The day we met her Majesty 'The Queen'....

This year is turning out to be quite an eventful one for me :)

It was supposed to be a very windy and a stormy weekend for us according to the BBC forecast(I am talking about last to last weekend. I know! things are coming pretty late in my blog but please bear with the pace of a working lady with a busy life :P) and I had no plans to do anything exciting. However, since my parents have paid a visit to us, weekends have become anormously valuable. Keeping the windy weather in mind ,we thought of visiting museums in London instead of having any outdoor plans.

Saturday Morning, 16th June 2012 : We, the fantastic four marched out of our home and realized that the weather wasn't so bad after all. We changed our plan and decided to visit the magnificent 'Big Ben' , the regal 'Buckingham Palace' and the arresting 'Tower Bridge' instead. We took a Jubilee line tube from Canary Wharf station to the Westminister and there we were, infront of the most beautiful monument of the United kingdom. Papa started taking pictures from the moment he got the glimpse of it and  Mom couldn't stop posing.Well! I was mesmerized with its beauty and elegance when I had seen it for the first time last year and I wasn't expecting any different reaction from them either :) We came across the making of Miss Hong Kong as well. And while the photographer inside me was cursing the team for blocking a very good photogenic spot,Abhay had ,for obvious reasons, no complaints ;) :D

When Mom and Papa had a good look around the parliament, we decided to walk down the Birdcage Walk Street* towards the Buckingham Palace. On our way, we saw lots of road blocks,diversions, Security guards and Policemen. By the time my brain registered what is going on , my body had already started to respond. It was the Queen's 86th birthday celebration and her carriage was going to pass by after the 'Trooping of the Colour' ceremony to the Palace where she would finally greet the citizens by coming out on the famous balcony of the Buckingham Palace.... Woohhhooooo!!!!! Run , Run, Run!!!! While my father preferred to walk; Abhay, I and Mom were literally running. And I won't be lying when I will be saying this , I couldn't beat my Mommy :D

The entire Road was blocked and there were people on either side , jampacked. However,we still found a good spot and decided to wait. After around 20 minutes of wait , the Queen's Guards began to march.Dressed in red with hairy hats , they are truly the symbols of the rich history of the United Kingdom. Visit any souvenir shop and you will find their statues in all shapes and sizes. No tourists leaves London without getting a picture clicked with them :)

while crossing the road ;)

After all the regiments marched past us , the carriages with famous people in it began arriving..... Drums Rolling

•  Prince of Wales
• Prince Williams 
• Prince Harry
• Duchess of Cambridge, Kate

 And finally her Majesty The Queen and Prince Philip...

There were nearly 1000 pictures being taken every second in that piece of land that morning :D The carriages must have disappeared within minutes and then there was silence. It was a feeling similar to what you have when your last exam gets over and you do not know how to relax! The entire crowd started dispersing like honeybees right after the comb being struck by a stone. We wanted to cross the road and go to the other side to catch a tube to Tower of London but the destiny had something else in store for us. When the guards allowed us to cross the road , we realized that all the guards have moved out and that we can go straight till the palace without any obstruction and what do you think we did? We chose to go to the tube! Ofcourse not :D We rushed towards the palace :P A pure 'Ad-hoc planning'. Abhay inquired a guard about the events to come and we were being told that the queen including all the other royals would address the crowd from the balcony at 1 PM. Hmm , not bad at all!. It was literally a recap for us....run , finding a good spot, get ready to take pictures, Mom over excited and Papa not so much ! :D however , I wanted to stand very close to the gate to get as close as I can. On the other hand,Abhay was looking for a good spot for taking pictures and in this confusion we lost each other in the crowd. Luckily my parents were with me and I managed to grab a good spot. Minutes later,I  realized that all the cameras were in Abhay's bag! Too late! So, I decided to just enjoy the moment and not worry about taking the pictures. I had full faith on Abhay that he will do a splendid job which he did! He has taken brilliant pictures and videos! :)

The royal flag : a symbol of the presence of The Queen in the palace.

