London Calling

Last Day In Paris

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 19:04:00 +0000

Another day of walking. At least we don't feel bad about all the sweets we are eating!

We keep seeing these double decker carousels, but they must cost too much to ride since we never see anyone on them!

We walked to the Sacre-Coeur Basilica. There were lots of people, & there was a mass happening when we got there, so we sat for awhile. I found it funny that they still let people in to look around while they are having their services. I don't think I've ever been in a church in Canada or the States that has tourists wandering around during the service!

We stumbled upon the Gare du Nord train station. We didn't bother going into it since most train stations are alike inside.

We were almost home when I spotted this shop. I had to get a photo for my dad, since Mello Yello is his favourite soda!

We had a quiet dinner at the flat & tried to finish up the contents of the fridge before leaving. I had been on a quest for a crepe most of the day, but had never found one for what I thought was a reasonable price. So we headed back to Notre Dame since there were quite a few creperies in that area.

We found one!

But I wanted another one, so I went back for more!

I asked the man for another crepe sucre with more sugar.

He poured it on, "is this enough?" he asked.

"Yes, that's good," I replied.

Then he added more before telling me with a grin, "This is really bad for your teeth!"

I promised I'd brush them afterwards.

On our way back to the flat Chad spotted an ice cream shop that had pistachio ice cream! He couldn't resist, & the lady working there rewarded him for not asking for a sample of every flavour by giving him an extra scoop of pistachios on top!

Total Distance walked: 13 km

Total Distance for the week: 61 km

Paris From Above

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 19:03:00 +0000

We headed once again to Notre Dame to get in line nice & early to climb to the top of the cathedral. There were not many people ahead of us, but the line grew quite a bit as we were waiting. We managed to be in the second group that got to go up, so we were pretty happy about that!

There are lots of gargoyles & animal drain spouts on the cathedral.

We had a nice view of the city, & it wasn't raining!

We even got to go into the bell tower

We had seen "The Great Canadian Pub" the day before, & we decided to stop for lunch there. I had poutine, it was ok, but not great. The restaurant was really dirty though. As Chad said, "it looks like they had a busy night last night & didn't have time to clean up afterwards."

This photo captures my thoughts on how good the experience was...

After lunch we headed to the Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, which was basically a very, very expensive department store.

We came, we saw, we couldn't afford anything!

More walking lead us to stumble upon the Centre Pompidou which is a modern art museum among other things. We came, we saw, we did not go in.

As we walked home we stopped at a shop & purchased some macaroons. They were also delicious!

Total distance walked: 8 km

Paris Is Closed

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 19:00:00 +0000

Day one of free time for Chad! It was a little bit rainy, so we decided it would be a good day to be inside. We had wanted to climb to the top of Notre Dame, so we went a bit early to check how long the line was.

The line was longer than our patience, so we decided we'd check back later or come another day.

On to the Louvre!

It was Tuesday. The Louvre was closed as it is every Tuesday.

On to the lock bridge!

I had read that the locks had all been removed from the lock bridge, apparently this is now the lockless bridge. They put glass on the side so you can't put locks on the railings anymore. Instead they filled the bridge with strange sculptures.

On to the Eiffel Tower!

We made it!

Unfortunately there was a union strike, & the Eiffel Tower was closed. We checked online this morning & it doesn't look like it will be reopened while we are here at all.

On to the Arc de Triomphe!

I almost lost my will to carry on after everything else was closed, but we persevered! We arrived, but we couldn't figure out how to make it into the centre without dying. Granted, we didn't try too hard. We were hungry, & we wanted to eat. We strolled down the Champs-Elysees in search of sustenance and found a nice cafe where I had a delicious lunch of mussels & a crepe.

After lunch we headed back to the flat. We'd done a lot of walking & were pretty much done for the day. We stopped at Notre Dame again, but the line was still too long, so we continued on. Chad noticed a little patisserie & we decided to reward ourselves for all the exercise we had done by buying some treats.

I don't really know what they were, but they were delicious!

Total distance walked: 13 km

Paris at Night (Kind of)

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 19:00:00 +0000

One of Chad's classmates offered to drive us around Paris at night so we could see the monuments lit up. Unfortunately when they picked us up at 9, we discovered that we were going to see the city at dusk rather than full darkness, but we carried on anyway & got some nice photos.

The Institute de France

The Eiffel Tower with a football hung in the centre because of the Euro Cup which is happening now.

Here we are!

The Arc de Triomphe. We drove around it in the crazy round-about!

The Louvre

We drove past the Eiffel Tower the night after Chad's graduation & I got this stellar picture. The lights also twinkle every hour for a few minutes.

The traffic was a little lighter at night than it usually is during the day, but it was still pretty crazy. The drivers seem to be pretty aggressive, but they also let other cars merge quite regularly, & they don't honk their horns much. It was interesting to experience.

Total Distance walked: 9 km

The Parisian Flat

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Sun, 12 Jun 2016 18:59:00 +0000

We had left booking a place to stay til the last minute because we weren't quite sure if we wanted to stay in Paris the whole time, or be closer to the school for the graduation. We ended up deciding it would be nicer to just stay in one place the whole time, so I set about looking on AirBnB, Hotels.com, & VRBO. Hotels were pretty much all expensive if we wanted to stay central (which we did), so I perused the sites looking for flats we could stay in. There ended up being a glitch in the VRBO system, so I was quoted a really low price for one awesome looking flat. When the owner got back to me he told me he couldn't give it to me for the price I had been quoted, but he would still give me a discount from the regular rate. By the time we finished negotiating, it was only 2 days before our trip!

