mooning over miami

yes, i've been gone from here...just kind of living life. but today, after two cups of coffee and feeling a bit jittery, ( and francis at a friend's house), i just had the urge to put these photos up from summer. middle school starts for francis next week, so this last week of "summer" we'll try to live it up, if the sun could just come out again and maybe stay there for a little while...

so what happened was: the day after school got out in june, we flew out east: francis to go to camp for the first time, and greg and i to head to miami, for our first getaway sans the kid. we didn't quite know what to expect, the destination being a rather last minute decision. i did try to research up on the area for things to do, and hotels (which now with the reviews feature, you're left feeling like you have a 50/50 chance of having a great time, or a horrible time, no in-between!) one thing i did not think to look up was the weather. florida = sun, right? well, as luck with the nyssens would have it: june in florida is the beginning of hurricane season, and after the first day there (of 110 degrees), the storms rolled in and unleashed torrential rain, thunder and lightning, every single day. and then they'd roll out. so we did get our sun. just sandwiched in-between some of the most fantastic shows of thunder and lightning i have ever seen. greg (being a northwest boy, and thus not being used to storms like this, like i have) was at first, quite terrified, and then, once that wore off, quite dense. and i like an idiot, followed him out onto the beach numerous times, for: pictures. me all the while telling him: when the lightning strikes, do you think it will hit the lifeguard station, the beach umbrellas, or us first? (he didn't get the hint, and i think we got lucky!)

we stayed at this little boutique hotel one block from the beach, called the catalina hotel and beach club, which we found here. (again, according to the reviews, people either loved it or hated it, but i really think it depends on the kind of traveler you are, and the amenities you are looking for.) us? we loved it. it was a pretty romantic place to stay, good food, comfy beds, free beach chairs and bike usage, and..oh yeah...free happy hour!
(more photos on my flickr...)





we were north of south beach, the art deco district, by a few blocks, so every day we hit the beach and every night we got dinner and walked all over town. we enjoyed the hot nights, loud music pumping out of hotel bars, gelato, the old (and often crumbling)architecture, the many accents we heard along the way, and of course, people watching. we even designated our favorite restaurant: sibilla, eating here twice, coming back just for the pizza.

after arriving to miami a little nervous, truly not knowing what to expect, we were very pleasantly surprised. there was, of course, the heat.(yes!) and many europeans on the beach. it felt like the most tropical international place one could get while still being in the united states. and all the servers we encountered were friendly and very relaxed. the pool guy chatted to us while we collected our towels for the beach, exclaiming over the sheer beauty of hurricanes. there's danger, of course. but a spectacular thing to witness, he said. the power of mother nature. (i was ready to take his word for it!) all in all, we had a wonderful time, despite the rain, (or including the hot sheeting rain) and we would happily do it again.

london: day 4

tuesday: july 1, 2008
all the queen's horses, and all the queen's men...

9:30am: the wake-up call this morning is just as alarming, and even more so, it's a half-hour late! i wake up francis, in the pitch black room, and throw back the curtains: it is bright and sunny and a glorious day in london. we rush downstairs to pile a breakfast on our trays just in time; they're already clearing it away as we sit down.

we check out, and leave our luggage at the hotel. the clerk is an elderly gentleman, who is tickled pink by francis and his exclamations, and starts chatting him up about castles, which is so cute, but unfortunately, we are rushing to try to catch the changing of the guard, so i have to cut it short.

at the russell square tube station, there is a crowd of people waiting to get into the tiny elevator, so i instinctively head for the stairs. we did not know that there would be sooo many stairs! luckily, it is all downhill, but still, i think we went down 7? 10? 12? flights of stairs! i had no idea the underground was so far underground! francis is in giggle fits of exasperation...when ARE we ever going to get to the bottom?





