Come Fly With Me

It’s hard to describe the beauty and the feeling of being in Rome, especially for the first time. American Airlines gave us flight attendants a gift, by putting us up in a hotel in the heart of Rome. Every place of interest is in walking distance. Every corner I turned I was in awe!

HOTEL SAVOY

It was so hard to take a nap because of the anticipated excitement that lied ahead. Without hesitation, I had to force myself to nap. I needed the energy to see all that I could see in one day.

ROME

Rome is the capital of Italy and the largest city in the country. It is located on the western coast of central Italy along the Tiber River. Rome known as the “Eternal City” is called that because it is a place of great beauty, contrast and life. The city is home to numerous iconic landmarks that are a testament to its rich heritage. Rome is famous for having fabulous foods such as spaghetti, pizza and delicious creamy gelato.

THE SPANISH STEPS

The Spanish Steps are one of the most famous stairs in the world. The steps were built in 1723 and 1726. They are the steps that lead from the Piazza di Spagna ( Spanish Square) at the base and Piazza Trinita del Monti that has the Trinita dei Monti church at the top. There are 135 steps and 12 ramps. Also it has 3 terraces that represent the Holy Trinity. The Spanish Steps represent figuratively and metaphorically the close relationship between the Sacred and the Eternal city. This landmark in Rome hosts many events, such as fashion shows, filming of movies and special Italian ceremonies. A fun fact is that the stairs were also considered as a place to rest from the long walks through the city of Rome, but in 2019 a law came into effect saying it is illegal to sit on the steps. By doing this, they hope to preserve this special landmark.

View from one of the terraces on the Spanish Steps.

Fontana della Barcaccia

This is the fountain, which is found at the foot of the Spanish Steps. This fountain looks like an old fishing boat.

We continued walking through the streets of Rome.

The Trevi Fountain

The Trevi Fountain is the most famous fountain in the world and definitely in Rome. It has intricate artwork and lots of history. The Fountain also showcases the skills in the ancient Roman’s. I could not believe I didn’t have a coin to toss in. According to the legend, one coin: you will return to Rome, two coins: you will fall in love with an attractive Italian, three coins: you will return, find love, and marry. Luck or no luck, the money goes to a good cause. It was fun seeing everyone throwing the coins in!

Pantheon

Next stop, was The Pantheon. The Pantheon is a former Roman temple and since 609 AD, a Catholic Church in Rome. It is the most preserved monument off Ancient Rome. It was constructed as a temple dedicated to the Gods and became the burial ground for several important artists and kings.

We decided it was time to stop for a cold drink!

As we were sitting there enjoying our cold drink, we witnessed a marriage proposal in front of us! It was very romantic. The bride to be was in tears!

Cat Sanctuary

For all you cat lovers, you would love the Roman Cats Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary. I loved that we fell upon this place. This Cat Sanctuary is a cat shelter in Rome. It makes use of the ancient ruins of Largo di Torre Argentina by providing a home within them for around 150 cats. After the excavation of the temple ruins in 1929, feral cats were drawn to the area, sheltered by the Roman pillars and fed by locals. If you zoom into the photo on the right you can see 2 of the cats just loving life and lounging on the rocks. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take any photos when we got down into the ruins because the cameras scare the cats. I left the Sanctuary with a happy heart!

Altara della Patria (Wedding Cake in Rome)

The Altara della Patria commemorates the unification of Italy in 1861 and the first king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II. It is known in Rome as the wedding cake because of the building is layered and white, like a wedding cake.

We left the Altara della Patria and headed to the Colosseum. Along the route, we appreciated the beautiful buildings, accompanied with multiple ruins.

Colosseum

The Colosseum is the largest amphitheater built during the Roman Empire. It’s one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. The Colosseum is over 1,900 years old. The gladiator games were held at the Colosseum. Aside from the games, the Colosseum also hosted dramas, reenactments, and even public executions. A series of earthquakes during the fifth century damaged the structure.

