After Notre Dame, we headed towards Sacré-Coeur. I went there two years ago, during a rainy night. It was a scary experience, since I remember walking behind two men who were walking behind this old lady. At one point they tried to steal from her without wanting to be detected. I just held on tight to my boyfriends hand.

So this time, I went with my mom during daylight, and the place was pretty easy to find. Things are easier to find when it is bright outside. After climbing a lot of stairs we were finally at the top.

The view of Paris, in my opinion, is gorgeous!

We were there for a while, before heading to a different place. We were lucky with the weather! We also took some tourist-y photos of us sitting on the stairs. I realize that I don’t really have nice photos of me sitting XD it must be the angle, but whatever. My mom took my photo, and you know for mothers, all their children are beautiful. I look half angry half glad! It is the sun blinding my eyes btw!

When I met with my mom again after Notre Dame, she was like ” I ate ice cream with a macaron, do you want some?” So I got one, my mom was quite excited for me, she really wanted me to buy one.

So many flavors to choose from!

I am a sorbet type of person, so I got lemon, mango and raspberry ( I think, I am 100%sure on the lemon and mango though). As for the macaron, I forgot what flavor it was! I love how they shaped the sorbet into a flower with the macaron on top. It was so beautiful to look at, and not to mention it was delicious! I did however find it hard to eat it without ruining the look 🙂

I have been to Paris about 8 times or so, and I always visit Notre Dame! I never get tired of the place.

So during our second day in Paris, we decided to walk to Notre Dame. Walk, since it takes about 10 minutes from our hotel to walk there. I took a lot of tourist-y photos of my mom. I also told her that you could climb on top, but there would be a queue. I didn’t want to climb Notre Dame again, I think once was more than enough. My mom wanted to, so we split for about two hours.

So while my mom was queuing for Notre Dame, I was looking for a place to eat. I walked around Sorbonne and found an Asian restaurant. I ordered a menu, which was actually too much.

I got salad and miso soup as a starter.

My delicious sushi 🙂

By the time I was done with my maki and nigiri, I was actually very full. Then I had these barbeques and rice! I regretted ordering a menu, but those barbeque were delicious!

By the time I finished eating, I went back to Notre Dame and waited for my mom. She was done by the time I was done as well! 🙂

We did go back to the Latin Quarter later that day and we walked back to Notre Dame before heading home. I think it is pretty during the night 🙂

 

After our trip to Ladurée, we went towards Arc de Triomphe!

I took a lot of tourist-y photos with my mom! And I did tell her we would climb the place, because why not?

There was a queue to go inside, but the queue went pretty fast so we did not have to wait long.

The view from the top is pretty spectacular! I think my mom really enjoyed seeing the Eiffel Tower from there! My mom brought with her a selfie stick, which we were able to use! Also a couple asked to borrow it so they could take a nice selfie with the tower at the back!

I think we stayed at the top for about 20 minutes! Oh I forgot, they have an elevator, but we couldn’t use it, so we had to climb the stairs! I think my legs were quite dead from climbing up, and I got dizzy going down since it was a spiral staircase.

After visiting the Louvre, my mom and I went towards Champs Elysees! We decided to go to Ladurée to buy some macarons, but ended up going to the café. I have never eaten at the café, since I usually only buy the macarons. So I thought, why not? It would be an experience for the both of us!

My mom got the flan, super delicious btw! I got the ispahan. Fun fact: You can eat the rose petal, but I didn’t since I’m not a fan of eating flowers.

We also ordered tea for our desserts! My mom and I had a nice dessert experience there 🙂

I collect Ladurée boxes, so I bought the current box they had and got some macarons. I usually get caramel, orange blossom, and chocolate. This time I also got coffee and the rest, this old mind forgot!

The macarons are a bit pricey, but when you’re on vacation everythings okay 😛

I went to Paris at the end of August. This time, I went with my mom. She has never been to Paris, so I wanted to take her there. We were only there for the weekend, well from Friday to Sunday.

he first place my mom and I went to was the Louvre. I found out that those who are 26 or 25 below get to go in for free, I feel bad for 2011 me who bought a Visit Paris ticket, we couldv’e saved a lot 🙁

I think my mom and I went inside around 12 or 1pm. We were there until around 4pm I think. I was so tired and told my mom that I was tired. We haven’t explored the whole place to be honest, and I am kinda glad and sad that we didn’t.

Funny thing, we met some fellow Filipinos there. She heard me tell my mom that I was tired. We were talking, and then I asked where in the Philippines she was from. Turns out she’s from the same city as my mom’s and she lived at the Ramos village which was owned by my gradfather and his siblings. Her bestfriend/close friend is my aunt. Such a small world!

She told us that if we spent a minute on each art piece at the Louvre it would take us 9 months to see all of them!

We got to see the Mona Lisa btw, this time we waited in line to see her upclose. Last time I was there I wasn’t interested in queuing, and just took a photo from a distance. This is my mom’s first time so she had to see Mona Lisa. So tiny.

So August 3 was our last day in Finland.

