It was really nice and hot recently, but obviously for the weekend the weather's turned horrible. But we're definitely not getting bored!

I've recently been invited to review the Wicked Uncle online toy shop. They aim to provide an easy gift service for birthdays and all sort of occasions, not only for parents but for aunts, uncles, grandparents, godparents etc. Basically they want to help you buy gifts for other people's children.

Well, we didn't have anyone to buy gifts for recently, so with Adam's 2nd birthday approaching, I decided to get him an early treat.

A while ago I've been invited to try out the language learning softare provided by EuroTalk.

They started 20 years ago, offering the software for learning European languages, but adding more over the years they now offer over 130 different languages. I've been looking at some good and not too pricey Urdu course for quite a while now, so I was delighted to get the opportunity to try the EuroTalk software!

Living with my Hubby for over 4 years, and being a massive fan of Bollywood movies, I know a few phrases. I actually understand quite a bit, especially after our visit to Pakistan where I was surrounded by Urdu speakers, but I don't really speak much myself - I can say a few words, but can't really construct a proper sentence ;)

I'm taking Adam to Poland tomorrow, so hopefully there will be a change of topic here ;) But when I was putting together my previous posts, I asked the followers whther there was something specific they'd want to read about.

Here's what couple of people asked:

Inspired by Hubby's friend's beautiful night photos of the Badshahi Mosque, taken from a popular rooftop restaurant, we decided we want to admire the view too ;) So one evening we went to the New Food Street, located near the Lahore Fort.

Towards the end of our stay in Pakistan we spent a day in the beautiful Lahore Fort.

The Lahore Fort, locally known as Shahi Qila, is citadel located in the north-west corner of Lahore's Walled City. The origins of the fort are not certain, but after being destroyed and rebuilt several times, the existing structure goes back to 16th century when it was built by Mughal emperor Akbar. Since then it was upgraded by subsequent Mughal, Sikh and British rulers. 

I've always known I was going to stand out from the crowd. I decided to try to blend in, wearing  long Pakistani kurta and covering my head, but I couldn't hide the fact that my face is much whiter than everyone else's. I'm gori, a white girl, and I attracted attention. Sometimes it was nice, sometimes funny, sometimes caused trouble, and at some point I was really tired of it, but there was no way to prevent it unless I covered myself completely ;)

After a week in Lahore we set off to visit the village around Faisalabad, where my in-laws live. We were supposed to stay there for a week, and organise Adam's Aqiqah (the sacrifice of an animal performed on the occasion of child's birth).

It was on our second day in Lahore, I think, that I demanded to be taken out of the house ;) Hubby was supposed to go to the market with one of his brothers, to get some nappies, and after a bit of convincing that I hadn't come to Pakistan to spend my time at home, they took me with them. My Mother-in-law nearly cried, and recited Ayat ul-kursi (prayer to protect one from "evil eye") before she'd let me go out. It would make you think "Oh God, what can I expect outside then?", wouldn't it? ;)

Since then, every day we got to spend in Lahore, I fell more and more in love with the city. 

When Hubby first said we'd be going to Pakistan for the whole month, I wasn't too sure about it. I thought I might not like it, that it would be too hard to overcome the language barrier, that people would stare at me... Basically I expected a massive culture shock.

But then, after our journey from hell, I guess I was too tired for a culture shock ;) Yeah, things were different - a lot different than in Europe, but then I think that I've been with my Hubby long enough, saw enough photos and watched enough news with him, plus I've been so shattered that it all didn't feel as weird as you'd expect them to.

Anyway, I was pretty excited when we finally reached Lahore. Nervous, at first, but then I was just relieved that we finally got there - I just wanted to get home and get some proper rest!

We didn't start our big adventure too well. Actually it was a traveller's worst nightmare, and I hope to never experience anything like this again!

But let's start from the beginning.

As you may remember, we went to Pakistan (CLICK). We stayed there for a month, between 20th of February and 20th of March. I was planning a few posts before we went, but things got a bit hectic - Hubby and I still needed to work, we needed to get a few things sorted (CLICK), and then there was all the packing (we'd gone a bit crazy with gift shopping, plus we got asked to take some stuff by others, and I had to manage to pack as much as I could). I also had this crazy idea to clean the flat properly before we'd go, so you can imagine I was pretty busy ;) Then I had a bit of an issue with the internet while in Pakistan, and when I could connect I actually preferred to enjoy my experience rather than write - but now we're back, I've caught up with the shifts I needed to do, and with Hubby back to working nights I have plenty of time to write about our big adventure :)

So, if you're interested in reading about foreigner's view on Pakistan, and how my first visit went, look out for the upcoming posts! I'll be writing about my impressions, family, food, locals' reactions to the white girl, shopping, and all sort of weird stuff you can come across ;) Stay tuned!

We're constantly thinking about the trip, but for the next three weeks life still goes on as normal. And Hubby wants to be fed ;) I've been planning to make this dish for a while now - it's the Januray dish on my BBC Good Food calendar, and with January nearly gone I finally got down to it!


Nasze myśli skupiają się ostatnio głównie na wyjeździe, ale przez kolejne trzy tygodnie wciąż trzeba się zajmować codziennymi sprawami. A Męża trzeba czasem nakarmić ;) Planowałam przyotowanie tej potrawy już od jakiegoś czasu - to danie stycznia w kalendarzu, który kupiłam z magazynem BBC Good Food. Styczeń dobiega końca, a mnie w końcu udało się za nie zabrać!

There's so much to sort out before our journey - not only is it a long-distance one, but a long one too - we'll be staying in Pakistan for a whole month. 

As I mentioned previously, it's my first trip there, and Hubby hasn't travelled for quite a while, so we needed to work quite a few things out - what we need to sort out before the journey, what about our health, what to take with us... All in relatively short time. So it's pretty much an inexperienced traveller's guide and I'm only writing about what's relevant to me.

Can you believe that my Hubby hasn't been home for nearly 8 years, since he came to the UK in 2007? Not that he never wanted to, but there was always something in the way. But "good things come to those who wait", and it's finally time for us to go.