If you are going to stay in Paris, this is the way to do it! There were 2 days that Chad had meetings all day with some of his classmates, so I was left to my own devices. I'm not one to go out alone in a city I don't know, especially when I don't speak the language, so I mostly stayed in the flat (except for when I went out in search of chocolate truffles!). I was very thankful that I wasn't stuck in a tiny hotel room!

The flat had a loft area which had the washroom & a bedroom. The flat sleeps 6-8. The only downside is that there is only one washroom, & it's off the upstairs bedroom, so you'd have to know the people you are sharing the flat with quite well.

The bathtub was huge & it was awesome after getting caught in the rain one day!

Here you see the entrance to the flat & the stairs up to the loft area. Just to the right is the entrance to the kitchen.

Nice big kitchen. There was also a futon in this area.

This is the entrance way again, looking toward the living area.

This is a futon, there is also a double bed to the left of the TV, & across from the TV is a hide-a-bed couch, which I was sitting on in yesterday's pictures.

Off the living area is the terrace. When it wasn't raining, we enjoyed sitting on the terrace & having our coffee.

The owner of the flat also has places in Rome & Istanbul. We may have to go check them out too!

We Arrived in Paris!

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Sat, 11 Jun 2016 18:57:00 +0000

Chad & I went to Paris for a week so he could attend his graduation for his (third) Master's degree, & so we could enjoy the city.

Here we are in the airport, ready to go!

This is the little street that our flat was on. It was quite close to Notre Dame which made it easy to walk everywhere. when we arrived at the flat we could leave our luggage, but we were too early for check-in time, so we had to go exploring for a bit.

We walked along the Seine for awhile, but we were thwarted by all the mud that was covering much of the walkways due to flooding from the week before.

You can see on the bridge how high the water was, just under the circles.

The sun came out when we got to Notre Dame, & we were delighted to discover they had free wifi in the Square Jean XXIII behind the cathedral.

After being up for 23 hours & walking about 5 km we were tired & glad to be able to get into our flat!

Saturday Fry Up, & Meet Up

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 20:19:00 +0000

Saturday I headed to Fiona's house to have a full English breakfast... for lunch! I took a few busses to get there, but it was a relatively easy journey. I got to meet her kids & husband, who were very welcoming, & lovely. I had a fun afternoon just hanging out & chatting about British music & TV shows & movies. We have similar tastes & it was nice to be able to talk to someone who has seen a lot of the same shows & listens to a lot of the same bands.

Later in the day I met up with Chad, & we stopped at a pub so he could have some good British Sausage & Mash. We headed back to Geoff & Margaret's to spend the evening with them before heading back to Canada on Sunday.

We are very thankful for the blessing Geoff & Margaret have been to us. They opened their home to us 13 years ago, when we were poor students struggling to find an affordable place to live in London, & failing miserably. We have fond memories of walking their dog Tess, helping out when their 2 year old granddaughter Lucy was over for the day, & playing in the wading pool with the older grand-kids when the weather was hot. We would have had a totally different experience of London if we had not lived with this generous couple. They taught us what true hospitality was, simply by inviting us in.

Sadly, it was time to leave again, & hopefully it won't be another 7 years before we are back!

Wandering London

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Sat, 04 Apr 2015 20:08:00 +0000

Friday I decided to walk around Oxford Street just to see the sights & perhaps do a little shopping. I was amused when I stopped for a sandwich, by all the choices that I was not used to.

After awhile I thought I'd head to Brent Cross to a shopping centre I had heard about. I wanted to take the Jubilee Line, but it was closed for upgrades, so I had to take the Northern Line. When I got out at the station I decided it wouldn't take too long to walk to the shopping centre, but the area is really not set up for walking. Every time I thought I was making headway getting closer to where I wanted to be, I'd find that the walkway ended, or there was no way to get from here to there. At one point I was on the street below the shopping centre, & all that was between me & the shops was a brick wall of about 10 feet. Unfortunately I could not figure out how to get from point A to point B, & at that point Fiona texted to see if I wanted to get together for dinner. So, I wandered around for about 2 hours pointlessly, but I definitely got good exercise!

I was glad for a rest after all that walking!

And I was happy that Fiona had thought about meeting up again! Wandering around by myself was starting to get really old! We spent a few hours talking about our families, & I even managed to get another invitation to hang out again Saturday!

A Visit to Ely

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 19:52:00 +0000

A friend of mine from Washington State now lives in Ely. Since Ely is only about an hour & 15 minutes, & I had not seen Meleah in about 10 years, & had never met her husband, & they just had a baby 10 days earlier, I decided to take a day to visit her!

I had to take a train from King's Cross, so I decided to have a look at platform 9 3/4. It was teeming with tourists!

Gemma & I bonded, & I got her all kitted out with some Canadian gear.

It was great to see Meleah again, & finally meet Luke & Gemma!

Meeting Up With the Old Crew

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 19:21:00 +0000

Wednesday morning I headed out to try to get my phone sorted out. I had brought along the pay-as-you-go phone we had bought in Ireland when we visited in 2008 hoping it would work, but it said there was no service. I took the train to Liverpool Street & stopped into a phone shop nearby. The told me to go to a different shop where they could see if the phone was unlocked. At that shop they told me that the phone was sadly locked & sent me to another shop to get it unlocked. The third shop was closed dispite it being 10am. I asked at the shop next door, where they directed me to a fourth shop to get the phone unlocked. The fourth shop was also closed, so I gave up & headed to Tottenham Court Road to see how I'd fare.

