Ta-Ta-Ta Table

 Our table and chairs arrived this week & I like 'em.  I definitely love the table and I really like the chairs.  I normally would never have picked white anything but when looking around our apartment recently, I have noticed that all the furniture we have is really dark.  I don't think this is our fault--it's our living room fault :)  It's narrow and forces all the furniture close together, which makes me see just how dark it all is.  My first move in slowly lightening up our place is the white chairs.  White's growing on me...  I am being inspired by Danish design :) 

Ed adding tung oil to the top of the table

white chairs 

I realize it's not a style everyone would like, but we do :)

So that's that.  Good thing we didn't buy the table intending on it staying in this space for long because it is quite large.  Scout has to stand sideways to eat his dinner now!   Also, I now realize that the walls in the apartment are actually not white.  The chairs are white.  The walls are...off white...light yellow?  

Ed is out with one of his friends and I have been cleaning by using this timing system.  I now know it takes me 30 mins to clean everything in our bathroom and around 45 minutes to really clean the kitchen.  Interesting... 

Hope you all our having a delightful Thursday:) 

I Love You Fresh Market!

Oh hello blog. Long time, no see. 

I have been busy the past few days, busy creating masterpieces ;)  Maybe I will put some pictures up later...  So this post is a catch-up of a few days

This weekend, Ed and I continued our furniture shopping quest in hopes of finding a place for our tv.  We have a really, really big cabinet now. I have a feeling that after another PCS, this cabinet may arrive in a pile of sticks.  

We had zero luck.  So the tv may be sitting on the floor.  (On a brighter note, our table comes today, and chairs come tomorrow!)  Ed has been busy getting things ready for our move!  There is so much more that he is having to do in order for us to leave for this assignment.  And it seems that most of these tasks are things I wouldn't be able to do...Thanks for all the hard work Ed! 

I promise you, I was not holding him hostage!

In my last post, I mentioned taking the bus for a 2nd time.  I have become obsessed with the bus.  I do not know why I never bothered checking out the bus.  Having a car makes grocery shopping convenient but for everything else I ever did around DC via car, I could have taken the bus.  It's cheap, I don't have to be stressed about being in traffic, I won't get lost,  I can get to places that the metro doesn't  go (and you can basically be dropped off in front of whatever you are going because there are so many bus stops-I am not lazy, it's just HOT outside) The bus is just awesome!   There is a bus stop down the street from our house in DK.  I am not going to lie--I am just a little bit excited :)   So there is a point to my bus ravings.   I decided over the weekend that I would plan a "trip" by bus.  My destination of choice: The Fresh Market

Side-note:  I love Fresh Market! We lived near one in Florida and it was so great.  I never did all of my grocery shopping here (just coffee, orange juice, specialty ingredients not found at the regular store) because I haven't found my money-tree yet (It's fairly expensive)  If you ever have a chance though, definitely go.  They have classical music playing, serve really good, free coffee (with more than powdered creamer in a cylinder shaker) , have cheap, cute, reusable shopping bags if you're into that... Just go!  

Okay so a new fresh market opened about 8 miles from where we live on July 20th--after we had already shipped our car!  I was sad...until I discovered the bus.  I decided to drag my new friend Emily along since adventures are more fun when not alone. The trip there was uneventful--aside from having to wait 45 mins for the bus.  We spent an hour shopping and drinking the free coffee and orange juice.  We had a really good lunch at a restaurant around the corner. We laughed, I ate 2 salads, and then it started to rain.  

 We noticed the storm clouds building as we were waiting for the bus but I wasn't complaining.  Rain and clouds mean cooler weather right??  I actually said " if it starts to rain, i will run out into the rain and throw my hands up in the air and spin around"   Rains not the right word. It was a downpour.  We left the restaurant and walked under the covered section of the strip mall in hopes of finding the covered bus stop.  Most of the bus stops along the street had been covered.  I figured we would see it, dash  across the street and wait there... But no.  When we spot the bus stop across the street, it is not covered.  There were plenty of benches but no hutch.  I didn't know the exact time the bus was coming so we didn't want to miss the bus and have to wait another hour for the next bus--so we went into the rain.  We huddled under a tree for a bit but the rain drops were bigger under the tree!    

