New Year's Eve

So the day after our arrival, New Years Eve, although severely jet lagged, we felt obligated to go out and explore, experiencing all the sights and smells Bordeaux has to offer.  Based on our previous experience, I had a slight suspicion that finding a place to eat without a reservation in a new city on this night might be a bit challenging.   

We stumbled upon this busy back alley in the old town filled with restaurants.  The whole street was crowded with pedestrians all dressed up making their way to possibly their most important meal of the year.  We wanted our first official meal to be French cuisine.  After all, we traveled 24+ hours to get here.  The first few restaurants we approached were French, but the first question they asked was "Reservation?"  We quickly realized that no reservation, no dinner could well be our fate for our New Years Eve.  In the meantime, Levina was losing it.  She was so tired that she could care less about food.  Maybe we should widen our options.  Maybe we'll do French another night.  Maybe kids will like this restaurant, Ottoman, serving Turkish foods.  Noah was very resistant, Evania just wanted food...any kinda food, and Levina...stopped walking already.  That's 4 to 1.  We told the server that we had no reservation, and the server looked very apologetic, but he said "1 minute" and went inside.  I'm sure it took less a minute for him to return, but it felt eternity.  When he came back with open arms, it was such a relief.  We get food, YAH!  

Inside the restaurant is very tastefully decorated with Turkish furniture and rugs.  I loved what I saw.  It felt like we were in one of Rick Steves Europe Netflix travel shows.  I was sure the food would be just as good as seen on the show.

Levina decided that she didn't like the Champagne 🍾  

 

Our food didn't disappoint.  The main entree is lamb on a bed of rice with flames, so flavourful, absolutely delicious.  It ended with a variety of Turkish delights.  The girls were excited to try the Turkish delights.  They had read about them ever since they were young from the Nutcracker picture book, and had asked me what they tasted like every time.   Nick made a bet with the kids before the food was served that we would not visit Turkey if they didn't like the food.  Well, the verdict was yes.  They would like to see Turkey, or should we say Türkiye.

First 24+ Hours

After spending months packing up our 2800 sqft house into boxes, we started our year-long journey abroad with 2 suitcases and 5 backpacks. First stop, Bordeaux, France.

Travelling across the Atlantic ocean was exciting, but not kind to parents, especially if you have a kid like Evania who gets sick before setting her foot on the plane. She literally puked all the way (YYJ -> YVR -> AMS -> BOD), without any food and water. Our Dutch flight attendant's concern for her well-being almost made me feel guilty. I tried to downplay her physical state. The plan backfired. The lovely lady insisted a bit of coca cola would help. Well, the end result was not a pretty sight. It's safe to say her future profession would not involve any air travel.

Levina and Noah did well overall.  Binge watching Wednesday during the layover kept them content.  Levina practiced her French flash cards on the flight from AMS to BOD.

We landed in the Bordeaux airport safe and sound. Evania was feeling relieved that the end was near, and a bed was awaiting. The humidity in the air from the recent rain was so refreshing, very tropical like, temp at 20 Celsius. ALL of our luggage showed up. What a relief, considering the horror stories you read about thousands of lost luggage at the airport! Our Uber driver showed up. Another relief! Our travel almost ended without a hiccup. Well, too good to be true. Our Uber driver spoke rapidly (I guess that's what French sounds like) with a few English words. In essence, he wasn't able to take all of us. But the car we reserved was for 6 passengers, wasn't it??? My stress level plateaued at this point. He said "Oui, 6 persons WITHOUT luggage, with luggage only 4 persons". What?! Ok, Which kid can we ditch? He decisively turned to Nick, telling him to take the bus, easy, 2 Euro! Just like that, we got rid of one of the kids. Nick's travel continued by public transport in the beautiful city of Bordeaux.😂 

The ride from BOD to our Airbnb was short, 20 min.  I'd be lying if I said kids were thrilled with our Airbnb. "This alley looks sketchy", "I miss Kiki", "I wanna go home", "I want my own bed" Ugh 😩 I was not in a mood to please them. I felt the same way. I miss my 4 legged daughter. The fact that I'm now responsible for one fewer being is a strange concept to me. 

 Our Airbnb is small, around 60 m2 (roughly 650 sqft) but it's got everything we need. It's completely kitted out of Ikea catalog, smart and functional designs for small spaces, 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The 2nd bathroom is a bonus. It wasn't in the Airbnb description. And the 2nd bedroom... hum, technically isn't a separate room on its own. It's separated by a large curtain from the living room. Beds and linens are clean and comfortable. But again, 1 too many kid, so the lucky kid gets the sofa for a week and they decide to take turns. The youngest always gets shafted. Levina volunteered to take the couch. We'll see how that goes. 

The kitchen is fancier than mine back home. It's got an induction stove top. I don't know why I haven't invested in the induction technology all these years. That thing cooks food in no time, and turns off on its own if you remove the pot. How did I survive cooking using an electric stove top? Something in the kitchen is a bit out of the ordinary. Where you expect to see a dishwasher is actually a washing machine for your laundry 🤣 and no it's not a dual function dish/washing machine. I guess we have to be smart about reusing dishes or not using dishes at all for eating.

Dishwasher or no dishwasher, I was feeling relieved that we now have a place we can call home, at least for the next little while.