The fun did not stop here. Actually, the fun began because the Rome Gay Pride Parade was about to end their parade here at the Colosseum.

It was time to leave the festivities and head to dinner.

Sunset at the Colosseum

Dinner Time

My pizza was so delicious!

When in Rome, you always make room for creamy gelato. I had chocolate chip that was so scrumptious!!

I couldn’t have asked for a better crew to explore Rome with. We walked over 10 miles that day. Every step was filled with fun and laughter. Even though I didn’t get to throw the coin into the fountain, I know I will return to this breathtaking, romantic, timeless place called Rome.

CIAO, A PRESTO!

Barcelona, Spain captured my heart! Not only was I enchanted with the beautiful views and a fun city, I was so happy to being experiencing Barcelona with my dear friend, Tracey! Yes, we are flying together again! We are both now based in New York.
Happiness is flying with the people you love.

First stop after a couple of hours of sleep was to our rooftop at our hotel! Wow!! What a beautiful view and the white sangaria was a yummy way to start our day!

Our Captain Heinz, knowing that it was my first time to Barcelona offered to take us to a few of his favorite places. Another crew member Meilan joined the fun.

BOQUERIA MERCADO BARCELONA
La Boqueria is the most famous market in Barcelona located in the center of the city (Las Ramblas). It is so picturesque with all the different types of food. This is a place to spend feasting the senses!

After having a delicious lunch, we set afoot to enjoy the streets of Barcelona.

IGLESIA SANTA MARIA DEL MAR

We came upon this beautiful church to stop and give thanks for our incredible day!

So much to see, but not enough time to see it all. It was time for dinner. Heinz brought us to one of his favorite restaurants.
CALABASA RESTARANT

We cooked our meat on a a hot stone , that perfectly sears the meat keeping it very juicy to our own liking. The steak was absolutely delicious!

It was time to head back to our hotel. Loved walking along the water and seeing stunning yachts. It was a fun filled day but not over yet! We headed back to our hotel to enjoy the sunset from where we had started our day!

ROOFTOP

BUENAS NOCHES

Unfortunately Marianne wasn’t able to join me on this trip!! Here’s to you Marianne!
You are truly missed! Can’t wait til we fly together again soon!❌⭕️

What a dream come true! I could never have imagined I would get to experience the extraordinary beauty and charm of Lake Como!
Marianne was such a good sport. In order to have a full day at Lake Como, there would be no time to take a nap when we arrived at our hotel in Milan. We had to start our day running! We tried to nap from the airport to the hotel on the bus. It certainly wasn’t easy!

Even though we didn’t sleep, we were still very excited to take the 1 1/2 hour ride on the train to Lake Como.

We arrived!! The lookout for George Clooney began.
LAKE COMO

Lake Como, is in northern Italy’s Lombardy Region and is an upscale resort area known for its dramatic scenery set against the foothills of the Alps. It has been a popular retreat for aristocrats and wealthy people since Roman times. George Clooney purchased a lavish villa on Lake Como in 2002.

Funicular Railway

This Funicular Railway (cable car) goes from Como near the lake waterfront to the top of a hill in the Village of Brunate. The 7 minute ride passes through a scenic stretch of countryside with sweeping views of Italy’s Lake Como as far as the Swiss Alps. So of course, Marianne and I waited in line for the Funicular Railway so we could see the view of the lake from above. Absolutely beautiful!

The view from above was breathtaking! Now it was time to enjoy the waterfront and have a delicious bite to eat!

It was a lot of fun sitting outside and watching the world go by!

To our amazement, Lake Como is filled with elegant white swans. They were calmly swimming and grooming themselves in the midst of all the human activity.

Towards the evening, we were pleasantly surprised when 2 of our SFO family members, Beth and Sinda joined us to make fun memories at Lake Como!