I quickly found a phone shop & asked about getting a new pay-as-you-go phone. They had some cheap phones I could get for around £25, but that would be about $50 Canadian. I decided to head to the nearby Starbucks & see about adding a travel plan on my phone from home, which I discovered I could do for $5. It was a lot of running around, but it used up some of the extra time I had.

After all that fun I headed to Covent Garden for some shopping! I picked up some souvenirs for everyone & then it was time to meet up with my old workmates from when we lived in London.

As I walked to the pub where we were supposed to meet, I took a few pictures of the street signs

Apparently there were a few people I worked with who do not check their facebook very often, & they had no idea I had named my daughter after the street!

This is one of my favourites!

Fiona & Mora worked on the Reception desk with me, & were always fun to work with.

Ian & Pete

I had not seen these people in over 12 years! It was far too long & we had a great time catching up. We had planned to meet up at 3 in the afternoon on Wednesday, figuring that the pub would be dead & we would have the run of the place. Strangely, there was a power cut, so all the nearby businesses had been let out & everyone had the same great idea to head to the pub! Despite having no power, the pub carried on serving drinks. After a few hours the lights came back on & everyone cheered. At the end of the night you could see that the dishwasher had not been working, as the entire bar was stacked with glasses!

We're Heading Back to Blighty!

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 18:36:00 +0000

Chad has been doing an executive Master's degree which has him travelling for a week at at time to either Oxford or Paris. I decided it wasn't fair for him to have all the fun, so I decided to 'join' him on his trip to Oxford. I say 'join' because basically we are traveling from Canada to England together & the spending the entire week at separate places until we meet up again to fly home! We left a LOT of snow behind at home, so I was looking forward to some warmer temperatures.

It was really cool to see the ice on the water crossing from PEI to Nova Scotia

We had a 6 hour layover in Halifax, so we enjoyed a leisurely dinner

And we took a few selfies to pass the time!

After flying all night, I traveled to Geoff & Margaret's & took it pretty easy for the afternoon. I read a bit & got all caught up with what has been going on in their lives.

I managed to stay awake until dinner time & Margaret even had some splodge for me for dessert!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig!

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Thu, 08 May 2008 06:11:00 +0000

This morning Asher woke up at 3:30, 4:00, & at 4:30 he decided he'd had enough sleep. We couldn't blame it on the room not being dark b/c it was pitch black. It was really nice, we slept really well, until Asher decided he was done!

So, we got up early, I had Chad make us some coffee from the coffee maker so thoughtfully provided in our room & then we went to Denny's again for breakfast. Asher was quite excited to have pancakes for breakfast, but even more excited that they came with cherries on top. I think we'll have to start ordering him things with fruit on them. Last night he was more excited about the grapes that came with his dinner than the Mac & Cheese. Although this morning when I asked him what he was going to have for breakfast, instead of his usual answer of, "Pancakes!" I got "Mac & Cheese!" I had to explain that he couldn't have Mac & Cheese for breakfast & he was ok with that too.

We started on our way home & stopped off at a western store as I was looking for a new pair of Roper Performance shoes since I really liked mine, but couldn't find a place that sold them. I struck out once again, except that the sales lady remembered she had been sent a sample from Roper, but didn't want to order them, so she had the one pair. They were a size 8 & I am a 8.5, but she gave me a really good deal on them, so I got them anyway. I was looking for a brown suede pair like the ones I have, but these are tooled brown leather & I really like them, they are a little less frumpy than the other pair.

After our little foray off the freeway, we got started again, only to stop at the next exit b/c Chad saw some stores that looked interesting. We spend time, but no money, then off again. We made it to London, ON, I decided since it was lunchtime to stop off at the mall. We began to window shop a bit & CHAD FOUND A COAT! I was very excited for him & he is quite happy with his purchase. I suppose it can still go on the record that he got it on our holiday, even though it is w/in an hour of home.

Once we got home Asher was very excited to get to play w/ all his toys again while we unpacked the car. However, he was quite upset 15 minutes later when I told him it was time for a nap b/c he wanted to play instead. He said, "want to play w/ firetruck.'" To which I told him it was time for bed. "Want to play w/ police car." Time for bed. "Want to play w/ school bus." I so it went while I changed his pants. He had such a good nap though that I had to wake him up 2 hours later so he'd go to sleep again at the end of the day.

Chad's off on a men's retreat tomorrow morning, so we'll see how Asher & I cope w/o him for a few days. Our fridge seems to be on the blink as well. Everything in our freezer was melted when we got home & the fridge seems to be a bit warmer than it should be, so I'll have to figure something out.

Back in Canada

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Wed, 07 May 2008 03:20:00 +0000

Have you ever felt like you've been in transit all day? We left G&M's at 8am to go to Gatwick. We got there at about 10, & our flight was scheduled for 11:45. By the time we were checked in it was time to go through security.

I usually leave Asher's drink in the diaper bag simply b/c it's easier. There's enough other stuff that we have to do that I don't mind them having to check it after wards as it gives us a chance to get all our shoes on, the laptop put away, Asher in the stroller, & all our bags situated again. Well, the lady had to do a swipe of the bag w/ her little kleenex thing & then check the cloth in the scanner. When she did so, the scanner beeped & printed out a little report so she had to call over her supervisor who then had to question us & she had to re-swipe the bag. The second time it didn't go off, however I had noticed while she was waiting to check the bag that her cloth thing was already quite dirty, so I think it was from someone else's stuff, but it didn't really matter anyway.