finally, the bottom. and we ride the tube to victoria station, and walk quick the many blocks to buckingham palace. it is very very warm already, (only 11am) and i'm too hot in my jeans. we are 10 minutes late and the fence line is entirely crowded, but we manage to worm our way to the front. we are on the side fence, not the front, so they are far away, but still. we get pictures, and francis can now say he saw the changing of the guard. it lasts a long time, and it is a little boring for kids, i think. (adults, too?) we have expectations of spectacular, but this is slow and methodical; this is tradition and ritual. there is honor in being the guard of the queen (even if it seems you're not doing much.) they conclude by marching out of the gates of the palace, past the victoria's memorial roundabout, and down the main street, which has been closed off to traffic. they do this every day? traffic must stop for the marching of the guard every single day?





we, of course, follow them, with the other tourists, and take pictures. francis is utterly fascinated. then we find a piece of shade in the grass and have a snack of buttered rolls (from breakfast). francis is falling asleep sitting up. another morning of rushing around.

we hit the gift shops and do some souvenir shopping. we head back to the train station to use the toilets (30p!) and then get egg salad sandwiches, apples, chips, chocolate, and smoothies at the store, and take it to a nearby park to eat lunch in the shade. after trying to figure out our afternoon plan, i decide the best bet is to head to ruth's for tea-time, to catch up on email and laundry, and to rest up a bit before our big night out on the town: catching shakepeare's "a midsummer night's dream" at the Globe! (a replica theatre)

back at the train station, i figure out a bus back to the british museum. (success!)unfortunately, it was a painfully long slow ride thru downtown london, and it was not a double decker bus, so we did not get much of a view. but still, we got to rest, and passed by picadilly circus, chinatown, and soho. this older lady was sitting in the row next to us, and chatted up francis the entire time. older people just really are delighted by francis, i don't know how, he just has this way about him. he will talk to anybody, (and keep on talking!)





we get off at the british museum, and walk the now familiar route back to our hotel. we stop in russell square one last time for francis to splash in the fountain, then back to the hotel to pick up our bags, then back down the tube station to get to ruth's by 5pm. we have tea and snacks and rest, waiting for ruth to get home from work. francis takes out all his souvenirs and lines them up on the table (in true francis-fashion.) ruth gets home, we have pesto pasta for dinner, and before you know it, we're rushing off to the tube station again, to get to the Globe theatre.

we get off the tube at Bank, and still have a bit of a walk to go, across the bridge, across the Thames. francis is absolutely bursting for a toilet. this is the financial district and everything is closed. no restrooms in the tube stations. no ubiquitous starbucks on every other corner. not even a fast food restuarant. dang it! all that tea and ribena! what do the brits do when they are bursting for the loo? does cold weather and lots of tea make their bladders stronger? ruth's advice was to "walk faster"; i was ready to let him pee in an alley, if only i could find an alley! francis was near tears, waddling as fast as he could, and i was very sympathetic to his pain. we finally made it there, and more importantly, HE made it, and was very much relieved!

while we were in the bathroom, ruth discovered that the Globe was sold out for the entire month of july, and that the long line outside the door was for people waiting for last-minute tickets to be made available by no-shows! but since we walked straight in to use the toilets, we bypassed the line and were already in the foyer when a lady decided to sell her tickets. so, hidden by the chaos of all the people, and the show starting in 5 minutes, ruth managed to get us exactly 3 tickets for the "poor people in standing room only" which are only 5 quid each. (following the tradition of the actual Globe of the times, poor people stand, rich people sit!) so yay! we got in!

and then stood. for three hours.







