London with Olia or The Adventures Of The Four Red Jackets

On Monday morning, I sent our kids off to school and hopped onto the train to London with Olia and the little ones. First stop--Tower Bridge. 

We didn't just get to LOOK at it. This time we climbed inside it to see the Tower Bridge Exhibit.

This was one of the most exciting parts--the glass floor of the walking bit above the road and the river. Kind of freaky to see those cars just driving under us. 

I know our kids would also enjoy coming here and reading all the facts about the bridges around the world that were displayed as part of the exhibit. So maybe we'll come back. But a few interesting facts for you about the bridge. It took 8 years to build in 1886-1894, it is 800 ft long, and sits 143 feet above the water (the walking part) at high tide. It takes 5 minutes for each half (bascule) to be raised for vessels to pass. And apparently it opens about 1000 each year! I did not know it as I have never seen it being raised. One interesting snippets: In 1952, the bridge began to open while a double-decker bus was still on it. The bus driver had to accelerate and jump a small three foot gap. The best part is--he was awarded £10 for bravery:) 

From the Tower of London pier we took the boat to Westminster. 

It was an awkward kind of time of the day, around 4 pm, when we didn't want to start anything major to do and weren't quite ready for dinner. So we walked around by Big Ben, saw the outside of the Westminster Abbey and played in front of the Lincoln's and Churchill's monuments. All while I was trying to sort out the situation that happened back in Huntingdon because Katya forgot to grab her key to the house. I was on the phone with multiple neighbors and trying to reach Robert at the dental clinic (apparently I didn't sound quite urgent to the receptionist;). But it all worked out at the end and the kids were all taken care of.

We hopped on a double-decker bus (which the kids loved) and sat in the very front and on top. We got off at Hyde Park Corner and walked over to a beautiful woody area for kids to run around on. It was a nice break before we got back on the tube and towards King's Cross to have dinner there at the station. Although we didn't get to see a whole lot, I think the kids will remember this London visit for a while:). I hope:) 

Lyana.

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Cambridge French Style

Sometimes at the end of March, my cousin, Olia, and I were chatting on facebook and I invited her to come visit us before we move. So we figured out quickly the dates that worked for both of us and planned for her to come see us in Brampton for three days. It's still a bit strange each time when I think about how easy it is to cross over from Paris to London.

So Olia and her two cute kids--Amelia (4) and Maxim (6) arrived safely at our house (after being delayed at Paris Eurostar terminal because of a suspicious package) on Saturday, April 16th. We had a ton to talk about from kids to work, from traveling to schooling. We grew up together, being best friends and all through many years. So it's incredible to see what where our life journeys have taken us:)

The following morning, Robert and the kids went to church for sacrament since it was Sunday, but I drove to Cambridge with Olia to show her some of the most famous parts of the city. The weather was incredibly sunny but absolutely FREEZING. This is April and here I am wearing my wool winter coat and gloves.

First of all--punting tour on the river Cam. It's just a must. It's fun and very cultural. Although Olia is fluent in English she did wonder if our guide could speak with a little less of a local accent so she could understand him better:)). He had quite a strong East Anglian accent.

Here is our first selfie for you. I haven't perfected my model face just yet, unlike Olia:)

I have to say I am simply amazed at the quality of these pictures taken by Olia's phone!

Incredible views of the Wedding Cake building.

And the Bridge of Sighs.

Finally, King's College that we have seen so many times in all seasons now and never seize to be impressed.

Olia, Maxim and I (with Amelia possibly sleeping near Olia?:).

After the boat tour, we met up with Robert and the rest of the crew. 

We made our lunch extra special for Olia by going to Harriets Tearoom to experience a traditional afternoon tea with sandwiches and scones. 

Stuffed, we walked around the center for a little bit. 

Mark and Maxim are one year apart, well actually a year minus one day. 

We got lost a little bit in this beautiful courtyard. 

And here is a quick pictures of the two of us.

Till next time, Cambridge!

Lyana.

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Thanksgiving In Paris-Family And Notre Dame.

This year we had a hard time deciding what we should do for Thanksgiving. For the last two years we’ve gone to Germany to hang out with our friends from Misawa. We loved doing that! And this year, the Roth family was going to be the hosts of all Misawa friends who wanted to come. We were debating on what to do as we really wanted to see my cousin Olia and her family in Paris and the drive to the Roths was a bit longer than the one to Geilenkirchen our prior years.

When my mom’s UK visa got denied, so she couldn’t come visit us in England, it became a no-brainer. We wanted to see my mom! We decided that since she has an EU visa (entrance to all countries but the UK), she should come meet us in Paris. And so she flew in there a couple of days before Thanksgiving and we drove down to Paris on Thanksgiving Day.

This time we were staying at a rental apartment near Republique metro station, near Marais district. It fit six people-two bedrooms, living room, dining area and kitchen. The toilet and shower with sink were on the opposite side of the apartment in a true Parisian way. It took us almost an hour to go the distance that was meant to be fifteen minutes as we were arriving at the beginning of the rush hour. Traffic was crazy. And not just busy crazy, but really CRAZY driving, not like it is in England with proper lanes. Then came a problem of parking. We did find a parking spot really close to our apartment entrance, but couldn’t even pay for it as it was a machine that didn’t take regular coins, but special prepaid parking cards. Whatever the case was, we didn’t want to pay 10 euros for the card if we were just going to park once. So Robert and I traded back and forth unloading luggage while one of us had to stay by the car. After half an hour we were done…phew..it wasn’t as simple as just getting our bags and walking up the stairs-there were codes and elevators and keys to deal with.