After being completely soaked, it stopped raining about 2 minutes before the bus pulled up!  We could have waited under the strip mall covering and still made the bus--dry.  Better safe than sorry, right??  :)   

I never did spin around in the rain with my hands in the air but it was still a really fun trip!  Thanks for joining me Emily!

What has 4 legs and is really expensive?

If you guessed pure bred dog, you are right...however, the real answer is a chair.  If I designed an awesome chair, and it became popular, I would be a millionaire-or at least would make a good bit of money.  

Ed and I decided to that we should buy a new dining table before our move.  We found a table that we both (Lots of emphasis on both, because Ed and I each have a strong opinion :)  loved, and could afford, so we bought it. We had no chairs in mind but figured "how hard can it be to find a chair."  I believe these are probably famous last words of many a dining room table-buyer.  There are so many choices, and many of them are really ugly, but still expensive.  Many are cool but don't quite match the style of the table- and still expensive.  Many are perfect--but really, really expensive. The final combo is cheap, but really wobbly lol. It is very difficult to find the perfect chair. (we would have liked to look at used stores and flea markets but we are running out of time--and don't have a car)

We found our table online at CB2.  We took the bus (again--my second time in less than a week.  I am growing quite fond of the bus:) to Georgetown to see said table in person. Unfortunately, they no longer had the table in-store.  We were disappointed but from what we read online, we chose it anyway. I have never seen a product with over 100 reviews and all positive. (btw, I am obsessed with reading people's product reviews)  So after we discussed chairs in CB2 for over an hour, we ventured to a few other stores in the area.  This is where I found out the true cost of a really good chair.  We were actually told by a salesman at one store that he was putting a piece of glass on 2 sawhorses and putting all of his money into the chairs.  Seriously!  This was a store where a low-ended chair was around $350/chair so I see his point.  After going back to CB2 a 2nd time, and spending ANOTHER hour discussing chairs, we decided to go home, chair-less. 

I did a little searching and ended up finding a chair online that again, BOTH Ed and I loved.

Here are some pictures:

table, from CB2-someone I knew thinks it looks like a card table :)

Chairs, from Industry West.  We ordered them in white.

Industry West's stock room--I think this would be a fun place to work :)

This was the runner-up chair from CB2.  I still think it would be a neat desk chair.  Its art in the form of a chair. 

Hope they make it by August 15th!   The movers are coming to pack that day!

Holly visits DC and doesn't encounter rabid bat

My dear sister Holly finally made a trip up to DC to visit us.  Of all my family members, I thought Holly would surely be the first to get here since she's all about traveling...but in fact, she was last.  We still had a good time though!   We went to my favorites, eastern market and of course, Mt Vernon (yes, I did get in free with my season pass--we  took the metro then bus to get there which was another first for me :)  We also visited one museum. 

Holly @ American Indian Museum

When Ed & I arrived in DC, I had big plans to see every museum and well-known site this town has to offer. Then, I was unexpectedly able to attend Danish classes with Ed, and my plans went out the window. After I left class, I figured I would be able to pick up where I left off...except that the blazing heat and hoards of 8th graders have definitely slowed me down.  When E&I went to the Natural History Museum in February, we were the only ones in the room with the dinosaur bones...I am quite certain that if I went today, I would be alone with me and 200 of my closest middle school buddies--no thank you :) 

But back to my museum quest...  Holly and I went to the National Museum of the American Indian on Friday.  The building is amazing, both inside and out.  The café supposedly serves really good food, but we had just had lunch so did not try it. Also they have an impressive gift shop (more on that in a moment)

 I found the museum to be interesting, but the set-up was confusing.  The museum contains info and artifacts from both north and south american indians. Rather than being organized by location and giving all the information (beliefs, culture, where they are now etc) in one place about that specific tribe (seems logical to me),  each 'gallery' centered around one aspect of life--and then had all the different tribes specifics in 'winding' rooms (lots of curved walls dividing a large room into many smaller rooms).  Every time I came into a new little 'room' in any given section, I would have to find the map to see who I was reading about and where they came from..and then try to remember what I had learned about them in a different area of the museum.  Clearly, I was not meant to write reviews about places because the last 5 sentences are a bit confusing, but if you find yourself in DC, I would definitely recommend at least seeing the outside of the building if you do not have time to go in to see the whole thing. It is pretty amazing.  

