Hello, We're in Switzerland

Hello friends, we are currently in Luzern, Switzerland. Tomorrow, we will be going up to the Swiss Alps and stay in an alpine village called Wengen. Weather permitting, we will be going up to the Jungfraojoch (Top of Europe) to see the three Alps (Jungrau, Eiger and Monch).

Venice is truly a very romantic city and very expensive! Switzerland is a completely different experience compared to Italy. Whereas Italy is full of history and art, Switzerland is more for nature sightseeing. It is beautiful!

I apologize for the short post, I don't have much time to expand on things. I'll do it when I get back.

Here are some photos from our recent journey.

Pisa, Italy

Venice, Italy

Luzern, Switzerland

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Buon Giorno from Florence, Italy!

Hello! We are here in Florence now. Rome was beautiful! Well, actually, I'm talking about the sights and museums, not the street sights. For the ugly part, there were parts of Rome that we saw graffiti everywhere. It was during the ride from the airport to the hotel. The good part is that the historic sites and museums did not disappoint! I have to warn you though, I used a lot of adjectives in this post: amazing, beautiful, etc. LOL There are just no words to describe the beauty of what we saw. :)

We saw the Pope in his Wednesday Papal Audience. There were a lot of people from different parts of the world. I saw the pope's cap, buti na lang may big screen kaya nakita ko rin kung ano itsura nya. We got there at around 9:30AM and the Pope came in his PopeMobile around 10:00AM. You will know it since people started making noise and standing up on chairs. The whole thing lasted 2 hours since they acknowledged all the pilgrims from different parts of the world. Then at the end was the Papal Blessing. I had with me some Rosaries I bought from the day before in the Vatican Museum so that was blessed by the Pope.

St. Peter's Basilica was amazing, it is so HUGE and all the artworks and sculptures, left me speechless. The Pieta was breathtaking, too bad it was behind a glass so it is about 10-15 feet away. After seeing St. Peter's, all the other churches we saw just couldn't compare. That's how beautiful it is. I also noticed that in the more popular churches amongst the tourists like St. Peter's and the Duomo in Florence, they took out almost all of the pews. I was a little disappointed but I guess with the number of tourists that visit each day, it's a wise move.

We also went to the Vatican museum. The art collection of the Popes and also the designs of their private quarters are very lavish! That's one of the reasons why Martin Luther converted, after seeing it, I don't blame him, I might convert too! LOL We saw the Emperor Nero's bath tub, as you can see in the photo, it is HUGE! You can easily fit more than ten people in there. My favorite room is the Map Room, the ceiling is amazing!

My other favorite place was the Trevi Fountain. We went there at night and while walking closer I can hear the water flowing, we turned a corner and there it is. Beautiful! Amazing is all I can say. We stayed there for an hour just admiring the sculptures made by Salvi. I could go on and on but I don't want to bore you, if you're still reading this. :)

Anyway, we are spending three days here in Florence and will head off to Venice next. We will be seeing Michaelangelo's David and the painting 'Birth of Venus' by Boticelli. I'm excited to see it because I studied it in college. I'm overloaded with history and art that every artwork starts looking the same to me. LOL

Food is great too, I've never eaten so much pasta in my entire life. Good thing that we burn it off with all the walking we've done. Actually yesterday for lunch we had Chinese food just to break the monotony. :)

I could go on and on about everything I've seen but I don't want to bore you with details. I am enjoying this trip, can't you tell? LOL

Well, that's it for now. I don't know when I will be able to update again. I'm having problems with my laptop's charger or battery. The nice thing about this hotel in Florence we're staying at is they have a laptop and free internet access in every room. I will have to write about the hotels we've stayed in. If ever you will be visiting these cities, I highly recommend them.

I hope everyone is in great health. :)

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VACATION TIME!

It's finally HERE! I will be leaving for a month-long vacation tomorrow, Saturday. We will be flying into Rome,Italy and take the train across Europe. We will be visiting seven countries, total. From Rome, we will be going to Florence and Venice. Then we'll go to Switzerland and visit Luzern and Wengen and go to Jungfraojoch also known as 'Top of Europe'. After that, we'll head on to Strasbourg in France. We will not go to Paris since it's out of the way, we'll save that for another trip. Next is Trier in Germany from where we will also visit Luxembourg and Belgium. Then we'll go to The Netherlands to visit Amsterdam and The Hague. Tired yet? LOL After that we'll head off to Berlin and then the last stop is Munich.

Along the way, we will be meeting friends. Some for the first time, like Vicky and Prescy. The others, like Doris and Aleth, I've already met in the Philippines. I will also see my college barkada, Evelyn and my cousin, Edwin. I am already getting excited and am praying that we will have a safe trip all the way.

I will surely miss my friends here in MA and of course here in blogging. I hope you don't abandon my blog, mahirap maglinis ng cobwebs. LOL I will be posting updates and photos from our vacation so stay tuned!