I did find it quite humorous however that the supervisor's first question was “who does this bag belong to?” Well, truthfully Chad & I answered that it was Asher's, so the man said to Asher, “well young man, you have some questions to answer here,” before he actually began to question Chad.

Once we were through security we began to look for a place to get some food, but the only places in the area were travel items, clothing, Harrod's, cosmetics & alcohol, so we decided to head toward our gate figuring we'd find something out there. Costa Coffee was the only thing to be found, so we settled for a few muffins & smoothies.

They began boarding our plane about 10 minutes after we had finished eating, so we really didn't have much time to let Asher run around before we got on the flight, but it couldn't be helped. Once we were on board we discovered we were in row 4, just one row behind first class. I wasn't sure it was a great place to be sitting, but it worked out ok. Our luggage had to all be put up top, which was kind of annoying, but the people behind us didn't have anything under the seats, so we could shove our shoes under the seats & it also gave Asher more room to muck about.

It took about 10 minutes for Asher to fall asleep & he slept for over 2 hours. It gave Chad time to sleep & I had a chance to watch "The Bucket List." I was quite glad that I didn't have to pay for it since I didn't find it to be that great of a movie. Out of a 7+ hour flight that was the only bit that Asher slept for, but he was pretty well behaved, so we didn't mind too much.

When we got to Toronto, we called the hotel that we had parked at, so they could send a shuttle to get us. Once we were at the hotel they told me they said we had no reservation, so I showed her my confirmation paper, & she asked if it had been confirmed when we had arrived. I said yes, & she then told me that nothing had been booked, but she booked us in, so it was ok. She was in a bit of a snarky mood I had noticed. The man behind me asked her something & she directed him to the lifts. He turned & didn't see them, so he asked her where they were. Her response was, “the brown things right behind you.”

We got settled in our room & then went to find a place to eat even though it was only 4pm local time, it was 9pm London time. We didn't find much at first, it seemed we were in a bit of an industrial area, but then we saw a billboard for Denny's, so we went there for dinner. When we pulled up to the restaurant I enthusiastically told Asher we were going to Denny's b/c there was a McDonald's right across the parking lot. Asher fell for it! He noticed the McDonald's, but wasn't overly upset that we weren't eating there.

After dinner we went back to the hotel for the promised swimming! I had been looking forward to that since I booked the hotel. Asher wasn't quite sure about the big pool, he got as far as the 2^nd step & wasn't sure he wanted to go any further. Perhaps having a Rubbermaid container for a bathtub is giving him a fear of big water. But once we started having him jump into the water to Chad he was ok.

Next on the agenda was a bath for me, since it is a luxury I seldom get these days. We got into the room to discover that the plug on the tub was broken! Arrrgh! I called the front desk & they said they'd send maintenance. I was pleasantly surprised to hear them knock a mere 10 minutes later. Chad figured they knew I was trying to have a bath right then, so they sent him quickly. I had a very enjoyable soak in the tub. It's now 7pm & I'm off to bed!

Our Last Day in England

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:55:00 +0000

We took it a bit easy today. It was a bank holiday, so b/w the less frequent buses, & most places being closed, it was a bit forced upon us to take it easy, which was probably good since we'll be on the aeroplane most of the day tomorrow. This morning began at 6:30am. Asher initially woke up at 5:45, so we decided that it wasn't so bad to get up then. He's going to be so off schedule that it doesn't really matter anyway.

We had breakfast and then went off to the park, but there had been a very heavy dew last night, so everything was really wet. We had decided to go to Chingford today in a last ditch effort to find a coat for Chad. We got there around 9:30 & almost every shop was closed, so we stopped at Cafe Nero to kill some time & have a latte. I ordered an iced latte & the next thing I knew she was blending it. It wasn't overly icy though, so it was a bit like a melted milkshake. Not too pleasant. Another reason to not go to Nero.

Then off to shop we went, however the shops were still closed, so we made our way up the street & found nothing open, & caught the bus back to Highams Park. Then we went back to the park, since other children's bottoms had dried off the playground. Chad was quite interested in getting an English breakfast before we leave, & had seen some signs at pubs for all day breakfast, so we took the car & returned to Chingford.

We stopped at a pub advertising all day breakfast & went in only to be greeted by a waitress telling us that they didn't open 'til noon, & it was 11:45. We contemplated the "All Dayness" of their breakfast if they didn't open 'til noon, then decided we'd go elsewhere b/c Chad doesn't like to be the first patrons in a restaurant after it opens as sometimes the kitchen isn't in full swing yet at that time.

So we returned to "The Royal Forest" pub that we had eaten at with Theres. I had a carbon-copy of the mal I had the other night & enjoyed it thoroughly. Especially the Sticky Toffee Pudding, this time I had it topped w/ Custard & it was DIVINE! I figured since it is so difficult to make & impossible to get at restaurants in Canada that I'd better take advantage of being able to eat it as often as possible.

Asher had a double burger & was doing quite well with it except it was a bit large for his little mouth. Chad decided to break it for him.... thus began a small meltdown where Chad & then I was instructed to "fix it." We had to explain that it couldn't be fixed, the crying actually stopped quite suddenly b/c a boy at a nearby table started having a tantrum of his own & Asher doesn't like to compete at times like these, so he let the other boy do the crying from there on out. It may have helped that my dessert showed up shortly thereafter as well. He was a bit disappointed that there was no ice cream this time, but it couldn't be helped, Sticky Toffee Pudding is better w/ Custard!