Finally when the clock striked 1, the door opened and the Queen lead the Royal family on the balcony.

 I have been seeing this historical tradition all my life on TV , I couldn't believe that it would happen with a snap of my finger. No drama , No planning ...exactly the way I like it. When Kate and Prince William stepped out , I just couldn't stop telling mom how tall she is ... Meanwhile , my Mom was busy screaming :) She was really excited ! :D

 I hugged her from behind and waited to witness the famous flypast by the Royal Air Force. And there they came.... Finally the airshow followed and then the queen went inside followed by the rest of the Royals.

Royal Fly Past 2012

It was an amazing experience and my parents presence made it extra special for both of us! It feels beautiful when happiness and excitement can be shared with your dear ones :) Everyday thousands of people visit the palace and make a wish to get a glimpse of her majesty. Who would have thought that Mom and Papa would see them all on the very first visit? :)

My beautiful Mom

Magical Mouthfulls - 'Pastéis de Belém'

I have always realized that abhay is a very determined person. When he wants something , he achieves it!  :)

On our trip to Lisbon , Portugal,in the first week of June, we happened to have a tour with an impressive historian named Paulo who apart from introducing us to the city, introduced us to the portugal culture and food. He recommended us to visit one of the most prized bakery shop in the city called 'Pastéis de Belém' and I am so glad we tried his recommendation and tips. This is exactly how he had quoted :

If you have a sweet tooth or simply want to try the famous Pastel de Nata,then you cannot and shouldn't leave the land of lisbon without paying a visit to this place -Antiga Confeitaria de Belém. It is a place that's on every tourist map for tasting their delicious custard creamy tarts. Take the tram no 15 from downtown lisbon and go to a stop called Jerónimos. The bakery is right next to the Monastery of Jerónimos and you cannot miss it. You will see a lonnnngggg queue of tourists milling around the doorway , queuing to buy some of the famous Pasteis de Belém. Now here is the tip that he gave us and I would like to pass on. When you see the queue, simply by-pass the queue and walk 'Like you own this place' (I am never going to forget this line! :D) and this is because there is a huge bunch of seating areas inside which people do not know about and mostly is empty because tourists end up joining the queue instead of checking for free space inside ;) Go inside , find a good place to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee with the famous 'Pasteis De Belem' for just 3 euros.

The famous tram of Lisbon

Done! Abhay had this event sealed in his iterinary. How can he leave lisbon without trying something so soo famous? We decided to pay a visit to the bakery shop when we will visit Vasco da gama statue and the Monastery of Jerónimos on our third day of the trip but unfortunately by the time we reached there , it was very dark and we assumed that the shop must be closed. That left just 1 day in our hands and we had lot of things planned for that day already. So, I started to brain wash abhay by passing these subliminal messages - "Its just a tart", "I think we should drop the idea of trying it" , "You know, sometimes the locals just over hype things" etc etc :D I know that none of the excuses were working in my favour but if we would go there again, we would surely have to cut short of time on other plans which I didn't want to. Apparently we met Paulo again that day and he asked us if we visited the shop and tried the tarts! I still recon the look on Abhay's face. He was definitely feeling very sad and It acted like a ignition catalyst. Abhay asked Paulo about the time when the shop closes and the reply was 10:30 PM. Now that was like a ray of light for Abhay. That means we can manage to visit the place after completing all our other tours to different places in the evening and still make it. We got free in the evening at around 8:30 PM and we rushed towards the downtown tram station. We got into the tram and after spending 15-20 minutes in the tram , reached a stop called 'Belem'. We got down from the tram and headed straight towards the Monastery and we could see the bakery shop from a distance already. Abhay was ecstatic! I am surprised how come he didn't scream 'Eureka' ;)

Our Eureka Moment!

 Before I talk about my experience of tasting these famous custard tarts, let me talk about the bakery shop and its mysterious secret recipe first.

