Bruges.

We are back from our weekend getaway in Bruges which turned out to be a speedy 36h visit. The shots above do not do the weekend justice as it actually rained the entire time we were there (hence our cutting the weekend short). These photos were all taken the same morning as we dashed around visiting as much as possible whilst the sun was out. The town was absolutely beautiful but there was one major downfall: every restaurant, café, bar, shop was a total tourist trap. It reminded us of Disneyland where everything is magically beautiful but you can't jump off a ride without getting trapped in that souvenir shop with countless other tourists. Though to be fair, I think we were just really unlucky with the weather. Our wet feet and L. being strapped in his pushchair the whole time meant that many indoor breaks were taken for us to get dry and for the offspring to go wild. This probably explains why we were so disillusioned by these overpriced places. That said, Bruges does justify its popularity by being such a pretty postcard city.

Paris vs. New York.

These illustrations by Vahram Muratyan remind me of my first (and only) trip to New York City. I went in spring 2000 with a friend. We were students and drove 12 hours to get there because we could not afford to fly. Little did we realise it would be so expensive when we arrived (I remember paying $15 for a cup of coffee and slice of cake). We ended up staying 36 hours and driving back. Crazy. The kind of thing you only do when you're 18. Back then I swore I would go back right after uni. That was a decade ago and I still have no concrete plans of visiting the big apple. I need to see to that, especially now that I have a mini-me and that NYC sounds like a rather baby-friendly city. 

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Mon quartier.