hang out on the beach in our bathing suits. Other than that, we wandered around the town a lot, ate a lot, hung out in our posh 4 star hotel, and bobby managed to get the flu, all in 6 days! Here are some pictures that will do a better job describing our vacation than I can.
Here's a picture of the city of Benidorm and the Med. The water was beautiful!
Here's me in a restaurant where we ordered a plate of Paella, not knowing exactly what it was. Can you see the fear in my eyes at the site of all of that very much alive-looking seafood? Good thing bobby was there to teach me how to de-shell crayfish, and to eat all the crayfish after I discovered I hate it.
Here's another picture of the city of Benidorm.
Here's bobby with some palm trees. I think this was the day he had a ridiculously high fever. What a sport.
Bobby's first time in the Mediterranean!! He looks so happy!
Me and Bobby on the beach.
The view from our hotel room.
Us hanging out by the pool on Christmas day.
Our hotel, the tallest building in Spain.
Our table at the Christmas banquet where we had to carry on awkward conversations with 8 elderly British couples. You know the ones where you tell them you're American and they respond with "Oh really? I went to Mexico once."
Me in front of the big Santa.
Us wearing our Christmas Crowns which come out of the Christmas Crackers, a very British holiday tradition.
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