mind the gap | travel blog

The year of the Dragon

We have been keeping busy here in London with plenty of winter activities. The kids have been keeping up with tennis (and no joking, the lessons are outside...brrrr!). Evan continues to dedicate endless hours a week to his love of soccer.  He has a game this Saturday morning in Regent's Park and we will all be there to cheer him on...Go Hampstead (again...brrr, it's dipping down to freezing in the coming days)!  Julianna has been hard at work working on a fundraising project for the World Wildlife Fund and she is quite the animal activitist these days.  She actually asked me if she could sponsor the cost of a dog adoption for her birthday gift (that would be a dog adoption for another family, not ours.  We're still saving a new dog until our time abroad is over).

Michael headed to NY this past weekend and the kids and I took in the musical Shrek (what a great show) followed by dinner in the very decorated Chinatown. It's just amazing how many lanterns decorate the streets for the Chinese New Year festivities...Happy Year of the Dragon everyone!!

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Go Blue!

Holiday greetings from Michigan. We're having a great time pretending to be tourists in our own home town. So far this Christmas season we've been to the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Roma Cafe in Detroit, the Ivanhoe (aka the Polish Yacht Club), a visit over to Windsor, Slow's in Detroit for delicious BBQ, the Motown Museum and out to Ann Arbor for last night's game against Penn State. Fun times all around! We head back to the UK in just 3 more days so we're off to fit in a few more visits to friends and family before our departure. Happy New Year everyone...be back soon with updates from our winter adventures abroad!

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Greetings from the haunted city of York

Currently enjoying 24 hours in the walled city of York and we're about to depart on an evening Ghost Walk. Will let you all know if we survive the fright! Below is the famous York Minster, pretty impressive both inside and out.

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City views II

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City views

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When in Belgium

A Belgian waffle is a must! Delicious!

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Lost In Bruges...

Yesterday we had some very unexpected drama during a day out in Bruges, Belgium. Evan went missing for about 45 minutes. We were all out walking to lunch and one minute he was right with us and the next... he was gone. We backtracked to the most obvious place we thought we lost him, by a few carnival-type rides set up in the square, but no sign of the little guy.

Michael and I then split up, with Michael sprinting up and down the streets and Julianna and I staying close to the spot where we had last seen him. A man running a small sausage stand suggested I go to the police. Thoughts running through my head at this point were along the lines if...What? The police? Surely he has to be right around here. We didn't actually lose our 7 year old on the streets of a foreign city where the main language is Flemish! Julianna also has the tendency of becoming worst-case-scenario girl in these situations and this was not entirely helpful. She listed for me all the possibilities...kidnaped, stolen, never to be seen again. Ok, but he knows my mobile number, right? Surely some savvy traveler knows the country code for the UK and can call me! Why is my phone not ringing! The minutes drag on with Michael running back to the hotel to alert them of our situation and Julianna and I trying to find the police station. We knew Evan had a hotel umbrella with him and maybe someone would call the hotel. Julianna and I walked in a big circle, no police station. We were back at the sausage stand and the guys had not seen any signs of Evan. Just then a police car drove by and the guys flagged them down. The police wanted his photo...ugh, this is not happening, this is not happening...I'm flipping through my iPhone and nothing looks like a good enough face shot. I show them a silly photo Julianna recently took of Evan turned to the side and they look. Then they tell us to get in the car. Ok, darn it. I should have a better photo then this one! Just then Michael calls and tells me Evan has been found! He is at a chocolate shop and he rattles off the address. I quickly tell the police and they say, "yes, we know, we are taking you there now!". WHAT? You are and you didn't tell me! I was too relieved to be too upset. We drive for what seemed like forever. How could Evan be so far away from where we last saw him? The police explained they were dealing with one way streets, but this was unusually far. We finally arrive and there he is. Shaken up, but eating a chocolate lolly pop. I was crying, Evan was crying, Julianna was crying, the lady who owned the chocolate shop even had tears in her eyes (she told me later she has a 6 year old son). Michael practically sprints there from the center of town. When we pieced together what had happened, we figured out that right before the restaurant Evan had gone down a street without us (photo of street above). He soon realised we were gone, but kept walking on, thinking we were ahead of him. He had walked for nearly 20 minutes before entering the chocolate shop and asking for help.

So the longest 45 minutes of all of our lives comes to a happy ending! We all finally went to lunch and the rest of the day was not nearly as exciting. Will share some additional photos from Bruges soon!

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a look back at September..

I love using the Shakeit Photo ap on my iphone.  The photos come out with a dreamy quality and a great polaroid border (they even sound like a polaroid camera when the photos appear).  This past month I came across a photo-essay in a magazine called Intelligent Life and the photographer only used his iphone. The photos were taken in Cairo during the political uprising and the photographer wanted to be "under the radar", free to capture what was really happening in the streets without a giant camera in front of his face.  The photos were captivating and I was inspired to use my iphone to take more everyday photos our own day-to-day lives.  Here is what I have one month later...

 

We live just around the corner from this row of rental cycles and the kids are always jumping on them when we walk by.

Skyping with Nana...what did we all do before Skype?

a visit to the penguin beach exhibit at the London Zoo

this church is just a few minutes away from our house and we pass it often...it's just stunning and dates back from 1847

Julianna and friends from 4th grade Roman Day

a throw-back sign lisitng tube stations at the Maide Vale station (I wish they were all writen like this, the modern signs just do not have nearly as much character)

Michael at our favorite restaurant in Chinatown.  The staff actually noticed we were away for the summer and welcomed us back...

practicing the serve at Paddington Recreation Ground

A few shots of the Olympic Park in East London.  I had the chance to have a walking tour of the area this past month and check out the progress.  The first picture is the Olympic Stadium (would you believe this structure will be completely wrapped in fabric for the games). 

and the construction of an 377 ft obversation tower called "Orbit" and designed by Anish Kapoor. 

Evan and his "best girl" just happened to be dressed exactly the same one day before school...

the view of the back of Buckingham Palace.  Yes, I did get to finally see the inside of the palace this past month and view "The Dress" along with "The Shoes", "The Jewlery" and "The Cake"...I would have to say "The Cake" takes the cake!  It was amazing!

and a few from an absolutely gorgeous morning in Regent's Park.  It was 80 degrees last weekend!  Here is Evan hard at work at soccer practice

 

ok, that's all for now!  I'll have to work on getting in more shots in October...

 

one year later...

Just getting a photo ready to send off to grandma from our summer visit to Michigan.  I have started a little summer photo tradition of capturing the cousins in the same order on my mom's porch.  It's fun to look back on how much they have changed in just a year...oh, and what happened to the shoes this summer??  Hmmm....

 

 

Go blue!!

We're gearing up for the home opener here in London and have started the pre-game festivities...although I feel a bit like cheering for my ol' alma mater today! Either way, it should be an interesting game!

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