Post Eurotrip

So…. The trip is finally over. It’s back to reality for both of us.

Ilhan decided to give us a huge dose of reality the day after we got back. Agaknya dia dah simpan lama dalam hati. Bila kami balik aje, dia terus buat perangai sungguh-sungguh; sepanjang hari dia mengamuk, melalak, menangis, menjerit. Mak, Ayah, Mama and Abah yang tengok perangai dia geleng kepala aje. Kata diorang, sepanjang kami takde dia punyelah baik, senang sangat nak jaga. Ewah ewah Awang! Dendam ye? Heheh… Marah betul dia kena tinggal.

Layla Alhamdulillah, okay. Ajak balik rumah Mutiara pun okay aje. Mak cerita, sepanjang kami takde tu dia tak pernah tanya pasal kami secara direct. Tapi dia berkias-kias. Sekali-sekala dia akan tanya, “Dekat Europe tu ada toilet tak, Nenek?” atau “Europe tu jauh ke?” atau masa diorang bawak dia pegi main dekat taman, dia tanya, “Europe tu dekat sini ke?”. Sungguh, sebak aku dengar, walaupun masa tu aku dah balik. Jenuh menelan-nelan air liur menahan sebak dan terkebil-kebil mengeringkan air mata yang bergenang. The fact that dia cuba untuk stay macho, tak nak tanya pasal Mama dan Ayah, tapi masih teringin nak tahu… Oh, sayu hatiku.

Mak kata ada sekali kami ber-skype dengan diorang (masa dekat Florence), right after that Ilhan terus mengamuk, susahnya nak dipujuk. Kesian bila pikir balik. Yalah, dia nampak kami dekat skrin, tapi lepas tu takde pulak. Nak tanya tak reti, orang explain pun dia tak paham. Aduhai, itulah kalau tinggal anak kecik-kecik. Insya-allah lepas ni tak buat lagi… Kecuali kalau menang trip ke Europe lagi. Ahahahahah….

Expenses wise, Alhamdulillah, kami cuma guna RM5,000 yang menang tu aje. Kalau ada guna duit sendiri pun, cuma untuk preparation sebelum pergi, beli begla, baju la ape semua, dan lengkapkan keperluan anak-anak sebelum tinggalkan diorang. Yes, I admit I would have preferred to spend more freely in Europe, buy better gifts for our family, buy more souvenirs for our friends, buy more stuff for ourselves! Hakikatnya, pegi sejauh itu, aku cuma beli untuk diri sendiri beberapa fridge magnet, 1 cow bell key chain, satu set underwear Marks & Spencer (yang harganya murah banyak berbanding di Malaysia), 1 jam kaca Murano dari Venice dan 1 pashmina. Selain jam tu yang harganya €12, yang lain semua di bawah €10. Husband pulak hanya beli sehelai T-shirt, 1 Swiss knife kecik dan 1 topi capitano Veniezia tu. For kids, hanya 2 helai t-shirt seorang dan 5 bar coklat Swiss.

Sebab tu, kalau ada yang membaca di sini, dan kalau ada yang berkecil hati sebab tak dapat apa-apa dari sana, aku minta maaf banyak-banyak… We wish we could buy everything for everyone, tapi that was impossible.

What I wish I had bought more of? The pashmina… €5 je satu, menyesal tak beli lebih! More T-shirts, for myself, husband and for family members. Sungguh, kalau aku tahu barang dekat Switzerland dan Paris semahal itu, I would’ve bought all T-shirts and souvenirs dekat Italy. Barang dekat Italy murah sebenarnya. Cost of living dia lebih kurang kita. Bezanya, berbelanja dalan Euro dan bukan RM. I wish I had bought the cute capitano hats for the kids sebab diorang suka sangat topi tu, especially adik. The Murano watches, untuk my sisters. Swiss knives for Faizal, Abah and Ayah. Dan yang paling aku terkilan sekali, I didn’t get anything for Kak Gayah. Tak sangka pulak Kak Milah nak balik kampong right after aku balik sini. Kalau tahu, mesti aku beli 1 cow bell tu untuk dia. Benda tu sangat meaningful untuk kami…

Anyways, seperti yang telah aku katakan kepada husband masa dekat sana, holidays are addictive. After this, we’re gonna want to do this again. This is bad, really bad. And I’m so right! Sampai aje balik, kami gatal tangan bukak-bukak website Trafalgar tu. Pastu hati panas, sebab dah confirm la tak mampu. I was content with holidaying all over Malaysia before, but now, that’s not gonna be enough. Damn! Kena cari job banyak-banyak supaya mampu.

Do I miss Europe? Yes! The weather, the food, the architecture… Am I glad I’m home? Yes! I can’t bear being away from my kids any longer. What did I enjoy the most? Oh, susah nak jawab. At every city I had something I fell in love with. In Rome it was the history, in Florence it was the hotel, in Venice it was the shopping, the whole atmosphere of the city and Burano Island. In Lucerne it was the weather and the scenery. In Paris it was the Lebanese galette. Heheh.. I just wish we got to experience Paris by night. Tapi aku redha, susah untuk mengalaminya sebab malamnya terlalu lewat. Maghrib pun dah hampir 10 malam, susah untuk kami bergerak ke sana ke mari selewat tu. Bahaya pun ya.

Where do I want to go next? Austria! I’ve always wanted to go to Austria. Tapi untuk adil, team mana yang kalah final Euro, kita pergi ke negara itu. Ahahahah… Kenapa yang kalah, bukan yang menang? Sebab Esther ada cerita hari tu, sebaik sahaja Italy menang World Cup, kos tourism dia meningkat sangat banyak. Harga barang semua naik. So I’d expect the same from this one too. Hehehe…

A lot of things were unexpected; some good, some bad. The optional excursions were sort of unexpected. We found about it just days before leaving. We thought the RM5k was only for food and souvenirs, but more than half of it went to the excursions. We didn’t expect to enjoy the company of our tour members. They were really cool! (Almost) everyone went along with each other, everyone was punctual ALL the time. Seriously, Esther was so impressed! I had some good food while we were there: delicious baked fish a few times in Venice, great pesto pasta in Florence, daily dose of super good croissants loaded with butter. Didn’t expect Paris weather to still be so Spring-y. Cold! And the Business Class surprise was the cherry on the cake!

All in all, it was a great experience. The highlight of 2012, and possibly my life. Alhamdulillah atas rezeki ni. And thank you Sayang, for taking me with you.