Vacation (Part2)

On Fifth day of our vacation we headed to Montpellier with the fast trains which are called TGB in France, the distance between Paris and Montpellier is 9 hours drive but with the fast train it just took us 3 hours to get there. My husband was so exited to see his cousins, 4 of his cousins live there and two other cousins had come from Italy and Netherlands to see us. They all used to be neighbors back in Iran when they were bunch of young kids. My husband especially was very close with one of them, we stayed at his house, he had a big house and the other cousin from Netherlands with his wife and three kids were staying there too. The host himself had 2 kids, 9 and 11 years old and the other cousin’s kids were 5 to 1.5 years old. Just imagine the scene of kids all together. The first day was a tense day for me because kids did not get a long and I was all the time watching my son to make sure that he does not get in fight with other kids or not to break any thing or do any thing bad. I am very conscious when we are at people’s house I really don’t want my son to destroy any thing or do any thing inappropriate, so that makes me nervous! My husband’s cousin wife was French but she could speak English and a little bit Farsi. I felt sorry for her to have all that guests at the same time at her house, especially the noisy kids!! Any way we stayed there 4 days and met with other cousins too. They are all very nice people and they had lots of memories to review together!

We went to Barcelona with my husband’s cousin, it was just 4 hours a way from Montpellier. I really loved it there. It was a beautiful city with fabulous buildings, the architecture of the city was amazing. They say Barcelona, is number one in architecture in Europe! And they must be right about it! The food was very good and I love the stores too. I bought two very nice dresses there. We stayed there for two full days and we enjoyed it a lot.
We were planning to go to Italy too, but we thought that would be too much for my son, so instead we went to South France, Saint Maxim and Saint Tropez. Our flight to Norway was from Nice, so that would be smoother plan rather than going to Italy and come back to France. I really liked Saint Tropez, it was very cute city, I wish I would win lotto and I would buy a summer home in one of those tiny streets close to the ocean!
Any way we had a good time in South France and two of my husband’s cousins were with us too. It was so nice of them to come with us, the cousin that we stayed with and is the closest to my husband took off all this time from work to be with us. We invited all of them to come to US and be our guest. I was joking with my husband and telling him” what would happen if all the people we have invited so far decide to come in the same summer??”

Any way we flew to Oslo and were well received by my aunt (my father’s sister) whom I am very close with. She is one of the kindest people I have ever known. She is just 42 years old, younger than my older brother! She came with her son-in-law!! Her daughter got married when she was 19!! We visited my uncle (my father’s brother) as well. One of my cousins came from England and now it was my turn to be surrounded by my cousins. It was so nice to see them all. We took a one day cruise to Denmark too and the night on the cruise was an unforgettable night, we were all drunk except my aunt! She was baby sitting my son.

This was the story of my trip to Europe. Although we faced challenges because of my son but we had a great time and it was well worth it. I think every one needs to take vacation at least once a year it does not matter were you go but being with family and friends or visiting a new place is important. And more important is getting a way from the routine life!!