Water feature that faces the mall--visit here if you can!

Bear from gift shop--I wanted to buy this bear for Ed until i found his price tag.
$115!! Can you believe that?
There were egg ornaments done in the exact same style for $15.  I asked if the price was correct..and it was.
Wow.  Special Bear.

 And here is the rest of our weekend in pictures...

Eastern Market:

Holly's picture of eastern market. fun huh?

Me and my flowers from Holly--they are so awesome!
Makes me happy to see them on my coffee table.
They are Celosia or cockscomb..Never seen them before, but when walking away from the stand I heard a man yelling about how he should have bought them when he first got there b/c he thought the vendor had sold out.
 Guess they are popular :) 

Holly & her gelato

If your metro car looks like this, on a summer saturday afternoon in downtown DC...
something is not right.
The A/C was broken so this car had become a sauna on wheels.  We sat in it for 11 stops &
it was miserable, but I left feeling slightly detoxed :)

yes, more georgetown cupcakes. ( my favorite picture pose)

Mt. Vernon:

Me with the Washingtons

Meeting 'Emo horse'....

...and "Red Bull"  (we gave them these names)

Holly's proclamation to the horse "seeing you made our trip worth it!"
haha..dork.

Holly with her camera :)  

And that was it!  Fun Times Hollis!

P.S.  We avoided Arlington National Cemetery all together--Holly has bad luck there...She may have her rabies vaccine now but I don't!

Mac 'n Not Cheese

As 'promised' in my last post, a recipe ripped (hehe, you'll see why this is funny in a sec) straight from the pages of the Engine 2 Diet , written by Rip Esselstyn.  See, now that's just funny ...but guess it's just me :)

Last September, Ed texted me and said " I think we should do a 1 week trial plant-based (aka vegan) diet."  I thought he was joking because Ed had previously said at more than one meat-free meal..."Where's the meat?" But no, he was being serious.  We embarked on the 'wfpbd' (whole foods, plant-based diet). We did quite well the first month and actually, when I did my life insurance physical at the end of that first month, my cholesterol was quite low.  So our one week trial has turned into more of a majority-of-the-time lifestyle.  We still, on occasion, eat cheese...and meat even less often. So it's definitely not all the time, but a good portion of the time.

So, now back to the recipe:

Macaroni and Not Cheese,  from the Engine 2 Diet

1 onion, chopped
1 cup cashews
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4 oz jar roasted red peppers, drained
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
16 oz whole grain pasta of choice, cooked

Preheat oven to 425. Sauté the onion on medium heat in a skillet for 5 minutes, until translucent.  In a food processor, combine the onion, cashews, lemon juice, water, and salt.  Gradually blend in the peppers, and the rest of the powders.  Thoroughly toss the sauce with the pasta.  Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden brown on top.  

Ed and I add mushrooms on occasion and usually put red pepper flakes into the mix.

Enjoy!

Why I Love Etsy

Have you met Etsy? Etsy.com?   If not, you should.  Don't read any further, just go to Etsy.  But back to my reasons for loving Etsy.  

-It is the arts or crafts festival of my dreams.  Rather than just seeing things from your local area..or even your state or country, you can find unique, fun things from artists and crafters from around the world.  Much of it is reasonably priced as well.  

-Whether you can sew, make jewelry, paint..whatever you do, you can be sure to find inspiration in your area of interest.  

-If you can't do it yourself, you can buy it! I have yet to see a vendor with a genius idea and zero sales.  

-If you are searching for something very specific, you can probably find it--I believe their search function has magical powers :)

There are surely a million other reasons why it's awesome but I will get on with my post. 

I was searching for art prints to buy so I could do something like this (see below) in our next house

to read the owners blow, see here

And then I came upon a print that I could easily make something similar for myself...and so I did.  But then I thought, "Why stop there when I could take care of a few more upcoming birthdays"  

So unfortunately I cannot show you what I have been working on today, but I can show you another Etsy buy and inspired craft.

These were my bridesmaids gifts--I bought them from a shop called "Steampunk cellar".
They appear to have closed down their shop so I cannot put up a link.

Then, for Christmas of 2009, I made a lot of pillows based on an owl pillow from here. 

But for my sister Holly, I made a special bat pillow since it was the year she was bitten by a bat and then had to go through the series of rabies vaccinations. 