We came back to G&M's for naps (yes we all enjoyed nap time) & then went out to the back garden to enjoy the grass & the sunshine for awhile. Chad wasn't feeling well & didn't want to leave the house so we ordered Pizza Hut (don't we splash out?) for dinner & Asher quite enjoyed that the man came & brought it to the door.

So we are in for a long day tomorrow. After an 8 hour flight plus airport travel & waiting & am already looking forward to our hotel's pool & my once-in-a-blue-moon chance to take a bath at the hotel. Signing off from England, Ta-Ta!

"Going a Church aday...Yay!"

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Sun, 04 May 2008 22:44:00 +0000

This is what Asher says every time we tell him that we're going to go to church. He loves going. I think perhaps it's more for the toys & the kids than anything else, but it's a good start. We decided to go to All Souls this morning since Chad never had a chance to go while we lived here. Church was at 9:30 or 11:30 & since it takes 1:30 to get from here to there we decided to go for the 11:30. We also knew they had a lunch at 1pm so we thought if we were interested in staying for htat it made more sense to go to the later service.

We got into London at 10, so we stopped for a coffee at Caffe Nero since Asher had fallen asleep on the Tube on the way in. We're not the biggest fans of Caffe Nero since when we lived here every time we went our coffee had been made with sour milk, but we figured that the weather wasn't overly hot, so it wouldn't be as much of an issue. We had a rather good latte & Asher continued to sleep for about 45 minutes. Then we continued on to All Souls. Chad spoke w/ one of the ministers about getting into ministry in England, but he didn't seem to know how to go about it, so he wasn't a whole lot of help. We enjoyed the service, the singing was really great too. Asher enjoyed being able to play with other kids for awhile, but when we went to get him from the creche he was standing in the window looking for us.

After the service we talked to a few people & went to check out the lunch, but since there was no highchair we decided to go elsewhere for lunch. We had passed a Garfunkel's on the way to church & I thought we should try it b/c it looked rather good. My meal was ok. I probably didn't choose the right thing to order, but my dessert was magnificent! I had a Treacle Sponge with Custard. Asher also enjoyed my dessert. He doesn't seem to understand that we aren't buying them for him, but I don't mind sharing... within reason!

Post dessert we took the bus down to where I used to work, just to look at the area again, & then we rode another bus to catch the Tube, to catch the Train to get home. Asher has really enjoyed all the different forms of transportation that we have been able to take here. Even though when we are on them he won't sit still. We got home quite late in the afternoon, so Asher didn't get an afternoon nap, but he was really quite good. We had a bit of an early dinner b/c Chad wanted to go to All Saints in Woodford Green.

All Saints is the church that we were in at about the same time of year five years ago when Chad felt God was calling him into the ministry. I told him he really ought to go there again so God could tell him what His plans are for us again. I'm now waiting for him to get home & let me know.

A Day at the Market

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Sun, 04 May 2008 00:25:00 +0000

Today we decided to walk through Walthamstow Market to see if Chad could find a suitable coat. Of course our first stop was Costa Coffee to fuel up for the morning of shopping, but we had to walk right by a park, so after we had purchased our drinks we let Asher go play on the playground for awhile. Apparently the most exciting part of the playground was trying to escape it, so that little play break didn't last very long.

We walked up & down the stalls only to discover that 95% of them were not men's clothing items, which was what we were primarily looking for. However I did find a nice "England" sweater for £3. I'm very excited about that purchase, but won't be able to wear it properly for about 3 more months. It's a good investment. We also found a cute baby book for the new little one & that was only £3 as well. So it was a pretty good day for me. Not so much for Chad as he still didn't find a coat like he wanted, but I think he's somewhat enjoying having something to look for, so it's not so bad.

After the market we came back home & tried to get Asher to sleep, but he'd fallen asleep at the market for awhile, so it wasn't meant to be. Chad took Asher out for a walk later & I had a bit of a kip. Then we went to Chingford to the King's Head Pub. We used to go there occasionally & quite enjoyed both the atmosphere & the food. We brought Theres along as well. She's living @ G&M's house & we had met her before we left England before.

However, once we got to the pub we were told that children under 14 are not allowed inside the pub. We were invited to eat outside, but when I asked about a highchair the man said, "no, we're not really a child friendly pub. I mean, we're friendly, just not to children..... I mean, ummmmm." At this point we knew it wasn't meant to be. Asher isn't really the sort to sit on a picnic table bench for an hour while we try to have a nice dinner.

Theres suggested "The Royal Forest" pub in Chingford at the Inn, so we decided to go there for dinner instead. The service was a bit slow, but the menu had really good variety, even the kids' menu had over 15 choices. We had a very enjoyable dinner & I had Sticky Toffee Pudding for dessert that was delicious.

Tomorrow it's back into London for Church etc, so off to bed I go!

Traditions Are Grand!

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Fri, 02 May 2008 23:56:00 +0000

Today we went into London to do some shopping. Chad had some Christmas money that has been burning a hole in his pocket. He wasn't really sure of what he wanted (other than a haircut), so in & out of shops we went. We had the stroller, so it wasn't too much of an issue w/ Asher.

We started out by going to Starbucks b/c that's the way one is supposed to begin shopping on Oxford street, obviously. There is literally a Starbucks every block, it can't be a coincidence. Up & down the street we went. We decided to appease Asher for lunch & eat at McDonald's. He'd been such a good shopper & he didn't even complain when we passed the first McDonald's, he just watched it slowly go by.

