We are in Minnesota!
After a slightly less than horrific departure from London, we arrived in Minnesota four hours late and much more jet lagged than expected. The trip started with us getting to the airport quite late due to our car service giving us incorrect information on how long it takes to get to the Gatwick airport from our flat. We arrived just 45 minutes before our international flight was to leave, but thankfully all the computer systems for Northwest had completely crashed and a lot of people were still waiting for to check-in (the manual system does take quite a while!) so that gave us a few minutes to breathe and be thankful we didn't miss our flight. Then we get through security where I forget my belt and a security guard tracks me down five minutes later to give it to me. Next, I go to change Sophie's diaper and the fire alarm goes off. I thought it was a drill or a mistake. I walk out the door of the bathroom to be in the path of all traveler's evacuating! I couldn't believe it! After I found Jeremy and we were walking to the evacuation area, Jeremy realizes that he left our boarding passes and passports on top of the security machine. So we find a security guard to go look for our slightly important documents and thankfully (for us, especially Jeremy!) the gentleman found them! Whew! Then we evacuated properly and then stood in line for security again. Once through, a second time, we got to wait on the plane until about 30 more passengers arrived slowly....
Ahh, then just 9 hours in the air with a child who was great, but didn't nap until the last 45 minutes of the flight. Nice! Of course we missed our connecting flight to Duluth because our London flight was two hours late. We had to wait four hours for the next one. Sophie did go back to sleep for another three hours, while we enjoyed some drinks, appetizers, and shopping at the airport. The flight to Duluth was only 30 minutes, which felt like nothing. Then we were greeted by both our families! It was so nice to be back home and see family after 10 months of international living.
I cannot believe how busy we have been so far and how bad the jet lag has been for us and Sophie, though it is getting better each day. I just hope Sophie doesn't continue the 5 a.m. wake-up as she has the last three days. I won't even attempt to list all the things we have gotten done/had to do since being home, but the most important addition to our family arrived earlier than expected. Baby Mitchell, Jeremy's sister's first baby has arrived safely though via emergency c-section, both are doing great!
Checking e-mail has been more difficult for me than I imagined, my European yahoo e-mail account is not being kind, so please understand if I have not responded promptly. It is best just to call us if you need to. Hopefully see you soon! Cheers--Chris
Minnesota or Bust!
We will be on our summer holiday heading back to Minnesota on June 21 through most of July, though Jeremy's dates differ, he will be back sooner than Sophie and I (and we have a guest while we are away to watch our flat--thanks Joel!). I will update the blog with the highlights of our trip in August--Happy Summer! Cheers! Chris
Garden Suburb, Proms and Keats House
On Saturday Jeremy and Sophie had a full daddy daughter day together with a playgroup just for dads and their kids, with a full breakfast and afterwards park time! So I took advantage and enjoyed a walking tour of the Hampstead Garden Suburb. While I have heard of this Suburb and knew it was only a tube ride and short walk away, I didn't know much about it. According to the tour, the Hampstead Garden Suburb will be 100 years old next year, though the neighborhood looks like it has been around for hundreds of years. The community has very low density housing and lots of great green spaces and gardens that are incredible! The concept of the Suburb was a major innovative project and includes some very unique designs and architecture, giving the Suburb a real community feel i.e. windows situated to as to see one's neighbor. Their website has some good photos and more detailed information for anyone interested. It was a gorgeous day and while I was the youngest and only American in the group, I really enjoyed this and talking to all the locals, most of whom lived in this exclusive neighborhood.
After the two-hour walk, the tour ended at St. Jude's where I was able to catch one of the free lunchtime recitals as part of the Prom's. The Proms at St Jude’s is an annual summer music festival featuring a mixture of classical, jazz and gospel. The concerts take place in the stunning venue of St Jude’s Church in Hampstead Garden Suburb, Sir Edwin Lutyens’ Grade 1 listed masterpiece which is renowned for its acoustic and its beautiful Starmer murals. All proceeds benefit charity. It was an interesting event.
More walking and a tube ride later I was back in Hampstead at Keats House Museum. Keats lived in this house from 1818 to 1820, which is a very short period of time, but it is where he wrote some of his most famous poems, including 'Ode to a Nightingale' and where he fell in love with Fanny Brawne. I had a one-on-one tour (it was too nice outside so there were few visitors) which was informative. I literally read every piece of information in the house and feel that I know enough about John Keats for my lifetime. Interesting since I walk by the house all the time, but not a necessity for any other guest unless you love his work and are interested to learn more about him and his two years in Hampstead. One interesting thing I learned is that "consumption" which many people died of during this time period is not alcohol consumption/alcoholism as I thought, but tuberculosis/tb! Good to know!
When arriving back at my flat, I find Sophie sleeping on Jeremy on the couch, grass and dirt stains all over her khaki's--obviously they had some fun!