Our flight was supposed to depart 18:55. Around 18:31, while waiting at the gate we got an sms from Norwegian telling us that our flight has been cancelled due to technical issues. 20 mins before our flight -.-  I called Norwegian ASAP to rebook our flight since I couldn’t figure out how to on their site, but there was a queue. Heard people saying we could get help from downstairs. So we headed outside the checkpoint, ugh. Stod in line. there were about 6 people ahead of me. We were queing at the service desk. I still called Norwegian just to be sure. So the woman on the phone I talked to said she could book us via Stockholm the next day, I said sure, but just as she was about to confirm it it became full. So she said they have one via Copenhagen the next day, so I said sure. When we were done and everything, I got an email, and guess what. It was not via Copenhagen, but Malaga Spain! Great! After standing in line for about half an hour, it was finally our turn. the guy at the desk said, there were no more flights until Sunday, luckily I was able to book through the phone. He just gave us a hotel and some vouchers. The queue had been incredibly long, and more people where on their way.

I felt bad for our co-passengers. One missed dinner before saying goodbye to his son, who would be going away. A couple’s Svalbard trip with non-refundable activities has to be cancelled etc.

The hotel we got is called The Airport Hotel Bonus Inn. It is about 10-15 minutes from the airport. The hotel was quite high and had a lot of malls near the place.

Our rooms was okay. We had three seperate beds, a fully functioning kitchen, tv, tables and chairs. We also had access to a sauna! Finally, we were able to try out a sauna at the sauna capital of the world.

The food we got was buffet, it was okay.

We checked out quite early to catch our flight to Malaga, Spain. And then from Malaga back to good ol Norway. Here is how our trip looked like! The light blue is how our trip should’ve been.

 

I did apply for a compensation from Norwegian on the same day it happened. I got an answer on September 13, and the money was in our account a week later. So for those seeking compensation from Norwegian, be patient. It takes time, and if ever your flight gets cancelled or get’s delayed. Remember to check Forbrukerrådet.

So during our last day in Finland, we left our luggages in the lockers at the train station. We had a few hours before our flight left.

After leaving our luggages, we first went to find a place to eat. We went to have sushi at one of the buffets, then went towards the port. We wanted to go to the zoo, so we took the ferry to the island. The zoo is located at an island. Also the ticket to the ferry was quite cheap for students, and it was free for my sister.

When we arrived at the zoo, it was raining, so my sister and I bought rain ponchos. After 10 minutes, the rain stopped and we kinda wasted 5euros -.-” It was sunny for the duration of our stay

The zoo was in my opinion quite spacious and each animal had good space and they had a lot of  stimulations for the animals. They also kept old bear cages that they used decades ago. They were quite small cages. We weren’t able to see some animals like the fox, as it was hidden somewhere. I think we were there for almost 4 hours. We had to leave to reach the ferry back to the centre. We were able to see almost everything.

I might be the worlds worst traveler when it comes to food! We never ate a Finnish dish.

So what did we eat? Here they are

Geisha ice cream! Oh so good!

Salted Chocolate Fudge from Fudge Love! This one is so good! Like seriously delicious! My sister and I shared one, because it was a bit pricey if you ask me, but so worth it.

Taco Bell! Yes they have TacoBell in Finland. I have never tried TacoBell, so I wanted to try it. I ordered a shared box for my sister and I. was it worth it? Meh, it was okay.

Pasta Carbonara from Vapiano! We stood in line for almost an hour just to get this pasta carbonara. When I first stood in line I was very hungry, but after taking a few bites. the cream was too much. It was good yes, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to eat it all up

Magnum Double coconut! I love coconut and chocolate together so this ice cream was so delicous!

I ordered some proper sushi. It was expensive, since I went to a sushi shop inside a mall, but it was okay.

Smurf pear soda. It was way too sweet though 😛

HESBURGER! This place is great! Delicous burger! wished I ate more of it when I was there 🙂

So during a late night search for food, we went to BurgerKing and saw chicken fries. We don’t have these in Norway, I think, so I wanted to try it! They were like an elongated chicken nugget btw.

First batch of sushi from an all-you can eat sushi buffet. I think we paid about 12 EUR per person.I say it’s worth it, especially considering how many sushi bites you can get with that price here in Norway!

We stayed at Omena Hotel Helsinki Lönnrotinkatu. I have stayed at an Omena Hotel before, and had a nice experience. The hotel does not have a reception, so all the information about our hotel we got before checking-in. The hotel is quite close to the city centre, I think it takes us about 10 minutes or less of walking and then we are at the city centre.

I am not able to show a photo of the hotel room as a whole, because I suck at taking pictures and the photo I have is so blurry!

The room I booked is for four people. So here is the beds. The red squares are foldable beds btw!

From the red wall where the folding beds are. There is a big square room which is the bathroom. on the other side of the wall there are shelves. One with microwave, one with a water cooker, tea and cups. The last shelf space is for a mini fridge. In front of the bed, the proper ones, is a giant tv screen. We also had a chair and foldable stools.

The place was okay! One complaint though is that the bathroom lights keep turning off every few minutes. you need to wave a hand for the detector. Also they have this bottle that is 3 in 1, shampoo, soap and conditioner. Normally I don’t like those stuff, but the one at Omena was actually quite good! My hair was smooth 😀

I like that they have a lot of charging ports! It is a must if you ask me!