After lunch we stopped at a green space for Asher to run around for awhile. It was a bit wet, but we thought it more important for Asher to get a chance to expend some energy than to keep his shoes clean, so off Chad & Asher went chasing pigeons. Shortly thereafter I heard a wail that was distinctly familiar. Apparently Asher had been running to investigate a statue & found the only puddle in the park, slipped, fell & cracked his head on the cement base of said statue. Amazingly he was more concerned about being wet & dirty than the fact that he had a giant goose-egg forming right b/w his eyes. We cleaned him up as best we could & moved on. I figured it was about time for a nap & kids tend to sleep better after they bonk their heads!

On to more shops. Chad still had not bought anything & it was going on 2pm. We had circled all the way back to where we had started & the rain began to fall. We decided that since Asher was now either sleeping peacefully or passed out in the stroller, we'd go into Starbucks & read for awhile until the showers passed. At about 3pm we decided to head for Piccadilly Circus & Leicester Square since there are a few more shops along there.

Chad suddenly remembered there was a jacket that he really liked in one of the shops we had gone to earlier that morning, so we went to try & find it. We had no luck, BUT he did finally make his first purchase.... a pair of sunglasses! We decided since we were so close to Chinatown at this point we really should have dinner at Wong Kei's since it was where we went almost every week with our friends Jeffy & Meigan. It was all we remembered it to be & Chad really enjoyed the garlic hot sauce.

After a scrumptious dinner it was time for the traditional dessert.... Ben & Jerry's ice cream! I was sad to discover they were not serving "One Sweet Whirled" as it is my absolute favourite, but I made do with a scoop of "Coffee, Coffee, Buzz, Buzz, Buzz!" & a scoop of "Baked Alaska." They were the perfect compliment to each other. And off we went to try to find Chad's jacket once more.

After nearly an hour we managed to find the correct shop, but in the course of the day they had sold the last of the jackets he liked. Needless to say, he was disappointed, but hopefully he'll find something else to take his mind off the "jacket-that-wasn't-meant-to-be-Chad's."

Now we're back at G&M's & I'm doing yet another load of laundry. I thought I'd make it until we got back to Canada, but I didn't really want to haul a bag of wet muddy clothes back with me. Sounds like the washing's done, so I'd better get everything all laid out on the radiators! Yay!

Laundry In London

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:13:00 +0000

That's right folks, today I spent doing the exciting task of washing our clothes. Yes, apparently they do that in England too, although their methods are a bit different from ours. To start, you need to take the 2 loads you have & split them again into 3 or possibly 4 b/c the washing machines are front load & quite a bit smaller. Then you load the washer & wait about 1 hour for your load of washing to be finished.

When the washing is done, you take all your wet clothes out & sort out all your undergarments. Then place all your wet clothing items on the radiators in the house, taking care to place your unmentionables in your own room in a discreet place. Then you wait about..... well, it's been about 10 hours & only about 1/2 of the laundry is dry. Of course you can count on your jeans taking at least 24 hours to dry.

During all this time you must have discussions with your spouse who is feeling the heat of all the radiators being turned way up. If he turns them down, drying time is increased, if they stay turned up, sleep is fleeting as the room must be cool in order to get a good nights sleep in.

Once the laundry is dry, you must fold, grab, wrinkle it so that it softens a bit. It can get quite crispy, especially thicker items such as thermal shirts & jeans. Ahh, it makes me glad to have a nice large washer & dryer waiting for me at home, but it sure gave me something to do all day!

Back In England

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:17:00 +0000

Today we flew back from Dublin to London. Pretty much that's what we did all day. We stayed at a B&B in Portmarnock near Dublin last night. The owners were kind of eccentric & weird, not in a cute way, it was a little creepy actually, but they did serve us a decent breakfast!

This morning we returned the rental car & spent 2 hours at the airport waiting for our flight. Chad chased Asher around & I watched our luggage. I like that arrangement. Asher slept on the flight, so that was really nice not to have to fight with him to sit still. Once we got to Heathrow we had to take the Tube back to Geoff & Margaret's house. That took another 2 hours. We are finally back at their home & really looking forward to a relaxing week. We don't have anything we need to do, just whatever we want to do. Except laundry. I suppose I have to do that.

G&M leave Friday for a trip of their own, so tomorrow we are just going to spend time with them & let Asher play. He got quite upset when we told him it was time for bed tonight. He did not want to stop playing.

So for the Ireland part of our trip, here are the smartest & dumbest things we did......

Dumbest: Taking Asher along? No, it wasn't that bad, but I would rethink doing it again. Chad & I have a pretty fast pace & it was really hard to get Asher into that. Probably not taking Asher's stroller along to Ireland. Not that we would have used it a ton, but it would have been nice to have when we were walking around in Dublin.

Smartest: Bringing straws along. We only had a sippy cup of water along for Asher & I didn't really want it to get used for milk, so having straws worked great in all the B&Bs for breakfast & some places we went for lunch & dinner.

Mullingar by Car

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:22:00 +0000

Tonight we are at a very nice B&B in Mullingar. We're headed back to Dublin as we fly out on Wed & we thought we'd still like to see the Guinness Factory so we can compare it to the Heinekin factory! I say it's a nice B&B b/c they gave me a nice apple sponge for dessert. I like my desserts, yes I do.

We had dinner at a "touristy" pub in town & it wasn't all that great. Luckily we had had a really good pub lunch this afternoon, so it was still a pretty good day. Chad & I shared a meal tonight b/c we weren't very hungry. Normally I enjoy such a venture b/c it means I can order a dessert, but the dessert menu was not very appealing, so we stopped at a petrol station on the way to the B&B & got some Magnum Ice Cream Bars.