We finished off the night with a fun, casual outdoor dinner with Sophie's friend Justin and his parents in Belsize Park. It is always fun to have adult conversation while kids play and enjoy themselves in the garden. Thanks again Suzy and Daryl! Cheers!
A zoo, farm, and open air theatre
Sophie and I have had a busy and social week! The weather in London has been absolutely perfect! Sunny and warm--what June should be all about! So we need to take full advantage before the rain comes back.
Tuesday was filled with meeting some of our friends at the local park, then onto a picnic lunch with another set of friends who sadly will be moving back to the US in under two weeks. In the evening I went to dinner with a group of women with fantastic conversation at a local pizza place. It is always nice to have other adults to talk to and Jeremy loves his daddy/daughter time so everyone wins!
On Wednesday we visited the London Zoo which is actually quite close to us, just two stops on the tube and a 15 minute walk. We went with Sophie's best friend Eva and her mum, they are regulars and knew the way which was nice. It is really a great zoo! They have a new Africa exhibit which includes zebra, giraffes, wart hogs, and more! Sophie and I went to a show called the Very Thirsty Giraffe last week (very cool venue at the Angel Theatre for kids!) with two of her friends and their mums and she is really into giraffes right now so it was perfect. The also had some really obscure animals like the Aye Aye found only in Madagascar Africa, which we know about from a unique animal alphabet book Sophie has (I learn so much from her books!) and several others from that book. There are tons of birds of course, including huge pelicans and flamingos and owls, some of our favorites. You can walk through the butterfly house which has live butterflys flying around, very cool! There is also a bird area that has free flying birds as well, though we didn't make it to that exhibit. The otters were enjoying a nice lunch of dead mice but were really entertaining the kids with running and swimming around to it made it worthwhile. Finally, the children's area allows the kids to pet a few goats and sheep and get closer to some bunnies and other critters. I got headbutted by a goat in the knee--nice! But Sophie had a great time with her best gal pal Eva and her mum RoiAnn as did I. We will be back...
In the evening I was invited to A Midsummer's Night Dream by William Shakespeare at the Regent's Open Air Theatre
. The weather could not have been better! It was a fantastic venue! Watching theatre outside, how nice! The play was really enjoyable, my first Shakespeare! It was a great evening. We caught a little dinner before the show at the Theatre (due to lack of time) which was good and enjoyed drinks and laughs afterwards! Oh, to be out without children. Thanks again RoiAnn!~
On Thursday, we spent most of the day at the Willows Farm Village. Sophie's friends Sam and Harry invited us with. Some places in London, like this farm, are just not accessible via public transport so having your own car is essential. We don't have a car, but Sam and Harry's mum Tracy does. The kids loved this place! The guinea pig village was the first stop and a favorite since the walls of the "village" are so low the kids can get up close and see them well. In another section they allow the kids to hold bunnies and other small critters--another hit with Sophie! The Tractor Trek was next and allowed the kids to pedal around on little John Deere's (Teresa--Joshua would have been in heaven!). I bought some animal food and we fed some sheep, goats and a huge Shire horse named Ben--the absolute biggest horse I have ever seen! This creature was enormous! The farm also has rides on Tristan the Runaway Tractor. This is a narrated ride which goes past some sheep, cows, scarecrows and through water and mud. Sophie loved going through the "pond". After a picnic lunch and a little play on the equipment it was time to go. All three kids were sleeping with 10 minutes of leaving the farm--success! We wore them out! Thanks to Tracy and the boys for the invite!
A Sensational Trip to Stockholm, Sweden
Ahh, finally some good weather for a trip! Stockholm was absolutely fantastic, one of our best trips yet! We highly recommend it and would love to go back if time and our budget allowed. It really felt like home to us, which is probably one of the reasons we loved it so much. On the bus ride from the airport to the hotel, the trees, plants and rocks looked just like the north shore in Minnesota! It made us more homesick than we already are, it was beautiful to see. The city was one of the cleanest we have seen thus far, very nice and refreshing! The Swedes are very environmentally conscience and it was apparent. There was very little rubbish around the city, very refreshing! Stockholm is built on 14 islands and the surrounding water is so clean you can safely swim right in city center (given the opportunity we would have!).
We stayed at the Rica Hotel Kungsgatan (a Swedish chain) which was centrally located in Stockholm's oldest market place, Hötorget. The hotel is located on the 5 uppermost floors of Stockholm's oldest warehouse dating from 1876. It is a short distance to the city's sight so public transport was not needed. The hotel was great--extremely nice compared to the last one in Amsterdam. The room was small but clean and looked exactly like the pictures on the website.
While Sweden is part of the European Union (EU) it has maintained its own currency called Kronor or SEK. Thus we had the opportunity to use another form of currency.