it was a long night, the roof was the open sky, with a floating suspended ball gradually illuminating as the moon. it was a warm and balmy evening, after being so hot today; we didn't even need our layers we had brought. the performance was amazing, and francis did really great. he is so full of wonder. it really is something special to see something like that live. the comedy kept him laughing, and he could actually, in spite of the old-fashioned speech, keep up with most of what was going on. (with me filling in a few blanks now and then.) the only bummer of the evening was a large group of teenagers behind us, a school group of foreign kids, who could care less about the performance, and chatted the entire time. the frequent "shhh!"'s from various people did not deter them, so at the intermission(francis called it "halftime") we decided to move to a spot right up against the side of the stage, which ended up better, as now francis could see perfectly with no heads in front of him. sometimes he got tired and wanted to sit down, which he did, but his curiosity of what was going on above his head (what were people laughing at?) would get the better of him, and he would stand up again to watch. i was amazed by how into it he was. by the end of the evening, he said that although his feet hurt, the show was good and he had fun. it's an event not to be missed and worth every penny, er, pence! (thanks so much, ruth, for making it happen!) if you are ever in london, make sure you make time for a trip to the Globe.







we came out to a dark night, people festive in the street, cafes along the water. we walked a non-rushed pace this time, across the millenium bridge, and got our sights in of st. paul's cathedral, lit up by night. francis steered the conversation to WWII, a favorite subject of his, but was a bit puzzled when his america-bred knowledge was not the same as a Brit's! world history and politics is not what i want to debate, not with a 10 year old, and not with a Brit! i tried to explain briefly the huge toll Britain weathered because of WWII. it happened on their soil. london was bombed. thousands of their men died fighting. it is a much more sensitive subject to them than it is to us. so out of respect, let's not go there. right now. it's ok. you can learn more. grow a little older... (and then question everything.) we changed the subject, and caught a bus back to ruth's, where, even though it was late, i quick caught up on email and laundry.

dad emailed to say that greg's Lufthansa flight was delayed (because of a strike in germany) and he's worried greg will miss his connection to london tomorrow. please, please, let him not miss it! (we need to fly to italy, at 6am thursday! not much room for delays!)

also, ruth looked at the weather report for tomorrow: it is supposed to rain...

london: day 3

monday: june 30th, 2008
francis and i take on the city, or try...

9:30am: we've become so used to the tinny bling of cell-phone rings; we hardly ever hear the grating ring of a real land-line phone anymore. well, i heard one, right next to my ear, blaring like a fire-alarm, at 9:30 am, jolting me out of sound sleep. alarming! francis, on the other hand, not only didn't even blink, i could not rouse him. so i went downstairs to acquire our breakfast and bring it back up on a tray.

he was still hard to wake, and slow to rise. i realized we weren't going to make the 11am changing of the guards, so we slowed down a bit and decided to enjoy our meal and not rush it. i made tea, and we ate our breakfast of cereal and rolls with marmalade, and blackcurrant jam (francis' new favorite.)

we decided to hit the british museum first, only a stroll thru russell park and a few blocks away. the building itself is amazing, -huge, crowded, and daunting. the inside foyer alone, i could look up and stare for hours. i said: pick your favorites, we can't see everything. we spent a good two hours staring and gaping, francis full of wonder at all the ancient egyptian relics, truly fascinated, and taking pictures of everything.



we wandered the surrounding neighborhood, got a sandwhich to go, and i tried to figure out the bus system, determined, but, hot and frustrated, could not, so we ended up taking the tube only 2 stops (which, when i told ruth later, she had a good laugh about it. apparently, it was only a ten minute walk!)



we took the tube to charing cross for trafalgar square, only to find out it was closed off for a canada day celebration. so we sat down on the steps, hot, tired, and blank. where shall we go now? i looked down at our map to get our bearings and realized we were only blocks away from the thames and parliament, so we decide to walk down the thames. we passed a tesco (grocery store) and popped in to buy a snack: smoothies, bananas, and smarties (like m&m's), and then sat on a bench along the river to rest and watch the world go by.

we spent the afternoon in a slow meandering crawl, enjoying the sunshine and the sights. we crossed the jubilee bridge, with views of the london eye (ferris wheel) and big ben and parliament. francis wanted to sit and watch a street performer, (which we did) and he watched him, mesmerized for ages. then he saw a playground, and wanted to swing, so i rested for awhiled longer, while he played, a kid still, even when you're a tourist in the heart of london. i was glad to give him that time, because all we've been doing is walking and looking, for days. it was nice to just be somewhere, instead of going somewhere, and watch everyone else about their day.







