BCAM Day 19

Heads up … this is going to be a loooong journal entry :).

We had an early morning flight to Lahore, which meant we didn’t really sleep as we needed to be at the airport at 12am.

It was exciting to travel with Sherry again after many years, and first time with Geraldine! Yay, girls trip.

All went smoothly with the flight and our arrival into Lahore.

Our eldest sister Debbie and her youngest son were there to meet us at the airport.

And so began our epic 24 hrs in Lahore.

It was a lovely reunion with our elder sister and the family. We went to her home for breakfast and then headed out to check in to our hotel. We’re abducting her for the night, so we can have our girl time.

Her oldest son and family joined us at our hotel as we checked in. We’ve got a few things planned for the rest of the day, and we’re doing it all together.

First stop, The Salvation Army. This is where our whole family, mum’s and dad’s side have served most of their lives. Our parents left and went to Dubai but the others continued to serve here. It was the work and ministry of our grandfather, from our father’s side, that we really wanted to know more about. Our aunt had organised a tour which was just wonderful. We were informed about the work that The Salvation Army is currently doing in Pakistan. Lahore is the Territorial Headquarters for Pakistan.

After our visit there, we headed towards Lahore Fort and Badshahi Mosque, two historical buildings in old Lahore.

The journey there was absolutely manic, chaos, frantic, can’t find enough words to describe it really. The traffic was insane. Really appreciate how skilled (and that’s a complimentary word) drivers are there! Of course we were in the heart of the city, the congested, overpopulated, heart of the city. We loved it! Just nothing like we’ve ever experienced before: cars, rickshaws, motor bikes, cyclists, cows, buses pedestrians all inching their way along on the roads. Something coming at you from every direction!!!

We got to Minare Pakistan which is a famous tower, a symbol of Lahore. They were setting up for a rally that they’re having on the weekend as Nawab Sharif (ex-PM) is returning to Pakistan on the 20th of October.

We rented a long golf buggy to take us round to the Fort. It was fun to be there with the whole family, well 10 of us.

Debbie and her family hadn’t been there yet since they’ve been back in Pakistan so it was all new for them.

We had a good time enjoying the history of it all, definitely need to look it up on Google. Then across to Bad Shahi mosque, which is a very pretty mosque.

By this time the sun was setting and we were ready for some refreshments, which we enjoyed at a rooftop restaurant called Haveli. Great views of the mosque from there. Very pleasant indeed.

We had yet more family to see over dinner. So we headed back to Gulberg. After a quick freshen up at the hotel, we set out to Monal, another rooftop restaurant with views of Gulberg. All our Lahore family came for this meal, which was just fantastic. What a blessing this was. We got to see everyone!

My uncle actually called his sister in Toronto and his brother in Stuttgart, so in some way, we got to speak with all our uncles and aunts in one go!!! That’s never happened before. And I got to meet some of my cousin’s wives and children, as they’ve married in the last few years and I have never met them before.

The meal itself was more than we expected, excellent biryani, curries, naan, foot long sheesh kebabs (really unique) and a birthday cake to boot, to celebrate Debbie’s birthday. There were plenty of leftovers for everyone to take home.

Dinner done and goodbyes said, we headed back to the hotel with Debbie. Needless to say Sherry, Geraldine and I were pretty exhausted by the end of the day, not having slept all night, but what a day we’ve had.

I had the pleasure of sharing the room with Debbie so we chatted till late into the night, great way to spend time with my big sister.

Epic day, our hearts are full and the things we’ve experienced today, we’ll be talking about for ages to come.

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