We drove through the Burren today. It was more what we envisioned when we thought of Ireland. Well, except for all the rocks growing out of the ground. As we were headed East again it got more familiar. Sheep, stone fences, some cows, small winding roads. Ireland is a nice place, but I think I'm ready to go back to England. I don't think I'd like to move here, but it was nice to see.

The Cliffs of Moher

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:16:00 +0000

Tonight we are at a B&B near the Cliffs of Moher in the town of Doolin. Or I suppose I should call it a village. There are about 25 B&Bs, 5 pubs, a Petrol station, & not a whole let else. I suppose there are some houses here too, but it seems almost everyone has a few extra rooms to let out to the masses of tourists, & why not? There seems to be quite a lot of people who get all crazy about looking over cliffs into the Atlantic. As for me, I'd rather be closer to the water than 100 metres above it. We went to the visitor centre tonight & Chad went off up the hills to take pictures while Asher & I stayed in the gift shop where it was warm & broke things. Asher decided he wanted to see a Christmas tree ornament up close & smashed it on the floor, but the shop lady was really nice & didn't even make me pay for it. Now THAT'S what I call service!

Speaking of customer service, it's been really interesting getting acquainted with the way the UK handles its service sector. For instance, at a grocery store, you can pretty much bet that you'll be bagging your own groceries, there's no one to do it for you, & if you wait for the cashier to do it, you could be waiting a VERY long time, as it's not their job. We were at Heathrow going through security, where you collect all your bits & pieces after they've gone through the x-ray machine & the belt was totally clogged with the grey bins for putting all your small items in. Nothing could go into the x-ray machines anymore, but were the security personnel bothered? Not a bit! It's not their job apparently to remove the grey bins from the belt after people have emptied them, it's the people's responsibility. So Chad nicely removed about 8 bins so that our bags could go through so we could be on our way.

However, it's different when you go to restaurants. We are used to taking our trays & rubbish off the tables when we are finished with them so the next customer can use the table, but in the UK everyone leaves all their dishes on the table for the employees to clean up. Not at McDonald's, as apparently being a N. American restaurant they have adopted the N. American way of doing things where you clear your own table, but you'll be hard pressed to find a rubbish bin at most other places you eat.

Holy Island

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:07:00 +0000

This morning we awoke to cold & rain..... much as we expected from England, & why should Ireland be any different? The room was also cold, but Chad reminded me that the houses here are not as well insulated as we are used to, and the heat is not turned way up to compensate, and the people must be more used to the cold b/c I was FREEZING!! Last night we were sitting up while Asher fell asleep & I had to keep my coat on b/c it was so frigid in the common room. This morning I had the presence of mind to wear my shoes to breakfast & I was very glad I did b/c the dining room felt like it had been open to the elements all night.

We decided that since the weather wasn't great, we'd go into Limerick & see if we could find a shopping area just to stay out of the weather. We found a small mall & bought a new pair of shoes for Asher b/c he's been working really hard at breaking the pair he has. We also enjoyed a latte from Esquires Coffee. We were a bit surprised to see an Esquires b/c we have only seen them in western Canada, so we thought they were just a small chain there, but they had the same logo & the penguin mascot.

The weather was quite warm by about 11am, so we decided to take Asher to a park to run off a bit of energy before lunch. We stopped at an old mill pub for lunch & ate out on the deck in the sun, enjoying the view of the fish ladder & falls. After a short nap on Asher's part we departed for the Holy Island. When we were in England a few years ago w/ Chad's folks we had tried to see Whitby Island (where Christianity first came to England), but the tide had been up & the road was impassible. So we thought we'd try to see Ireland's Holy Island. Unfortunately you can only get there by boat & you must call ahead to book, so once again we were out of luck. We took some pictures from the other shore though.

After our botched trip to the H.I. We drove back to Ballina/Killalae, stopping at a waterfront park along the way to let Asher stretch his legs a bit before supper. Taking a road trip with a small child can be very S-L-O-W, since you must stop every few hours for sanity breaks! Then we were off to the Chinese Restaurant so highly recommended the night before, & it was EXCELLENT!! The prices were a bit steep, but I had figured w/ such a high recommendation that they would be, so we were prepared.

While at the restaurant Asher spotted a picture on the wall of Mao Tze Tung & declared it to be “Uncle Brian.” It seems everyone he meets these days is “Uncle Brian.” It doesn't seem to matter what they look like, or how old they are, “Uncle Brian” is a universal man.

Pub Food

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:02:00 +0000

Last night was MUCH better. Asher only woke up twice, & I think he was not aware that we were in the room with him b/c when he did get up he looked toward the door & directed his comments towards it.

However, I didn't sleep well at all. I guess all the walking we did yesterday coupled with the fact that I've been a bit of a couch potato of late, made for a very sore back! Finally at about 1am I decided it was time for some drugs. I took a Tylenol & within the hour, was drifting softly towards dreamland. I was a bit hesitant to take the Tylenol b/c I only have a limited number in my purse, but the pain was so bad & the drugs worked so well, that I went to the shops today & purchased some Paracetamol which is the UK equivalent. I am now a happy camper again.... just waiting to be rid of the stuffy nose.

