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Pregnant through the Tuscany – part V

Pregnant through the Tuscany – part V

The last stop is Verona and the lake Garda, we’ve been here before as well but both are worth a second and even a third, fourth and fifth visit if you ask me.

The hotel is at the lake and after we checked in we went to the pool to swim and relax a bit. In the early afternoon we got ready to drive to Verona (which is an around 30 km way).

There was so much traffic that we were wondering what’s going on in the city and we were already a bit scared that parking will be a nightmare but our hidden parking garage from our last visit seems to be an insider tip as it was almost empty.

Once there we found out that Aida would be played for the last time this season in the Arena Verona and therefore many were driving into the city.

We strolled through the old part of Verona, ate gelato, enjoyed the rays of sunshine on our skin.

In the evening we planned to eat Pizza in a Pizzeria very close to the Arena which tasted so good the year before. This year it was even special as we were able to listen a bit to the music from the arena although it’s indeed much less what you hear outside than I thought.

VeronaArena

(The man is my husband so no worries about people on picture rights 🙂 )

There it was, our last evening in Italy for this year. The years to come will never be the same because we will be three persons. There are exciting times in front of us and we can’t wait to meet this little baby.

Will it be a boy or a girl? We have already a name for each but which name will be written down for the first time in April 2016 to document the birth of our new family member?

You see there is much more to write about…

At the end I give you a few more Italy impressions – enjoy.

Montalto di Castro

Orbetello

Orbetello

Follonica

Follonica

Siena

SienaSienaCampusSiena1Siena

Piombino

Piombino

Nature <3

Tuscany

Follonica

Follonica

Castiglione della Pescaia

Castiglione della Pescaia

Castelnuovo del Garda

Castelnuovo del Garda

Peschiera del Garda

Peschiera del Garda

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Shopping in Madrid

Shopping in Madrid

Oh my god, I promised to tell you about shopping in Madrid and then I almost forgot about it. The main reason why I didn’t wrote it shortly after my stay there was on the one hand that my mind was filled up with training topics and on the other hand I had to calm down as I was so angry on a person who crashed this shopping trip. I like to go shopping, some may even say I’m addicted to it. Mostly exciting for me are cities I visit for the first time as I can explore them step by step. My favorite parts are the small streets with small local shops. The main shopping areas always have the same shops we have almost everywhere around Europe and these are less interesting for me. If I buy something new I like it that not everyone has the same piece in his wardrobe. When I knew that I will be in Madrid for a few days I loved the idea of exploring the city but I was aware upfront that I will not go alone, we were three colleagues from Germany and its like an unwritten rule that you go together and not completely alone. That’s not the problem at all, as normally as an adult I would assume that even if I like one shop and the others don’t that they just move on and we meet up a few shops later again. Not in this case. One of the two others, and that was the one who told me upfront that shopping was the main aim, was crashing it completely. Zara and Mango, two shops we have here in Germany too, were the place to go for her. Accepted as I know they are cheaper in Spain because they are Spanish and they often have different collections, but that the first questions afterwards was where to sit down for a coffee was already making me slightly angry. We just went into the city and to sit down after two general shops for rest and coffee was ridiculous for me. Not only because I wanted to see other shops, no, also because I wanted to see Madrid, explore the city instead of staying in a cafe. She was persuaded quickly by me and the other colleague that we like to move on a bit. What happened then was even more ridiculous. She was standing near to the exit in each shop she didn’t liked and there were many she seemed to disapprove, it was like having a guard standing there, pointing to clock, yawning in between, a face like being exhausted and the urgent need to sit down and rest. You an imagine how much fun it was for us to stroll through a shop knowing that she’s waiting. It’s like putting pressure on someone without saying it, completely mean. But if you think we just stopped for a coffee and the world was ok afterwards, haha, not at all. After a coffee it was the same scenery as before, the one who wanted to buy her whole winter wardrobe in Madrid was standing in waiting position in front of each and every shop, one bag in her hand with a tiny, cheap, Mango pullover. I started to ignore it as my day was still kind of fine and I discovered a few more shops to enter as she was suddenly asking if we may go now and have dinner. Dinner at seven pm where the shops are open until nine? I would go for dinner at nine and enjoy the shopping upfront and besides that is seven time for having dinner? Maybe for a child but surely not for me while being in Madrid with shops open. But she was so hungry and her time for dinner is always seven and she made a face like fainting in five minutes if she’s not getting her dinner in time so that we finally said ok and swallowed the bitter pill. We never ate dinner as speedy as this to get out of the restaurant before the shops were closing. Forty five minutes later she was happy again as we were on our way back to the hotel and we, the other two, were sure of one thing: never ever go shopping this person!
As bottom line, Madrid is a wonderful city with lots of shops, there’s the main street, the gran via, and many of small streets with tiny and cute shops. Almost everything in fashion is a bit cheaper than in Germany and I’m really sad that it didn’t turned out as it was planned. I hopefully may go there once again, but this time not on business, just private to really enjoy the city.
My fiancé is already aware that next time he’s needed to carry my shopping bags 😉