Holly, looking thrilled on Christmas Eve. 

I am certain she will always think of that incident whenever she sees this lovely creature.  Do you Holly?  

Oh wait!  I can ask her in person tomorrow!  Holly is finally coming to visit Ed and I in DC.  Maybe she's been avoiding it because the last time she was here, she was hobbling across the finish line at the Marine Corp Marathon...but I could be wrong.  Anywhy...moving right along.  I think tomorrow I will post a recipe of Mac and Not Cheese here unless something more exciting happens :)  Until then...have a nice evening :)

Hoarder

No I am not a hoarder, but I have been collecting underwear for about a year now. Yes, actually more than a year.  They are all  new underwear.....To take to denmark, where my favorite undergarments cannot be purchased.  I happened to read on day 1 of our new assignment that "you may want to bring your own underwear because they will be different than what you are used to and more expensive."  I am sure they are not that different but in my mind, I was picturing frilly, full body-covering undergarments from the 1920's....as if Europe didn't get the memo that plain cotton underwear are okay for everyday wear. Travel, Heidi, not time travel.

Also, I have been wearing the same brand and style of underwear since high school.  They are so comfortable and just cute..for everyday.  I refuse to depart from something that works well just because it comes from a certain, aimed-at-high-schoolers store. 

As I mentioned, I have been collecting them... 29 pairs now.   Some were gifts from my bff rachael , others were $2 a piece and some I paid regular price.  And if given the opportunity, I may buy more.  3 years is a long time!

My new collection--I promise, they all still have tags!

The cute details--buttons, bows and ruffles. 

I know this is an odd topic but let's be real, we all wear them :)   If you are interested, they are American Eagle's Aerie boybriefs.  

I am off to finish my list of 'things to do' today.  Hej Hej!

a story of a certain cat

Let me tell you a little story.

First, let me mention that I took my last shopping trip with car.  From now on, I will be carrying my groceries home like a pack mule.  I also stopped by bed bath & beyond to buy padded draw liners.  When we first arrived in DC, I made a list of all the things that it would be convenient to have when our household goods arrive in DK and that, along with a new toilet brush (because there is no way I am transporting a used toilet brush around the world.  I am even a little hesitant to take the plunger) and shower curtain liner were also on my list (because again, I am not moving soap scum to Denmark).

So, back to my story.  Once, around my freshman year in high school, my mom and I were @ BB&B buying something or other when I encountered the greatest toilet brush holder I had ever seen.  It was sitting black cat with a looong neck with an opening in the back for the brush. Since I was just a freshman, and had no money, I didn't buy it, and my mom didn't acquiesce to my demands for her to buy it (hmm, actually i never did that ;)...so I left the store empty handed.

The very next day, my mom pulled up to school in the trusty sienna van with the black cat toilet brush holder held victoriously in her hand.  I truly was elated--over a bathroom accessory! So, through the years, I continued to use my favorite black cat toilet brush holder (bctbh). It survived many moves and eventually ended up in Florida after we were married. 

Then, Scout came into our lives.  He initially stayed in his crate while we were away but I decided that maybe he could handle being locked into the bathroom with a puppy pee pad instead.  I picked everything up that I was worried about but left the bctbh tucked in the corner.  When I returned 4 hours later, it was shattered.  Scout was sleeping on the unused pee pad and my 12 year old bathroom treasure was gone.  There was no saving it.  

Unbeknownst to anyone, I began searching the internet for this stupid toilet brush holder but I couldn't find a replacement.  Apparently, people don't sell toilet brush holders on Ebay.  I never forgot about it though.  I was in an antique store with Marilee this March and found a small, sitting black cat that was $9 dollars that reminded me of my lost bctbh.  As I was paying for it, I was telling the owner of the store why I was buying this trinket and the lady standing next to me was like "I know what you're talking about! My parents have one of those!"   Hmm, I wouldn't suppose they'd be willing to sell it to me...Kidding. I didn't ask but was again, saddened about my lost bctbh.

So, back to my shopping trip today.  I had collected my drawer liners and was rounding the corner into bath section when,  there it was....my bctbh.  But in white.  I could not believe it!  I grabbed it and ran to the front of the store to buy it.  Dave Ramsey didn't even cross my mind.   I was actually so excited that I paid and left the store without picking up my shower curtain liner...

