Lisbon Trip #2

OK, let's continue the tour then. After finding out where the train station was, we had no specific idea on where to go next, so we just went downtown to a place where there were lots of places to visit on the map ha ha...Our first stop was Arco da Rua Augusta. Rua Augusta is a place where there are lots of stores and cafes and restaurants and at the end of it, you can see a huge square. We paid €2,50/person to go up the arch to have a 360 degree view of Lisbon.

This is the arch:

There are lots of buses passing by this square. It's funny because when the sun is shining on one side of the square, people would flock towards that side to eat/drink outside, whereas the other side would be empty LOL!!!! There's also a metro station at one end of this square (that we only noticed later LOL!!!)

And here are some views from up there:

Here are the photo of the stairs. It felt kinda claustrophobic because it was a small one (only fit one person at a time). The great thing was that there was a button at the bottom and the top of the stairs that you had to push to find out whether or not it was clear to either go up or down. If there was somebody coming up or down, the lamp would be red, but if the coast was clear, then the lamp would turn green. Very practical!

From there, we decided to go visit the nearest church, the Lisbon Cathedral. When we arrived there, we were lucky enough to be able to hear some people rehearsing a song. The acoustic was amazing! Mind you, I had never heard anyone sing in a church like this (only in normal churches), so I had no clue how wonderful it was. I managed to take a short video clip of it. Here goes:


Here are some photos of the church:

After that we went to have lunch in a nearby restaurant as we were so hungry. We'll continue the tour in another post because I have a lot more photos from the next place we visited that I'm going to share.

Dancing Lights

I've been busy due to situations at work, so haven't had time nor energy to do anything much blog-wise, but today I've uploaded some Vienna videos and here are a few chosen ones (to watch more you can just click on my username in youtube).

The first video is a video of dancing lights on a tall building. It's right in front of our hotel window. I had to open the window and sit on the ledge (no balcony) to take this video he he...Every day while we were there this light dances started at 19.30 (7.30 pm) and the pattern kept on changing. That was why it was so interesting to watch it. :-D

The second video is a view of a part of Stephansplatz (the city centre): 

OK, I'm pretty tired right now and R2's getting sick ever since he got back from Vienna (his voice has gotten sexier and he's been coughing and feeling weird, you know)...good thing we were both OK in Vienna, but now I'm starting to feel weird, too. So gonna take some time to rest 'coz my work schedule is getting busier again (summer season is approaching fast!!!). So TAKE CARE to everybody and enjoy the videos!

We're MOVING!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe our luck!!! Or our blessing HE HE HE HE HE HE...We're going to move to a bigger apartment that's located DOWNTOWN next month!!!!

glitter-graphics.com

You see, last Friday we went to see a house (actually it's a kind of small housing complex where two houses are built together as one and each building is close to one another) and we fell in love with it, BUT the problem is our budget. We have some down payment, but since I'm not working, it'll be SO SO HARD to pay the monthly loan installment plus the maintenance cost per month that we have to pay to the firm.

After calculating the cost and thinking about it, we decide not to even try to bid on the house (they say the price is negotiable). Then last night my BIL sent R2 an email, telling us about this apartment for rent downtown. It's 25 square metres BIGGER than our apartment (albeit without any sauna) and it's only 100 Euros more expensive per month.

glitter-graphics.com

So this morning R2 went there to see it and agreed on renting it. I haven't seen it yet, but today I passed it by while walking home. The location is SO SO SO SO GOOD he he he he he...there're two offices downstairs and two apartments on the second floor, but that's it. Not bad, right? Right now we live on the 3rd floor and there are at least 21 apartments in total in this building he he he he he...

So soon we're going to have 2 bedrooms HO HO HO HO HO HO HO...Now all we need to do is (hopefully) have a baby to fill in the second bedroom HA HA HA HA HA HA...But first thing first...we're going to be SO BUSY at the end of this month and then we also need to look for a bed for the second bedroom. INCREDIBLY EXCITINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!

glitter-graphics.com

Side note: You see, here in this village, unlike in bigger towns and cities where they continue building apartment buildings or housing complexes here and there, it's rather hard to get a good (affordable) place to stay downtown, so even though I'm not pregnant yet and we don't really need a second bedroom yet, it's MUCH wiser to grab this opportunity while we can.

OK, time to exercise and then blog-hop HE HE HE HE HE HE...

Downtown Sodankylä: Pictures and Video Clips

Yesterday I went downtown to look for a second Christmas gift for hubby since he's prepared two for me. After browsing around in several stores, I finally found something on a 50% discount HUA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...Guys, don't wonder why sometimes it takes a LONG time for girls to shop. They need to compare and contrast, esp. when they a tight shopping budget HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...So don't fret, OK? LOL LOL!!!

Anyway, I managed to snap away some pictures on the way to the stores and I also made a few video clips for you to enjoy. The sky was ABLAZE yesterday. It was a sight to behold...mmmm...




In the below pic you can see the snow tractor that comes every morning to get rid of the snow from the main streets and the car parking lots around or near apartment buildings.





ARRRGGHHH!!! Blogger has refused to let me upload some more pictures, so I'm gonna cut this short and publish it first then. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

Below is an unclear video of our car ride last Saturday. I know it's not too clear, but I just wanna show you how it feels like being here when it's dark already with all the Christmas lights he he he...



This second video is a short one of a moving Santa ornament in one of the stores I saw yesterday he he he...I also happen to LOVE the snowman doll in this video clip.