1st year in Paris.

(one of our views from our balcony)

I want to start off by saying - I started this blog as a way to communicate with my family and friends whilst we are living abroad. 

A year ago today (16 July) we moved into our beautifully renovated appartement in the centre of Paris. We were so lucky to have a new home but stil be in a beautiful Parisian style building. This is where our journey began, and it has been oh so amazing.

Not even a week in Paris and I'm whisked away on a business trip with James to Vienna, Austria and this is how our travels begin. 

      ( Prater Amusement Park - Vienna Austria)

Aug: We explored Paris. We find our closest supermarkets, farmer's markets, metros, buses and we make friends. We fall in love with wine and cheese all over again.

(Versailles gardens)

Sept: Sienna started school and so did I - learning the french language.  Sienna also has classes in the American Children's Theatre academy.

Oct: We take a trip to Amboise in Loire Valley just abit south of Paris. We saw Leonardo Da Vinci tomb and house where he resided before passing away.

Nov: I had my birthday - Big 30! We celebrated by going to Venice, Italy. Which then, to my surprise James proposed. Yes - on the canal in a gondola so cliche but so sweet. 

Dec: We had our first cold Christmas with a real Christmas tree. New Years Eve was spent with friends for dinner and then we decided to go out for the count down. We went to Champs Elysee with our Champagne among the other thousands of people waiting for the fireworks. 

Jan/ Feb: We spend hibernating like the rest of the Parisians in the below 0 degress weather. This sunny Queensland girl was NOT coping. She even had vitamin D tablets shipped from USA to get her through.

Mar: We had my parents come to visit for Sienna's 4th birthday. James and I took a quick weekend trip to London. My best friend - who I have known since I was 15 years of age come and visit. Then we all went to Portugal, hired a van and drove to Spain. Mind you, we had always talked about taking Jade and James to Portugal over dinners and NEVER thought it would actually happen the way it did. It was like a dream.

(Lisbon)

(Algarve - Portugal)

(Alcacer do Sal - Portugal)

Apr: We had James birthday. We also visited Mont Saint Michel, Deauville, Hornfleur and DDay beaches in North of France.

(Honfleur)

(Mont St Michel)

(DDay Beaches)

(Mont St Michel)

May: We had to come to reality that our visitors were not staying forever. It was very sad to say good bye to the people we are so familiar too and to know that they will be miles away again. 

Jun: We had all our end of year parties for Sienna. The school put on on a show and so did the theatre academy. The funny thing is Sienna played a "Birdie" in both shows.

(School End of year Show)

(Theatre play - Frog and Toad)

So we are coming to the end of our 1st year with many more to come. Although we know that this is a life time opportunity and we are loving every second of our adventure. We do miss our family and friends alot. 

Thanks for reading.

Love Liliana xxx

Holidays in Portugal March 2013

Hello family and friends!

It has been so long since I have blogged. I had my parents visit us and my best friend, Jade. We were so happy to have them stay with us. This last month was one of the best months of my life. We all went on a trip to Portugal and spent time with my family there too. 

But before that, while mum was in town, James and I went for a quick trip to London. We stayed at Hilton Park Lane Mayfair. Went to Covent Gardens, Soho, Camden markets, Buckingham Palace etc and shopped at Oxford st and Harrods. It was a blast! Would go back anytime.

We left for Portugal.

My aunt took us to Visit St George Castle Lisbon (Castle de Sao Jorge):

More pictures around Lisbon, Belem, Sintra, Cascais:

So from Lisbon we headed south. This is us... James was in the passenger seat taking all the pictures.

We stopped for a quick break. Yes there are castles everywhere, just like asia has temples etc. We have castles and churches pretty much everywhere.

Then we stay in Evora, a very cute little town. We visited the Bone Chapel among other things.

We then drove to Spain, we got there pretty late and stayed in a town called Huelva. It was quite cold and windy. We ended up walking around the town, having dinner and then bed as we had a big drive to Algarve the next day.

Next stop Algarve. We stayed in Lagos thank you to my Auntie Zita for lending us her apartment. Also, visited a whole lot of cousins. Thank you to them for their hospitality. Such a great time.

From Algarve we drove north for about 1.5hours into a little town called Alcacer do Sal. Which is where I'm from. This is the castle I played in with my friends when I was little. Down below is the town. 

We had dinner with my auntie Esmeralda, my uncle, grandmother and Cousin Ana and her beautiful family. Thank you to you all for your hospitality. Will hopefully see you again soon. I don't know how I didn't get any photos to blog. Very sad for that.

We then visited the beaches nearby, pity it wasn't beach weather. It is much prettier in the summer.

Our holidays were coming to an end and we headed back to Lisbon for the airport. But before leaving we stopped into one more cute town, Obidos.

The End

Ps Hope you are still enjoying my travels and adventure. Truly amazing experience living abroad. I must admit with having family and my best friend around it has made me very home sick. Very common feeling I'm sure.

Hope everyone is doing well. Please message me I would love to hear what is going on in your lives. I can be your penpal.

Pps Thank you to James Fawke for all the amazing photos. His a born photographer.

Love Liliana xo