Guess that means I have one more shopping trip before the mouse car heads to the boat :)

If you are still reading this long saga about a toilet brush holder, I will let you see my new beauty

BCTBH memorial cat

white cat tbh...I hope the movers don't break you

I put the white cat on top of the new pile of things from the storage unit that are going to DK.  If you come and visit us in DC before we leave, I apologize for the guest bathroom in advance.

ER and House...not just TV shows.

Yesterday, I spent a good portion of my day going through my side of the closet sorting through all of my clothes, including my dresser drawers and 'mini' dressers in the closet.  I have a difficult time parting with some items of clothing that should have left my closet a long time ago...but the longer they stay, the more sentimental they become to me! It's a vicious cycle I tell you. 

So the last time at the computer (friday), I fully intended on finishing that blog post, but it didn't happen. But what did happen, I will tell you...

I did finish my cleaning my side of the closet and did eliminate many pieces of 'sentimental' clothing.  

Before

After

No, I didn't just pick up the stuff on the floor and close the drawers...I also moved the purples to live by the blues--where they should have been all along.  And I created this huge pile for goodwill.

no, scout is not going to goodwill

On Friday, I purchased the largest umbrella that I have ever owned...since a certain someone smuggled 2  of our umbrellas back to TX...intentionally or unintentionally..I cannot be sure since she hasn't showed her face around here since then :)  Actually, Ed has been wanting a large umbrella for sometime and it was about to rain while I was without umbrella so I bought one!  I only mention this incident because it's a good segue into the next part of my weekend.  While out, with my new XL umbrella, I happen to notice what I thought was an ant bite on my knee...Maybe this is TMI but I will try to make it as appropriate as possible. 

In college, I had a staph infection on my leg.  I have no idea where it came from, but considering staph can be picked up at gyms, from towels, shared clothing... it's beside the point.  The point is that I never forgot what it felt or looked like. I have been hyper-aware of all bumps, bug bites, scratches and I clean gym equipment obsessively and never share towels ( I didn't share towels before but have not started to since then)..I woke up in the middle of the night and my 'ant-bite' felt and looked just like my previous encounter with staph--though much smaller since I had ignored my first staph infection for several days before realizing that I needed to see a doctor.  Long story short, flight medicine told me to go to the ER to have this possible infection inspected.   Yes, the ER.  Thankfully, it was a slow day at the Andrews AFB ER or I would have felt really bad for taking the doctor's attention away from someone else's real emergency.  Needless to say, I was in the ER on saturday afternoon with what turned out to be...not staph...and nothing serious. My word to describe this incident: embarrassing.

if you look closely at my right knee..with a magnifying glass...
you can see my cause for alarm

The last part of our weekend was spent shuffling things around from our apartment to storage unit.  Some things in storage are going to Denmark but other things in the apartment will stay in permanent storage. This is a huge pain in the...knee, but has to be done before the movers arrive in a month.  It could be done at a later time except that the mouse car (yes, this is what we call our car.  Ed gave the car its name based on how I apparently drive...mousing in and out of traffic) is being shipped this week.  This week!  Sad for us to not have a car for a 1 1/2 months but happy since that means our time here is winding down..or wrapping up.  Also, as mentioned in my last post, we have most likely found a house. The house that we will hopefully be getting is not same one that I had mentioned before but is in a town closer to the base, so better for Ed.  We have told the owner we want to rent and are just waiting for the lease to be translated and sent to us.  

It's near a forrest and in a quiet neighborhood but still in a city.

Outside

Kitchen a.k.a køkken...my favorite room in any house

So, to celebrate, we went out to dinner. I only mention this because I took this picture of Ed and it's so funny!

what's the old saying..about one's eyes being bigger than one's stomach...

At this pizza place, you can order a slice or an 18 inch pizza.  There's no middle ground.  And in case you're curious, we did not eat the whole thing :)  

Happy Monday!