Sad to say, it was getting late and we had to get to the train station for our return trip to Milan. These International flight Attendants needed to get some sleep. Our passengers depended on us to be fresh and energized to work our trip back to New York in the morning.

Our wonderful day at Lake Como, will always hold a special place in our hearts.

ARRIVEDERCI LAKE COMO

Marianne and I happily arrived in Milan Friday morning. Passengers were nice, no drama to be had! Even the rain wasn’t going to dampen our spirits!

We needed to eat something small before tackling Milan so we walked to the local grocery store and brought back snacks. We ate our snacks at a table in front of our elevator, on the floor in which our rooms are located. It was actually quite nice. So now we are ready to enjoy the day.

The train station is 1 block from our hotel, so it’s very easy to get around in Milan. Our desired destination was to see the Canals in Milan.

Of course in Nancy’s fashion, my umbrella broke. That was not going to stop our fun! Our friend Sinda from San Francisco joined our outing.

We came across a pizza place that we couldn’t resist! The Italian crust is very thin like a cracker where Anerican pizza can vary from thin to thick. Instead of slow cooked tomato sauce that is offered in the US. Italy uses olive oil, puréed fresh tomatoes, garlic and oregano. The pizza was scrumptious!

We continued on our walk to come across the enchanting view of the Duomo. No time to stop, we continued on with our walk to find the canals,

As my Mother always told me, every time you walk into a new church, you can make a wish! With my wish done, I also lit a candle for my beautiful Mother!💗. Lighting a candle for someone is a way to extend our prayers and show solidarity with the person the prayer is being made on behalf of. The faithful also light candles as a sign of gratitude to God for answered prayers.

We made it to the canals!! Milan’s canals were built because of the Duomo. They were constructed to transport goods from nearby lakes to build the Duomo in 1482 by Leonardo de Vinci. The canals are filled with bars, restaurants and boutiques!

Our kind Captain mentioned he made a dinner reservation at his favorite restaurant on the canal. So we took it upon ourselves to surprise him by sitting at his reserved table when he arrived. He was very gracious to have us join him.

After our stomachs full of pasta, we headed back to the hotel to enjoy a goodnight sleep before our return to New York. We would be staying at our Crashpad before heading back to Milan the next day.

Of course, the rain followed us from Milan to New York. However, this did not dampen our spirits!

BUONA NOTTE

Marianne and I returned to our beloved São Paulo. We left Wednesday night from New York arriving in São Paulo Thursday morning. We were suppose to have heavy rains, but boy did we luck out with sunny skies. After a brief nap, my tour director, Marianne came up with a plan. We were to adventure out to find the highest point of São Paulo by foot. As you can imagine, many pitfalls came our way!

Our destination was to a rooftop at an apartment complex that allowed guests at 3pm to enjoy the view of the city. Our walking trip was suppose to be 2.9 miles and with a speedy gait we would make it on time.

Everything was going perfect until we came upon Little Italy and stopped to take photos. To our dismay we lost our way. We missed an important left turn. This is when the craziness began.

We thought we could get back on track if we took the next left, unfortunately we were definitely out of our element. We asked directions from the locals, in which, they only spoke fast Portuguese to us. We knew that we were left to our own initiative. After many twists and turns, we came upon a police station. We enthusiastically ran up the steps to find 2 nice police officers that also didn’t speak English, but they were eager to help. We showed them on our phone the destination we planned to go. They showed us on their phone how to go. We definitely thought we could do this. One of the police officers walked us out and the only English parting word to us was DANGEROUS! He pointed to our phone and showed us to keep the phone hidden. Yikes, now we had to memorize the directions. The São Paulo bad guys love to steal phones by riding by on their bikes and snatching the phone out of your hand. It happens so fast. You can’t even react. Thank goodness Marianne has a good memory. We were doing just fine until we reached the church. We couldn’t remember whether to take a left or right. Of course we took the wrong way.

We walked up this steep street and couldn’t see our destination. So we stopped and asked construction workers. They pointed back down the hill.