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It's Finals Week But No Studying!

It's my daughter's finals week and she was out riding her bike yesterday afternoon. I don't remember having fun during finals when I was in grade school. What I do remember is hitting the books and having merienda right after coming home from school. The test itself was long. There were teachers who actually had 100 numbers for a single test. With my daughter, they only have at least 25 questions per test. Of course that meant each question carries more weight but I think it lessens the stress for the student.

The other day, I told her that we need to study for the finals. She answered that her teacher told the kids that you only study for quizzes but not for finals. She told me that they already did a review of all the subjects last week so she didn't need to study. I'm not really concerned with her grades, she's been a straight A student ever since she started school. I just hope she takes her time in doing those math problems and not be in a hurry like she usually does. :)

So it is now finals week and all I can say is, "Let's get it over with then we're off to Europe!"

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Low-Price Online Prescriptions

Nowadays, I prefer to get my prescriptions from an online pharmacy. For me, it's about convenience. Why? Because with an online pharmacy, you need not wait in line to have your prescription filled, therefore saving you some precious time. Imagine waiting in line at your local pharmacy. You drop off your prescription and you have to wait at least a minimum of 20 minutes to get your prescription. Doing it online is fast. It is easy to set up and afterwards, you will get your prescription medicine in advance. Prescriptions are also getting more expensive nowadays so it is very important for consumers to find the lowest prices for their medicines. Most health insurance now allow their members to order their prescriptions online since they know that people prefer convenience and want to get the lowest prices possible. One such online pharmacy is EDrugstore.md. www.edrugstore.md has pharmacists and physicians that are licensed to dispense medicine and give you information about your online prescriptions. They offer free medical consultations.

I also like the fact that they have the lowest prices for prescriptions and they will give you $20 off for every refill you have. They only sell medicines that are authentic FDA-approved. They carry all popular medicines like Lipitor, levitra , Retin-A and other name brand medicines.

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5 More Days and Counting

Aaahhh! We will be leaving for our vacation in five days! It seems just like yesterday when dh and I talked about going to Europe for his sabbatical from work. Now it is finally here! I've done all of the shopping for the trip, extra band-aids, wipes, hand sanitizer, etc. Our two medium-sized luggages are in the living room and I'm starting to pile up everyone's clothes on the coffee table. We need to bring at least a week's worth of clothes. Ugh, what to wear? I'd better start packing now.

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What If?

It is something that people don't want to think about. What if...something happens to the family breadwinner? What then? There are bills to pay and mouths to feed. This scenario is much bleaker if there was only one income in the family. That's why it is very important to have life insurance for the breadwinner. One kind of affordable life insurance is term insurance. It provides coverage for a limited period of time, the relevant term. After that period, the insured can either drop the policy or pay annually increasing premiums to continue the coverage. If the insured dies during the term, the death benefit will be paid to the beneficiary. Term insurance is often the most inexpensive way to purchase a substantial death benefit on a coverage amount per premium dollar basis.

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Legally Drugged

Well, I tried to get an appointment to see my doctor, Dr. Liu but she wasn't working yesterday. Good thing this medical practice has an Urgent Care Clinic so I went there instead. The nursing assistant swabbed my throat and after waiting for what seemed like forever, the doctor finally came. Good news is that I don't have Strep throat, bad news is I have some kind of infection, sinusitis I think. She gave me a prescription for Amoxycillin, an antibiotic to be taken for 10 days. So at this moment, I'm all drugged up. In addition to the antibiotic, I also took Claritin-D (the one with the Pseudoephedrine) and Tylenol for my fever. Howcome I don't feel any high? hehehe Drat! and I thought I'd finally experience being high on drugs. LOL Just kidding! Never had and never will...

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A Nice Smile for Her Wedding Day

All brides want their wedding day to be perfect and my cousin Kathy is no exception. She lives in Panorama City in California. She will be getting married in a couple of months to her fiance John. She wants to have a Beverly Hills smile for her wedding day. You know, just like the smiles of the actors in TV and the movies. They have the whitest smile you'll ever see. Kathy wants to have this for herself but she is scared of drills and needles. She learned of the dental practice of Dr. Maddahi in Beverly Hills. His dental clinic uses the most modern dental equipment and advanced dental practices like painless air drills, miniature cameras and digital x-rays. I'm sure that with Dr. Maddahi's smile make-over, Kathy will have her brightest smile on her wedding day.

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If You Could See Me Now

I'm currently blogging from my bed. I have an ice pack on my head, a sweatshirt (even though it is a warm night), pj's and a pair of socks. What a picture eh? LOL I've been feeling sick the whole day. I have a sore throat and it hurts even to talk. I hope it's just from my allergies and not from some virus. If my throat still hurts tomorrow morning, then I'm going to see the doctor and have this check-out. Fingers crossed!

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