Preparing to travel and Movie Night

This was quite a stressful week - I'm going to Portugal tomorrow, flying via Paris where I will stop to visit my daughter for 4 days. The decision was made quite recently when we heard the sale of our apartment in Lisbon had been approved. The apartment is furnished and we will have to get rid of the furniture and our personal stuff before the handover at the end of November, so I decided it would be a good idea to fly there and sort things out.

Of course this was actually not the best time for me to take this trip, as work wise I have 3 colleague writing University exams so their availability is not ideal. So after many hours working on a roster that would suit everyone I was happier with the situation. As usual there are a thousand and one things to finish off at work, which took me a few days to finish, but 
I'm pleased that I could leave it all sorted out.

Then on Thursday a huge tragedy struck when we heard that the daughter of one of ours Doctors had lost her life in a car accident. She was only 28, and it must be every parents nightmare to lose a child.
We had to cancel two weeks of appointments for the Doctor, not yet knowing if and when she will return to work. Calling all these patients was a very draining and emotional experience for me and my colleague, as most of these patients have known the Doctor for about 20 years and were very emotional and touched when told what had happened. This is no consolation to the family, but I know many, many people will be giving them their support and prayers.

On Friday evening hubby and I got together with another couple and went to a movie session booked with "Gold Class Event Cinemas" gift vouchers. This was quite an experience, probably the first and last though, unless we get given more gift vouchers!!
We watched "Midnight in Paris" - a romantic comedy directed by Woody Allen in the beautiful city of Paris, quite fitting since I will be in Paris on Monday.

But let me tell you about the experience!!
We collected our booked tickets from the ticket booth and were directed to a lounge with dimmed lights, a few seating areas with small tables and a counter. We were given a menu each to choose our dinner, then went to the counter to order it, and were asked when we would like each course to be delivered.

Choosing our dinner

We ordered a sea food platter for 2, a dessert each, and some sparkling water, and a glass of wine for hubby. We then sat down in the theater and played around with our reclining chairs.
Shortly after the movie started our dinner was delivered and we started to eat. The only light was the movie screen but the food was visible enough.
After about half an hour they collected the trays and then brought our desserts. They were huge and I wish we had known as each bowl was enough for 2. I was disappointed though that I had to settle for a Malteser Sundae when I had ordered something else, but was told they had run out.

Just 34 seats in this theater

                                                                   
We had a good time, it was a lovely experience, lovely for a romantic night, but I think we would be better off eating that sort of food in a nice restaurant than sitting in a lounging chair while watching a movie.
On the way home I was adding up the value of the vouchers we had spent on the movie and dinner and it came to $320 for the 4 of us, that is $80 each.
I´m glad we were both given that as gifts as I wouldn't spend that on movie and dinner!!

Putting my feet up! Glad we weren´t the only ones taking pics.

Today I spent the day washing, ironing, changed the bed linen, gave a general clean to the house and still cooked 2 meals.

Now I still have to pack my suitcase as tomorrow morning I just want to sit and have a relaxed morning before going to the airport at 1pm for my 3,30pm flight to Paris.
I will try and post some lovely photos of my trip, if I get some time in between packing and visiting family and friends.

See you in PARIS!!!