Fireworks over DC

I was too busy to actually type my post about this day on the actual day, but I was thinking about it :)  I remember on July 4th of last year, we had just learned the location of Ed's upcoming assignment.  I recall thinking, "in one year, we will be living in Washington DC on the 4th of July, preparing to move to Denmark."  And now, here we are, in DC, preparing to move.  We are currently looking at a promising house to rent in DK.  It'd be nice to know where we will be staying in advance but I'm not going to count that egg till it's hatched. But back to the 4th:  We left our apartment around 2pm to eat the required patriotic holiday meal: hamburgers and hot dogs. (am I wrong??)  We don't have a grill here so we went to 5 guys :) 

After lunch, we walked down past Iwo Jima to the Arlington National Cemetery, where we spent 2 hours going up to the Arlington house, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Kennedy's grave and a few other places.  The cemetery was quiet and peaceful even though it was a holiday.

  We walked back to the large hill that overlooks DC, below the Netherland's Carillion.  We found an open space with a view of the monuments and sat down in the grass to wait for Ed to arrive with the blanket.   It did sprinkle a little bit but thankfully the rain stayed away for the evening.

Waiting for Ed...hoping the sprinkles stay sprinkles and don't become downpour.

Ed & I

1 1/2 hrs before the fireworks...the hill was already filled with people.

Ed and his 'grass trumpet'  :)

By the end of the show, the smoke blocked the the view of
the capitol and washington monument.

Beginning of the 'grand finale'

It was so amazing to see fireworks over our nation's capitol.  I truly think it's something that everyone should experience at least once... I feel blessed to have been born in a great country. While I am looking forward to living in a foreign country for a time, I will always be proud to be an American. 

Amy left early on Tuesday morning and made it home with zero problems! (though my drive home from the airport was less than successful. Part of the traffic circle to come home was closed and so I was forced into DC proper--last place I want to be during morning traffic. I thankfully had the GPS up and running so was able to make it home with only 1 angry honk from another driver) Natalie's flight wasn't scheduled to leave till 6 pm so after she packed her bags, we went to DC one last time and went to the National Gallery of Art.  I will have to go back again before we leave because we were only able to see a little over half of the upper floor despite spending 2+ hours there.  Natalie's trip home went smoothly as well.  It seems that travel, free of delays and missed flights doesn't happen all that often for these 2!  

My final thought on the 4th of July, 2011...Next year, we will be living in Denmark, maybe celebrating here, the location of the largest 4th of July celebration outside of the U.S.  Cool huh?

The 10K walking tour of DC

My cousin Amy and my childhood, actually teen-hood (that's my made-up word of the day) friend Natalie were here this past weekend.  We had a great time together!  We are all living in different cities and are in different places in our lives now but when we are together, it's like things have never changed from our younger days.  There's no drama and there are always lots of pictures taken. Neither Amy nor Natalie had been to DC before so I thought the most important thing for them to see would be the big, famous places first.  They can visit museums next time they are here! All of the pictures in this post are from 1 day of serious walking.  DC has a decent metro system that is really clean and generally on time, but when it comes to doing things around the downtown area, it's almost better to walk, especially on the weekends and holidays in the summer.  There  are many more people trying to get on and off fewer trains throughout the day. So, with all that said, we started our day at Eastern Market and walked from there...more than 6 miles.  Here was our day:

Beautiful flowers at the indoor part of eastern market

Escaping the heat in a firetrap bookstore just off eastern market.   Like my cow book?  That's actually how I felt the following day after the cupcake pigout, i mean cowout.  

Supreme Court...

And capitol.  Natalie said it is much more beautiful in person than in pictures. I agree.

We decided to give the self-photography a try at the Washington Monument.  Aren't my 'tar-bans' (target ray-bans :) great?  Ed hates them.

Freedom wall at the WW2 memorial..each star represents 100 American service personnel who were killed during WW2.

Amy and Natalie taking a break at the Korean War Memorial.

One of our few successful pictures taken by strangers. Abe's head was not cut off and the guy taking the picture took it in under 30 seconds.  Bravo picture taker.

I have always wanted to visit this statue of Einstein near the National Academy of Sciences. Since we were on foot, and nearby, I thought that we should stop by. It is so big and it's neat because it is a sculpture that you can actually touch in DC so people were crawling all over it when we first arrived. 

DAR headquarters.  Heather and I were here before but I never had a chance to have my picture here.  

 Amy and Natalie at the White House. We had another stranger attempt to take a picture of the 3 of us here....she tried so hard..but could never get a good shot, even after taking 5 pictures.  

Ahh, at last. We reached the metro station to head home after a long, long day of walking!