The  recipe goes back almost 200 years to the nuns who baked the pastries at the nearby Jeronimos Monastery. During the 1820 revolution, many religious orders were forced to disband. Money talked during those hard times, and the recipe was sold to the confectioner of the bakery and it remained a secret only known by 3 of the chefs at the bakery.I have been told that the secret is kept hiding in one the special rooms inside. Everyday approximately half a lakh tarts are being made AND SOLD in the shop and relished by thousands of tourists. The main ingredient is egg yolks. There is a story behind it too :) During Portuguese medieval history, the convents and monasteries of Portugal produced large quantities of eggs, whose egg-whites were extensively used for starching of clothes and for clearing the wines in the wineries. This resulted in a large amount of leftover egg yolks resulting in the birth of this illustrious recipe!

Unlike Paulo's description , this place was absolutely quiet. There was no one standing outside, no queue and no tourists. Possibly because ideally all the tourists must be giving up by this hour :).Without much ado , we went inside and to our surprise, we found that there must be hardly 2-3 tables booked and the entire place was literally empty.We headed inside and grabbed a table for two next to the door. An old gentlemen came and addressed us in Portuguese and scribbled down the order even before we spoke :D He knew why we were there :) 2 Pasteis De Belem and 2 Cappuccino :) Slurp! I couldn't wait to taste it. While waiting for the order to arrive , we decided to take a look around the shop. The whole shop had an old charm to it. Nothing was mordernized .The display area had wooden work and the walls were beautifully decorated with portuguese blue tiles.It was a beautiful evening, partially dark, cool breeze and peaceful.

View from our table !

The seating area inside ... there were 4-5 such rooms inside.

Finally the waiter brought the order on our table and we kept staring it for few seconds :D Then,I grabbed my camera and abhay grabbed his and we literally strted taking pictures like paparazzis. If the natas were humans , we surely must have made them embarrassed :D Abhay asked me to take the bite and before I could do this horrendous mistake , the waiter came for my rescue and asked me to stop. He sprinkled the cinnamon and the sugar powder on top of the pastel* and I tasted the famous 'Pastel De Belem' for the first time! The smoothness of the custard, the crunchiness of the flaky edges and the pleasant sweetness of the tart is unbeatable.I have tasted Portuguese natas before as well (Abhay had introduced me to them) and had never liked them so much but this one is sensational and deserved to remain much prized dessert of Lisbon. The pastéis were still hot and probably fresh from the oven.It was a magical moment. Our trip was coming to an end and what a perfect way to conclude it :)

If you haven't googled it yet and waiting for the curtains to rise ;) then  here I present : 'Pastéis de Belém'

If you ever plan to visit Lisbon, then do not miss out to taste their signature tarts. You will not regret it :)

A Pastel de Belem packed for my Mommy :)

*(Pastel is the singular form of Pasteis)

A gift , with love :)

[I know this is coming very late in my blog but I literally had no time in my hand to spare since Abhay's birthday! :) Oh yes, I have lot of updates. Stay tuned :)]

A week before 1st June : Its the toughest time of the year for me...Why? Because I need to think for a gift for Abhay. If he likes something, then he already possesses it and if he doesn't have something then thats because he doesn't need it and will never use it :) Which means I have to push my brain cells harder every year to come up with something more interesting and innovative. I ain't kidding ;) Its not easy to impress this guy :-/

So, this year I came up with an animated ecard and I got only 45 minutes to finish it. Phew!! I just managed to somehow keep the surprise intact but I enjoyed every minute of the suspense and the thrill.

Btw , I am no poet ... infact I have never written a single line that rhymes with the previous one :D However, I still managed to compose a poem and here it goes :P

You and Me , The Perfect Two!!!

A cake I have bought,

A little gift I have got,

coz I love you a lot,

You are my sunshine,

And you are my star,

You are the lamp,

that brightens my world*

I feel beautiful,

and the reason is you,

you are my rainbow,

coz we are the perfect two :)

*(I sadly replaced 'world' with 'day' and I didn't have time for correction :( )

And if you are wondering what was Abhay's reaction when he viewed it the very first time? He absolutely loved it :) :)

P.S :I am pretty confident I can contest with the 5 year olds in poem competition ;)