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Planning a Business Trip to Madrid

Planning a Business Trip to Madrid

When traveling for business purposes what should be on your mind?
For sure to finish your work while being there.
This time I’m traveling soon to Madrid but even if its business, it’s “just” a training.
So what’s the difference?
The difference is that it’s far more casual than having to provide results to a client afterwards. It’s an internal training on the job which is of course also important but in another way. I will be the trainee and not the trainer and just have to sit and listen instead of presenting. That way it’s more relaxed. I will travel with two colleagues and also meet colleagues when being there. Almost all are women, so?
Madrid – we are coming!
Eating tapas in the best tapas bar guided by locals, shopping, we already found out that there are two big shopping malls near to our hotel, and the city itself has so much to discover also. It’s like a short trip to a city which contains work but instead of sitting in the hotel after training to prepare the next day we have free time to discover the amenities Madrid has. These times remind me always on school trips, you had to went into different museums and churches and listen to the guide or teacher but the fun started afterwards when you had a few hours left for yourself.
And what to say, I’m living in Munich and of course we have more than enough places for shopping, but what I like is to discover stores and little shops which sell stuff not available in Munich or Germany. Small shops from the locals and even big stores which aren’t based anywhere in Germany. The best is to have something where you exactly know, no one else has the same, it’s kind of unique when being back home. It doesn’t mean it has to be expensive, not at all, if its on sale it’s even more fun.
But it’s not completely about shopping, more about the whole package.
You just stroll through a city which is completely new for you, stopping here and there, stepping into small shops which attract you, sitting in cafés for a break and enjoy the time.
I like it so much to discover cities on my own without guidance and just have the opportunity to stop whenever and wherever I like to. It’s a bit like a short holiday even when is work but the location change is setting free energy as you don’t want to leave a city without having seen it. And I know what I’m asking about, I did it for so many years. When I started working for the company I was always traveling, mostly within Germany, but during this time I had to deliver results at the end of the day and the days where based on flying somewhere, hurrying to the taxi and driving to the workplace for the day. After work was finished it was either the same way back home or driving into a hotel, writing reports in the evening and ordering dinner to the room. Honestly, I was in almost all big cities we have in Germany and for the most of them I hadn’t the time to see more than hotels and airports.
Glad that these times are gone, they were an experience but nowadays I like working in my home office and from time to time I get the possibility to plan trips like this time Madrid with less pressure behind. I’m not the career type at all but I have to admit that sometimes stepping up the ladder into higher positions provides you with opportunities you hadn’t before and I worked hard enough to get there. That’s why I can say today that I like it.
Let’s see what Madrid is like, looking forward to it as I haven’t been there before and I will let you know afterwards if I like it or not.
And I have to fulfill a special task and make pictures of the Real Madrid stadion 😉
Keep the faith!

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