Honeymoon # 4

A week before we were to leave for Christmas vacation, we had a slight change in plans (more on that later) and cancelled our trip to Nepal and bought tickets to Europe! We had a little over 3 weeks in Europe and even though it was winter, it was beautiful! I don't know why we've been traveling to all these 3rd world countries- what are we thinking?? Europe is the way to go. We started off in Amsterdam, took the train to Cologne, train to Berlin, flew to Milan, train to Switzerland, train back to Paris. It sounds like we were traveling the entire time, but these places were all pretty close together and I really enjoyed the train rides. We stayed about 4-5 nights in each city which was a perfect amount of time to explore each one.

 We started off in Amsterdam and spent most of our days walking around the city and stopping in coffee shops to relax. The architecture is amazing and I never really got that tired of all the churches. I love that everyone rides a bike here. We went to the Heinken museum which was pretty good, although I think Guinness factory in Dublin is still the best.

 We went to Milan to see the Fortinos and Darren. Great to catch up and so nice to meet the newest/ littlest Fortino!

 Switzerland was so beautiful and very expensive! By far it was the most expensive city we visited. Owen went skiing one day while I just lounged around in a few coffee shops and pubs reading my book.

Christmas eve in Cologne, Germany

 Kristy took us to a Christmas market in Berlin. There was so much nice merch and loved the drinks. 

 It was sooo great to see Kristy in Berlin!! 

 Paris is very romantic, even in the grey skies. 

Just another castle.....

November.

We had a pretty busy November. This was the blog post I had started and then deleted by accident. Here's the 2nd attempt.

We spent a Saturday getting quite a few plants for our balcony. I love these orchids. I guess orchids can be hard to maintain, but in Singapore's tropical climate you really don't have to do much. I also love our mint and basil plants, it's really nice having fresh herbs.

Since we don't have seasons here, time really can slip away. I knew it was the start of a new season when Starbucks came out with new cups. We went to Starbucks a lot. 

Wine Fiesta! This was so fun, as it is every year. You pay $20 for all the wine tastings you can handle. Hundreds of wines from around the world are represented. I think I tried over 20 wines. You get a little "passport" where you can mark your favorite ones and then purchase them when you want. Apparently I loved every wine except the chocolate wine. Only walked away with large bottle of Rose. Only because I normally hate rose and this one was decent. 

Restaurant Week! I love love that Singapore has this! Lots of restaurants participate in this. It's a chance for them to showcase their best dishes for a cheap price. There's a set menu and you have to make reservations, but the food is amazing. We tried 4 new fancy restaurants and went to a few favorites and this was one of my favorites desserts from one of my favorite French places. 

We went to the Singapore Open. Here's a picture of me and Phil Mickelson, no big deal. It was lots of fun walking around and watching all these guys I've seen on tv.

 This was so cute. Rory Mcilroy and his girlfriend, Caroline, one of the top tennis players in the world, had a cute little moment in between swings.

Adam Scott's butt. 

Great day out with friends. Loved that cold beer was served all over the course. Also, the winner, Mateo Manassero, a cute little Italian guy, gave me a nice wink, smile and nod right before he teed off much to Owen's disgust.

Last year we decided to introduce a few of our friends to Thanksgiving which you can read about HERE.  Since it was such a hit, we got a few requests for a repeat. This year was a bit different with our first baby guest. Pippa made her debut and had a great time. Next year, she'll be enjoying the pumpkin pie and we will have quite a few more babies for her to play with.