The photo above shows the tall building, which was our desired destination, Edoficio Copan. It’s a 38-story residential building in São Paulo. It’s one of the largest building in Brazil. Copan has guided tours to the top of the building to see the amazing skyline of São Paulo.

We couldn’t believe after almost 5 miles, we found Copan. We were late but we quickened our step to see if we could be lucky enough to get to the top to see the view. We entered the building and noticed not much was happening in the lobby. We asked a guard how to get to the top and the only English word we could make out was COVID. We figured it out that the tours at Copan had stopped because of Covid and never started up again. With a sigh and disappointment, we looked at each other with dismay. Although in an instant, our luck changed. The guard was kind enough to say and point to another building that was next door. We had no idea what we were going to encounter.

We arrived next door to ask to go up to the top; the concierge asked if we had a reservation. We said no. She waited a couple of moments and said would we like to go to the bar. Is she kidding , this is a dream come true for us. Have a drink at the bar and see the spectacular view. She said a fee of 50 reals per person would go on our tab, which is around $10.00 each. We agreed without hesitation. We didn’t walk all this way to go home without seeing the view.

Edificio Italia

Edifico Italia is a 46 story office tower which has the Terraio Italia Restaurant and Bar on the 41st floor. The view was definitely worth the 5 mile walk.

The great part of this experience was for the most part we had the place to ourselves. Brazalians come out much later for drinks and dinner.

Since we arrived at our destination late, we were right on time for a spectacular sunset at 5:34pm.

What a day we had! We decided to uber back to our hood and go to our favorite restaurant…Monte Carlo.

The next day was low keyed since we had to work on our bids. What are bids you might be asking? This is very important in a flight attendant’s world. Each month between the 10th and 15th, a flight attendant has to request what trips and days off he or she may need for the following month. So we start off by putting dream trips in and then we get back to reality. The last day is the 15th to put bids in and then the waiting game. Your bid results come out of the 18th. It’s all done by seniority. The bid results are always a surprise on what trips you get and the days off. Nothing is predictable! That’s why at our interviews over 30 years ago, we were asked if we could be flexible! American wasn’t kidding!

Marianne and I worked on our bids in the hotel lobby.

Time to say goodbye to São Paulo! Thanks for the memories.

We knew we made it back to New York when the purser put the red, white and blue lights on!

GOD BLESS AMERICA

I am a firm believer that it doesn’t matter where you travel to, the magic happens when you travel with best buds to enhance the journey! Marianne is on vacation and is visiting her family in Sweden. I was incredibly fortunate to get on this Milan trip with my SFO buddies who I call family. We have flown together in SFO for over 30 years. We have been through so much together….boyfriends, husbands, children, pets, sicknesses and loss, but at the end of the day we have laughter. Through it all, we have always been San Francisco Strong!! We have each other’s back!

First stop after our nap, was to the local grocery store. I am no foodie, but these girls know their stuff. A few of the items that they bring back home are dry pasta, olive oil and cheese. After a successful shopping experience, we headed back to the hotel to have a debrief. (A debrief in Flight Attendant jargon means we go to one of our rooms and have a beverage of some sort and snacks to discuss our next plan of action.)

Debrief complete. Game plan decided. We are ready to tackle Milan.

We jumped on the Metro to go see Duomo di Milano.

It was so impressive. The Duomo is the largest Gothic Church in the world and the largest church in Italy. It is a Cathedral that is home to the archbishop of Milan. It has 3,400 statues , plus marble figures stand all over the cathedral. It took 600 years to complete.

Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square) is the main piazza (city square) of Milan.

The mall, named La Rinascente, is situated right next to the Duomo in the Piazza del Duomo. It has 4 floors with stylish department stores with the best brands of fashion and much more.

It was time for dinner. We were going to an Italian Restaurant that was recommended by another flight attendant. The walk through the town felt magical. I loved all the cobblestone streets.