Anyway, we dropped off our bags and headed down to Maisons-Alfort which is where my cousin lives. It is supposed to take 20 minutes to drive there, but it took us an hour. By the time we got there it was 6:30 pm and my cousin and my mom were already there. It was great to see all of them! It reminded me of our first time in Paris seven years ago for Olia’s wedding, when we first met Christophe. This time it was also fun for our kids to meet their second cousins-Maxim and Amelia.

Christophe was kind enough to help us celebrate Thanksgiving with turkey, so he ordered some excellent turkey-veggie-rollup-somethings and mashed potatoes (probably the best mashed potatoes ever). We had a great meal together, played for a little bit, and then went back to our apartment. We left our car parked at Olia’s house.

Here is my cousin, her kids and my mom.

And here are all the kids.

It was quite late by the time we got home, but the kids were pretty quick about getting to sleep.

The next morning, after filling up on croissants and pastries, we were out of the house by ten.

On the way to the metro station-beautiful flower shop.

We took the metro to Notre Dame area. The weather was turning out to be great.

We walked for a few minutes and, behold, there was Notre Dame in all her beauty.

Since we got there relatively early in the morning, we walked right in, no line. It was gorgeous inside!

Loved these stained glass windows.

Notre Dame is a big cathedral! And in my mind it seems to be extra special because it’s connected with the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Did you know that you can go up to the top of Notre Dame? On the side of the building, you will find the entrance to the stairs, there is usually a line, sometimes a very long line. They said they let in thirty people every ten minutes, but we waited for about thirty minutes total before we got inside.

Taking pictures while waiting. These two were together all the time. I think my mom hired Katya to take a ton of pictures of her as they were walking around with our camera posing all over the city.

Mark was so cute going up the stairs counting them as we were walking and walking. Almost four hundred in total!

There were two platforms where we made stops. The first one was not super high, but at the level of the biggest gargoyles. Oh, they fascinate me…

We had a bit of a waiting period on this level so we took a lot of pictures in all different variations.

The family with the gargoyles.

And the whole Paris behind us…

Sheesh, my mom looks so young. The kids look like they could be her children and not grandchildren.

I like this picture because it has two hidden faces-showing two different expressions.

And look at those statues. Love them.

Robert brought our long-distance lens this time to experiment with shooting from the top. So this first picture was taken with a regular lens, but the other two were done with a crazy zoom.

Amazing.

Sacre-Coeur.

Let me tell you, it was something else to be able to stand on this level of the cathedral right next to the bells when the bells were ringing out twelve o’clock. It was so loud and special.

Mark kept asking where the hunchback is and if it’s he who is ringing the bells.

Some crazy gargoyle creatures…trapped between heaven and earth.

After the “bells level”, we got to go up even further to the very top. A few pictures from there.

It was pretty quiet up there, not as windy as I thought it would be. The view of Paris was fantastic.

Walking down was much faster, of course, but since the spiral kept going and going, some of us almost got motion sick.

Mission accomplished—we climbed up Notre Dame. Definitely recommend this experience if the line is not horribly long.

Au revoir,

Lyana.

Knareseborough

I used to think that a two hour drive is quite a long drive. When I was little I used to think that going from Lviv to Dubno by car (that takes about two hours) was a BIG trip.  Even when we were in dental school, living in a Minneapolis suburb for four years, and Robert’s cousin living in Rochester, MN, 1 hr an 40 min away we only drove ONCE to see her…yeah, our perspective has changed.

Robert’s brother and his family live two hours north of us. Two hours does not sound like a long distance at all any more compared to how far away we are from the rest of the family.  So one Saturday in March we went up to see the other Watsons, just a few weeks before their new baby was born.

Robert has been up here, near Harrogate before, but this was my first time visiting this area.

I fell in love with their town of Knareseborough (you just pronounce half of the letters written and you’ll be fine)…..It must have been the hills or something, but I just loved looking at all the cute houses and old streets.

This is all the bridges and castles and beautiful houses that I used to see on TV and now I get to see it person!

We spent our morning at the sight of the very ancient (12th century) Knaresborough  castle. Cousins just wanted to run around together.

Our prisoners.

As I mentioned above, the area is very hilly here compared to Cambridgeshire where we live. The castle is standing on a hill, and so is the city centre (yes, I am trying to spell in British).

The other Watsons took us to the best fish and chips in town. Oh, it did not disappoint! Massive pieces of fish, breaded in perfection with some malt vinegar on top….Yum! Although I am sure eating it more than once a couple of months can do no good for your body, and that fact that it is FISH inside does not help-haha.

Mark—fed and happy.

After lunch we drove half an hour pass Harrogate to Yorkshire Dales (at first I thought it was Dells, like in Wisconsin Dells). 

Sheep and ancient stone walls were everywhere.

It was a lovely view.

Finally we got to the Yorkshire Dales Ice Cream Farmhouse.  This place was not simply an ice cream place. It was a giant barn with hay, swings, ropes and play structures. Katya, Alex and Everett had a blast in the “big kid area”.

While the little guys enjoyed all the play equipment on the other side.

Outside, they had a great playground as well.

Katya, the best “pusher” in town. Or what exactly is she doing?

Love their faces in this picture.

So fun to be with cousins!

And waiting for promised ice cream.

It was Robert’s brother’s birthday, so we after all the fun in the park, we headed home for some yummy dinner and cake. It was a great family day! Now we need to make a trip up north again to see their new addition.

Lyana