Most people speak Swedish and English so communicating was not a problem either since we know absolutely zero about the Swedish language. The people were friendly and it is a city we could even see ourselves living in if given an opportunity.
Friday, June 2
After getting settled in the hotel, we immediately needed to find some lunch. I was so hungry I ordered off the menu written in Swedish and got a sandwich with ham on it which I had to peel off--bummer! Parma means ham not parmesan cheese in Swedish fyi.
We walked around the "city" area of Stockholm first. There was some type of celebration going on in the Kungstradgarden or King's Garden, which is a popular place for Stockholmers to meet and hang out. Since the Stockholm marathon was the next day it was set up like the city of Duluth does for Grandma's marathon with tents, booths, food, drinks and music. Too crowded for us with a buggy...
Since the area of Gamla Stan or Old Town was also close by we spent a majority of our time there, walking by the Royal Palace, new and old Parliament buildings, and of course shopping. We got pictures of the Marten Trotzigs Grand or the narrowest street in the city, which is only 3 ft. wide, but it is quite the tourist attraction amazingly.
Saturday, June 3
Our mission on Saturday was to conquer the Royal Palace and all it had to offer. It was one of the highlights of our trip! The Royal Palace is the Official Residence of His Majesty the King of Sweden. The current king is King Carl XVI Gustaf and his wife Queen Silvia. A significant proportion of the King and Queen's official entertainment functions take place in the large apartments, in between events it is open to the public--which thankfully it was when we visited. The Palace is the largest working palace in Europe today. All the rooms available to view were incredible! By far the best Palace we have been to thus far! The detail and design were incredible, sculptures coming out of the top of the walls, fresco paintings on the ceilings; we just wish we could have taken some pictures! Amazing!
There is also a Changing of the Guard ceremony at this Palace which we watched in full in the front row! There was a small rope seperating us and the guards. Women are allowed to be guards unlike in England. The ceremony was really something! Sophie watched intensly for an entire hour! The band plays while mounted and walking around on their horses also, which was cool to see. We videotaped almost the entire thing, it was so great to see up close!
Our admission to the Palace also included access to several other exhibitions. We visited the Tre Kronor Museum, which focused on medieval history. It was quite boring and we were only there for a short bit. Gustav III's Museum of Antiquities, one of the oldest museums in Europe holds two galleries of sculpture. We are not huge fans of sculpture, but this was a nice display. The Treasury was very cool! It is deep in the Palace vaults housing the most important symbols of the Swedish monarchy, the state regalia including crowns, septers, keys and swords used at royal weddings, christenings and funerals. The Royal Armoury was also an interesting exhibit of suits of armour and weapons, wedding and coronation robes and state carriages. There was also an area for kids to play and dress-up, giving Sophie some fun kid time as well.
In the afternoon we visited several churches. First was the Tyska Kyrkan, a German church which was of German Late Renaissance and Baroque style, gorgeous. The second church was the Storkyrkan. This cathedral is 700 years old and is of great national religious importance. It was built in Italian Baroque style and includes some beautiful art pieces, gorgeous royal pews for the royal family of course and an amazing organ which was playing while I was there. Lastly we walked by and briefly looked in the Riddarholmskyrkan, best known for its royal burials.
It was such a gorgeous day that we next walked to a public area to sit by the water and enjoy some down time with other Stockholmers....ahhh what a day!
Sunday, June 4
Stockholm has over 100 museums on every subject. We had time to only visit a few and Sunday was our day of museums. Our first visit was to the Moderna Museet (Museum of Modern Art). They had some great pieces by some of our favorite artists including Picasso, Dali, Pollock, Braque, Klee and more! Next, we visited the National Museum. This museum was beautiful in itself! It houses some 16,000 paintings and sculptures! Really incredible! Highlights for us included a beautiful sculpture by Degas, pieces by Renoir, Monet, and Rembrandt, and of course too many others to name. Both museums were well worth the visit.
After lunch we visited the first floor of the Hallwylska Palaset or Hallwyl Palace. It was beautiful and the courtyard amazing. Sophie was too close to nap time and buggies were not allowed inside so this visit was a short one. This palace was built as a residence for immensely wealthy Count and Countess von Hallwyl. The little bit we saw did look unbelievable. Maybe our next visit...
Monday, June 5
Since our last day was a short one due to travel, we decided on a 2-hour boat cruise of Stockholm. This tour passed under 15 bridges and went through two locks. It was actually a bit disappointing, we wished we had chosen another tour instead. The weather was good and we all enjoyed ourselves, but it was not terrible informational. After the tour we found a Swedish restaurant recommended to us for their Swedish meatballs. Jeremy loved them! Sophie not so much, and of course I did not try them. Then some quick shopping on the way back to our hotel to pick up a few last items and still 10 minutes to spare before we caught our bus back to the airport. All in all a great trip! As the Swedes say--adjo!