We are staying in the quaint town of Ballina/Killalae, Ireland. We had a delicious Pub dinner this evening, & Asher amazed us all by eating a whole pizza all by himself! I asked the proprietor of the B&B where we are staying where she recommended for dinner & she gave us a highly recommended Chinese place, or the Pub. Chinese sounded really good to my pregnant cravings, but when I asked Chad which he'd prefer, a little boy piped up, “PUB food!” So off we went to the pub. The prices were a bit steep, but Chad & I decided to share since we both wanted the same type of food (quite a rare thing since I usually want pasta) & we could afford a delicious Apple Crumble as well!

**In case you were wondering about my new handbag, I still love it, & I informed Chad today that even if I don't find any other souvenirs on this trip, I will still be happy b/c I am SO chuffed w/ my new bag!

An Eventful Day in Dublin

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:58:00 +0000

Oh boy! Last night was a doozy! Asher went to bed fine around 8pm, but then woke up repeatedly crying that he wanted to come out, “please out!” Until we finally just let him cry. I felt really bad for the people next door b/c it was after midnight, but I could hear someone snoring the whole time, so they must not have been too bothered by all the noise. We sure were though. I think we got about 6 hours sleep. Today Asher never got a real nap, so we are hoping it goes better tonight.

We decided to stay at the B&B for 2 nights since it is a short train ride into Dublin. Today we parked the car at the station & went into the city to see what we could see. Now, first I should tell you that as we were leaving London, I said to Chad, “we don't really need the stroller b/c we'll be in the car the whole time, right?” Ummm, not so much. We walked all around Dublin today, well as much as you can w/ a small child who can't decide if he wants to walk or be carried, but never the one that he is actually doing at the moment. Chad was great about carrying him, seeing as it's a bit difficult since I have my own little bundle I am carrying around as well.

We went to a few shops, & in the first one we stopped at I got a new bag which I am quite chuffed with. It's a Guinness bag (how cool is that?) & I can chuck my purse & the camera in it w/ plenty of room to spare, yet it isn't a real big bag that I'll get tired of hauling around. Also, I can throw it on one shoulder OR attach the longer handle to carry it more on my back. Can you tell that I just LOVE my new bag?

We looked at a few pay-as-you-go mobile phones & decided to get one b/c it's pretty hard to come by a phone box when you need one, & it seems like no one knows where one is either. I suppose that makes sense b/c everyone has a mobile phone nowadays. It was a pretty good price, & the piece of mind we have is excellent. What we really should have done is bring Chad's mobile w/ us & merely bought a new SIM card, but we didn't think of it. Next time we'll remember to bring everything.

Speaking of forgetting things, I realized as I was getting up in the morning that I had forgotten to pack the most essential items. Something I can't borrow from Chad, & something that isn't especially easy to just pick up at the shops..... Have you guessed what I forgot yet? You bet, my bras! So today along with looking for souvenirs & mobile phones, we were bra shopping, something I dread at the best of times, let alone in a strange country where you don't know the stores & we're supposed to be on holidays, enjoying ourselves! Well, we did find a store that was having a huge sale & I even got a bra for 50cents! Not too shabby!

When we were leaving the shopping area it was POURING! WE noticed on the way in that there were rickshaw-type cabs that said “free ride” on the backs, so we found one parked a short ways from the shopping centre & the driver informed us that the ride really was free, & we didn't have to pay b/c it's a promotion done by 7Up Free. It's some new beverage that has no sugar & no calories or something. Great advertising, but I don't like 7Up, so sadly I won't be buying their product. I love the idea though, & if I lived around there I'd definitely tell others about it as well.

We got back to the car park & we weren't sure what to do b/c it was only about 2:15 & Asher was quite tired, yet we didn't really want him to sleep b/c we are hoping to get him on the time schedule here. Not to worry, apparently we parked where we weren't supposed to, & our car got CLAMPED!!! There goes a day of the vacation budget! But how do you call to get your car unclamped w/o a working mobile phone? Send a pretty girl into a nearby shop to ask if she can use the phone of course! After Chad had tried to get the guy at the train station to call w/o any luck, he was quite upset by the day's events, so off I went & 10 minutes later emerged poorer, but the situation was sorted. We waited in the car about 40 minutes & the man came & removed the clamp. Lesson learned, money burned!

I really hope tomorrow isn't as eventful as today, however, I am really, really chuffed with my new bag!

From London To Dublin

noreply@blogger.com (csvan) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:51:00 +0000

This morning our friends that we are staying with brought us to the tube station to go to Heathrow. On the way to the station we ran into the same issue we have had everytime we have flown with Asher. Day one in a new place, he gets sick. So this time it was in the car. Luckily it all managed to stay on him & in the car seat we were borrowing. Fairly easy to clean, but times like that always make me wish we had stayed home. Things would be a lot easier to deal with on our own turf. So, we got to the station & I pulled Asher into a dark corner & gave him a new set of clothes. I suppose it was better that he did it in the car rather than in the tube, if he had waited 15 more minutes it would have been all over me as well as the carriage. We got to the airport without any further problems & flew off to Dublin.

Once we got to Dublin we had to get our rental car & B&B vouchers. We had purchsed a travel pack from a travel agent b/c we thought it was a great deal to get a weeks worth of B&B vouchers along with a car rental for the week. We are already beginning to rethink that option. When we lived in England & we had people come to tour around w/ us we adopted a system of driving around & then stopping when we saw a B&B that looked good at the right time of day. This requires a bit more planning since you are supposed to call ahead (not easy to do when you are dependant upon phone boxes, which we have found to be fairly scarce). And there are a limited number of B&Bs that take the vouchers. So, we've learned a valuable lesson, next time go on our own rather than doing the voucher thing.