It was a delicious Italian dinner at a nice restaurant with sidewalk seating. I had spaghetti, but the girls who love seafood had an incredible plate..seafood over linguini. To our surprise it had a delicious crust covering the seafood.

Time to get back to the hotel. It was an unforgettable day spent with my dear friends.

Our night was not over yet, Beth had a surprise for us. She has a dear friend that owns a restaurant across the street from our hotel. It’s closed on Sundays, but he opened it just for us to have a nightcap! That’s Italian hospitality for you!!

We had to get up early the next day to fly our 8 hour flight back to New York. Like the SFO tradition the flight was full of laughter.

Being silly, the 5 of us squished into the crew bunk area for a photo shoot! We couldn’t even move! I’m sure the passengers were shocked when we all piled out from this hidden door.

This is our beautiful view from our office. This trip was definitely full of new footprints and memories from Milan. I am very blessed to have such wonderful coworkers that became dear friends. Sometimes all you need is a great friend and thirst for adventure to make life more fun.

CIAO

Are we really flight attendants that are working or are we 2 girls on vacation having fun experiencing the different parts of the world? We have decided to look at each work trip as a vacation!

Marianne and I started our 2 back to back trips to São Paulo on Tuesday, April 11. The trips are actually easier than working domestic flights. The passengers are generally so kind and grateful. This is a change for us. As I mentioned before, many people go to São Paulo for all types of beauty treatments. This time Marianne and I decided to have some fun with getting our hair done. Our hair stylist did not speak any English, so she had an interpreter with her the whole time. We asked if we could have our appointments together. They said yes.. no problem. First 3 1/2 hours I watched Marianne get her hair done and the next 3 1/2 hours Marianne watched me get my hair done. Our stylist was like an artist and was not going to be rushed.

Both Marianne and I were both pleased with our hair. The stylist gave us so many treatments; we couldn’t keep up. I know she wanted our hair to be hydrated!

After our Salon visit, it was late so we had a much needed glass of wine and dinner at the hotel and went to bed.

The next day we just walked around the neighborhood.

We were picked up at the hotel at 730pm to head back to the airport. It was a nice 9 hour flight back to New York arriving Friday morning at 6am.

After arriving at JFK, we needed to get to the Crashpad to get some sleep because we were flying back to São Paulo that night.

We arrived back in to São Paulo Saturday morning. We took a 2 hour nap and then we headed off to seek new adventures outside our hotel neighborhood.

Paulista Avenue

We could not believe Paulista Avenue was only 1.7 miles away from our hotel. Everyone told us to go over the bridge and keep walking straight up a hill and that’s what we did. To much of our amazement, Paulista Avenue felt similar to 5th Avenue in New York. Paulista Avenue is one of Brazil’s most famous streets, it has several museums, restaurants and lots of shopping. Paulista Avenue is closed to passage of cars on Sunday. It becomes full of vendors and lots of entertainment. We were there on Saturday and it was still fun.

Chapel of Santa Catarina

We stopped at this beautiful chapel along our walk to pray for a dear family that is close to our hearts.

After serval fun hours spent on Paulista Avenue, we started down the hill to find a restaurant to have dinner.

Monte Carlo Restaurant

We were walking down the hill through many different neighborhoods and we came across this restaurant that had a lot of local people sitting having their dinner. What a find! This restaurant was our kind of place…fun and delicious!

Our waiter did not speak English at all. He only spoke Portuguese, but what he did have was a translator on his phone. We had a chuckle when I asked for a glass with my beer and I got a wine glass. I definitely was drinking my beer with class. He was using the translator nonstop when we ordered dinner. We ordered 1 mixed meat platter and I asked for grilled onions to be included. This is what the translation came out as..

1 Mixed Meat Platter with onions and 1 Pork Sausage Platter with onions. We had enough food for an army. It was sooo delicious. We took the extra platter back to the hotel and ate it the next day on the plane. Lesson learned…we need to learn Portuguese .

