Cecile in Auckland

(from an email that cecile sent us!)

I just wanted to thank you again for inviting me over for the winter break! Auckland was nice! i was able to do everything that i wanted to do there. i hopped on an air bus to the city when i landed then got dropped off at a stop and just walked myself over to the auckland domain. I figured out where the museum was and decided to have lunch first. so i walked over to fishmonger's, everything was pretty easy to find. everything sounded and looked good. i tried their thai fish cake with a side of their polish beetroot salad with cabbage and mustard seed, then i figured i was eating pretty good and splurged for an order of kumara chips with aioli dip. couldn't finish those, so i took them with me to the museum. it was a yummy snack for later. i was quite happy with my choice for lunch. thanks for the recommendation.

then i walked back to the museum. that museum is big! i didn't have time to go to every room, but i was able to hit what i wanted to see, like the vaka moana exhibition and the other maori exhibits. i even saw the cultural performance, that was nice, i was able to take some pictures. after the museum, i realized i didn't have too much time to look for a cute coffee shop, the chocolate boutique to be exact. i found it, it was okay, not the best. i had a long black that actually worked very well with the very sweet cheesecake that i had got. i asked them what they thought was quite popular over there. if you ever get a chance to go there, i would suggest to try another place, it was actually not very exciting to me at all. when i left the place and kept on walking down parnell, i found other cafes that i thought may have been a little better. the chocolate boutique was just too overwhelming with a menu that was sooo long. menus that are usually very long sometimes tend, in my opinion try to do too much. sometimes, again, in my opinion, sometimes i think its better to just focus on a few things and have them taste yummy. this place was just too overwhelming. small place, cute, but small with every type of candy you can think of with mediocre dessert choices.

anywho, that was okay, two out of the three things that i did were a hit. i must have walked the whole perimeter of the auckland domain, trying to get to the bus stop, but i made it safely back to the airport and met a lady from wellington on the bus ride. so, my day in the big city was quite busy, but nice. very hot. i really enjoyed my time over there. hope all is well. it was really hot over there. i'm sure its very hot over right now, the weather here is actually not so bad. the flight wasn't so bad either, i had a window seat and an empty seat in the middle. i couldn't really eat all the food on the flight, it just wasn't very good to me, but i did make sure i had a glass of merlot. the flight wasn't full at all! it was busy at the airport when i got home, it was like everybody got on the same flight. i stayed up and kept myself busy, even went for a nice run and sprinted! anywho, thank you once again, tell the girls i said hello! be safe and i'll talk to you soon!