Girlie Day

Every so often, I need a Me-day. And I emphasis the day part. Between being a mom, wife and teacher, I get lost. We all need some Me time, and do our best to fit it in, but when was the last time you had a Me-day? I do the occasional manicure/pedicure, go for a massage, meet a girlfriend for coffee/lunch, but they're not day things. They take up a couple of hours. A couple of great hours, but still hours. 


Yesterday, Louise and I had a girlie day. In Zanzibar. We took a 9am flight and were in Stone Town by 9:30. Stopped in a little cafe for some coffee (tea for me), grabbed a look at our map, and plotted our way. By noon we had covered all of Kenyatta road (main shopping road). I had scored myself a top, a pair of beach trousers, and some little trinkets. We decided to try another little road, and found some more cute kanga dresses. We decided we needed to buy some kangas and copy some of these lovely tops and dresses we see.


By 12:30, we decided we needed some lunch, so we sat at a lovely restaurant for some Zanzibar curries, and wished there was a breeze.


After lunch, we decided to explore some of the side streets. There were still a couple of shops we wanted to go to. I managed to pick up another top and a dress. Yes a dress! Let's see how often I actually wear it.


A little before 2, we found a curio shop Louise wanted to go to. It was closed. Since it was a Friday, we assumed they would open at 2, and were closed due to Mosque. We were told they would re-open at 3. As we debated on whether or not to come back, a gentleman informed us that he knows the owner, and rang his house (upstairs from the shop). He came to the window and told us he'd be down in 10 minutes. Yeah! Although now I think we're going to have to buy something.


Ok, so this shop is unlike one I've ever been to. And seriously, I've been to many shops in many countries! You walk in and it looks like a little souvenir shop. Turn one corner, and more souvenirs. Go straight, and there's clothes. Left of the clothes is another room of shoes. So back to the clothes room, turn right and there's a room of....hmmm....how to explain it.... stuff!!! From bottom to ceiling. There's lamps, old classroom bells, statues, antique phones, antique compasses, and a whole lot more! Back to the 2nd room of souvenirs, to the right of that is another room, of more of these "stuff". There's a saxophone, trumpets, nautical items, an astrological thingy, and many more things. Louise then learns there's even more. The sales clerk takes us into one room, opens the door and we see stairs. Up these huge stairs and I hear voices. "Louise, are we going into their house?" Yup we are! We cut through a section of the house into another room full of of things. More lamps, a freaky statue, telephones, license plates, all kinds of things. Thank God I was with Louise and not Scott, cos there's no way in hell he would have been in the shop this long with me. Oh wait, Louise then finds, you guessed it, another door, leading to another room. I hope we left breadcrumbs to find our way out!


We've now spent over 45 minutes in this shop. I contain myself and leave with 2, no 3, pairs of shoes (I bought my mum a pair). Louise has come out with a bell, lamp, these awesome wooden shoes that will be used for decoration, and a few other things. Can I just saw how glad I am she went crazy here, because up to this point, she hadn't bought a thing!


We leave the shop, and head back to the main road, stopping at a few more shops. We then hop into a cab and head to the kanga area to get some.


A little after 4, we head back into Stone Town. We climb a gazillion stairs meant for giants to reach the rooftop of a hotel for sundowners. Granted, it was too early for the sun to go down, but we got to go through our shopping, relax and just chat. A girlie day!


Our flight back was at 6:15pm. We had a fabulous time. A real Me-day. A real treat. No way Scott and Ethan would let me drag them around Stone Town for a full on day. Scott still doesn't understand how we were able to spend the whole day there. 


If he reads this, then he'll know!

Freaky statue made with nails we saw at the curio shop.