We made it back to our hotel to see one of American’s finest…Jennifer Pollack. She was heading out the door to fly back to New York!

Off to bed we went, to get a good night rest! We had another day to spread our wings in São Paulo.

Good morning São Paulo. This is our view from our hotel.

We stay at the Pullman Hotel. They provide us with a complimentary breakfast buffet. It’s a great way to start our day!

After a yummy breakfast, Marianne came up with our adventure of the day. We are now ready to explore Batman Alley!

Batman Alley

Beco do Batman is an area near Vila Magdalena in São Paulo where 3 alleys meet. Every inch of wall at the dense urban crossroads is covered with graffiti and the pieces even extend down onto the sidewalks. Well known street artists from not only Brazil but all over the world are attracted to this sanctuary of graffiti and come to make their marks. The street art started in the 80s when the first drawing of superhero Batman was drawn. The art was amazing!

I definitely have a new outlook on graffiti. Not only did we see so much art, we also had fun checking out all the treasures the artists were selling.

We needed to get back to the hotel, because these two girls had to nap before working our 9 hour flight back tonight to New York. We still had more to see on our 3 mile walk back to the hotel!

We saw this beautiful church on our way back. We decided we would do Sunday Mass here on our next visit.

Yes, Marianne and I are back to work and what a magical week we had. We left Sunday night for Paris to fly two trips to Paris back to back. We were able to experience the beauty of Paris in many places.

I knew it was going to be a great trip when on the 1 hour bus trip from the airport to our hotel, I looked up and saw my name on the sign. Who knew that France has a City called Nancy!

To my amazement, on the same bus ride, I read the sign that said Saint-Denis. Saint-Denis is the second most populated suburb of Paris. This was definitely a sign that I was going to have a great layover and it undoubtedly was!

Paris is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is the capital of France. Paris, the city of light and love is regarded as the most romantic city and a heaven for foodies and fashion lovers. It has countless gorgeous landmarks and monuments that add to the beauty of the spacious boulevards and their charming cafes.

Arc de Triomphe

The Arc de Triomphe is one of the most famous monuments in Paris. On orders of Napoleon, it was built in 1806 to honor the victories of his Grande Army. .Every evening there is a flame that is lit on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier from the Great War. The top terrace of the Arc de Triomphe provides superb views across the city and its great sweeping avenues. The most famous avenue is Champ-Elysees which is connected to the Arc de Triomphe of the other side of this photo. The Avenue des Champs-Elysees is the world’s most beautiful avenue. It is lined with restaurants and luxury fashion retailers.

Eiffel Tower

No matter how many times I see the Eiffel Tower, I am in awe! When I walked around the corner and got my first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower, a sense of excitement and amazement came over me. It is a powerful and distinctive symbol of Paris.

Before getting to the Eiffel Tower, we had to stop for a delicious croissant. On the street next to the boulangerie, where we purchased our croissants, the young ones where taking photos like they were models. After all the girls left, I said to Marianne, “We got this!”

Moving on we made our way to the Eiffel Tower. For 130 years, the Eiffel Tower has been a powerful symbol of France. It was built for the 1889 World’s Fair. This wrought iron structure impressed the entire world by its stature and daring design.

Marianne and I had a lot of fun being at the Eiffel Tower. We did not walk up the tower this time. I had been to the top of the Eiffel Tower with my friends, Donna and Jeanne a few years back, where we had a much deserved champagne toast! It’s definitely a must do!

After our visit to the Eiffel Tower, we set foot back to our hotel. Along the way, we saw so many inviting cafes. In the outdoor cafes, the seats are set to look out to the street. I love this concept. It’s great for people watching!

It surly was a great day in Paris. Marianne and I walked over 7 miles that day. We couldn’t stay out too late because we had an early pickup the next day to fly back to New York.

Good Night Paris – We will see you soon.

BONNE NUIT

SO MUCH MORE TO SEE IN PARIS

We arrived back to New York , Tuesday at around 3pm. Marianne and I went to the Crashpad to get a good night sleep so we would be ready for the trip to Paris the next day. We left for Paris on Wednesday and arrived in Paris Thursday morning at 6:30am. After arriving at the hotel, we gave ourselves a 2 hour catnap so we would have energy to go exploring. We find if you sleep more than 2 hours, it’s hard to get moving.

On this layover, we tackled the Metro System. I must say we did pretty good finding our way.

Our first stop was at the building on the left, Hotel de Ville. It is the town hall of Paris. The photo on the right is the Bazar de l’Hotel de Ville. It is a French department store chain. That building is right next to the Hotel de Ville. I just loved the architecture.

The Seine River

The Seine River is 483 miles long in France. It flows through the heart of Paris. The River is spanned by 37 bridges including 4 footbridges. If you take a river cruise, you would be able to take in several monuments, such as Notre Dame Cathedral and the Louvre Museum. Great way to see Paris!

Uh Oh! I was enjoying the beauty of these flowers at this huge flower mart. I was so mesmerized by their magnificent colors and smell that I was so surprised when the French woman started yelling at me. She was yelling at me in French. I didn’t know what she was saying, I kept saying sorry. I believe I was too close to her flowers. Thank goodness I didn’t break any of her flowers or I think I would been carrying a lot of flowers through Paris.

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame de Paris is one of the oldest Gothic Cathedrals in the world. Unfortunately, we were not able to go inside because on April 15, 2020 it caught on fire. The fire is believed to have been started by either a cigarette or a short circuit in the electrical system. It’s all so sad. I feel truly blessed that I was able to go inside before the fire and see the majestic cathedral.

This is the side view of the devastation which was caused by the fire and all the work that has to be done to make it as special as it once was. I read this on the wall, “As scaffolding rose inside the cathedral, hope began to grow for the coming rebirth.” The Cathedral should be completed by the end of 2024.

The next stop was the Latin Quarters. This is the oldest district in Paris. It’s lively with lots of shops and restaurants and cobblestone streets.

Montmartre

Montmartre is a large hill in Paris. The church above is the Sacra-Couer Basilica. This Roman Catholic Church sits on top of the hill. On top of the hill is a bohemian village. The village is filled with artists that are painting , restaurants and cobblestone streets.

One of the most special places at Montmartre for me is La Bonne Franquette. It is special for me because I had visited it with Donna and Jeanne. It’s a charming place to have a drink and watch the world go by!! It did not disappoint this time.

You cannot leave Paris without going into an artisans chocolatier. The chocolate is not only fresh, but also carefully crafted. Paris chocolatiers represent luxury in food.

Time to leave Montmartre and head back to our hotel and have some dinner. If you look between our faces, you can see the magnificent Eiffel Tower.

We made it back to our hotel. We are now experts on the Metro. It was a fun filled day.

Au revoir Paris

Can’t wait to come back.

Thank goodness for crew rest breaks. Being an International Flight Attendant is a life of napping! But it is well worth it!

Special times are when the Minahan kids can hang together. It’s always filled with fun and laughter. What happens in Naples stays in Naples!

Meet the Minahan Family. My brother Dennis to the left, sister Trish in the pink and brother Jack to the right of Trish and me next to Jack. The greatest gift our parents ever gave us was each other!

Love to start our day with a walk on Naples Beach.

Trish and I had a lot of fun on a Sunset cruise.

No one more special than beautiful Trish!

Irish Family Blessing

May love and laughter light your day, and warm your heart and home, may good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam.

My greatest trip will always be to see my Mother. I was able to jump on a flight from New York to Boston after my work trip on Thursday. The best gift I have been given is Time! Time to talk, time to listen, time to laugh and most of all time to love this special lady I call Mom.

Mom and I enjoyed a special dinner in her dining room. We were treated like Royalty!