we crossed back over the thames, this time by way of westminster bridge, to gape at big ben and the parliament buildings. i told francis the story of guy fawkes; we talk about government and the queen.

we looped back along the river to where we started, and beyond, to covent garden, to meet up with ruth for a dinner of fish and chips. i thought it would be a long walk, but this is where i finally realize it only took us minutes, and how close we are to our hotel. it was only a 10 minutes walk back, with ruth leading the way, and we sat in russell square for the sunset, and let francis play in the fountain, while we talked.



finally, cold to the bone, and francis wet thru, we parted ways: us to our hotel, ruth to bike home thru the streets of london, before it got too dark.

9:30pm: a much earlier night. no tv. baths. figuring out tomorrows plans. tidy up for checkout tomorrow (back at ruth's for 2 more nights), journal, bed...

francis can not wait for wednesday, for meeting up with greg.
neither can i!

london: day 2

sunday: 29th june, 2008
in which we take a trip to see a castle...

we wake at 9am: showers, breakfast, emails, but again, we are rushing. literally running, all the way to king's cross station, to catch the tube to paddington, to catch the train to windsor (changing at slough.) we just missed our train and had to wait a half hour for the next one, but i didn't really mind. we got to wander paddington station, show francis paddington's statue: "please look after this bear", and i tried to get cash out (failure, and on-going snafu and frustration) and also, i desperately needed the toilet (another failure: cost 20p and i had no coins!) i decided to wait for the train, but once on, discover to my dismay: OH NO! NO TOILETS! (sigh) bursting and miserable, i just have to hold it 45mins and wait...

on the train, francis is tired and slouchy. he keeps bumping knees with the man in front of him (seats facing together.) the more i correct him, the more exasperated and slouchy he becomes. (sigh) i miss greg...

we finally get to windsor, and i finally get to pee! ruth and i get lattes, and head for the castle. francis is gobsmacked as soon as we walk out of the station, because there it is, windsor castle, sitting right in front of you. something that i always marvel at in england, and europe: ancient sites may have the age-old respect of not being torn down, however, modernity didn't keep its distance, and crowds up right next to it, utilizing every inch of space. old...shoulder to shoulder with the new...





there's a queue, and a security check, and the guards now hold guns. we finally get inside, but somehow, it is already almost 2pm. and the castle closes at 5. oh well for our "early start"...

francis can't walk 10 feet without taking a picture. he is truly excited to the core seeing a real live castle! i decided this is HIS day, and let him stop and take all the pictures he wants. i've already been here. i am determined to not rush him.

windsor castle was built in 1165, and is one of the great surviving medieval castles, and not only that, has housed the british royal family for over 900 years, and still does, to this day. we asked a guard if the queen was in. he replied: " i can not answer you that. the queen is in residence when her flag is flying." we looked up: the flag was flying.

only too soon, i must confess, i am bursting for the toilet again. (damn that latte!) i inquire to discover there is ONE set of public toilets, and they are on the far other side, so there we trek. it's a blustery gray british day, and there's not too many tourists. guards march by, with stern faces, and real guns, and francis is overjoyed and takes about 300 pictures in one fell swoop. (we haven't gotten around to editing his yet, but mine i've started to narrow down to a few dozen a day: you can find the rest on my flickr.)



we succumb to the touristy must-see, and join the queue to see "queen mary's dollhouse", which is frankly, quite impressive, but what francis really wants to see is: the armour, the weapons, the coat of arms...it's so huge inside, it takes us 2 hours to tour the state rooms, and that's even without francis taking pictures (he was very sad they were not allowed. i, however, did not mind it.)

when we finally emerge to the light of day, we are famished, and crash on a bench to eat our packed lunch. i'm already guessing that we'll miss out on tea-time again, today. and i am right.



we find st. george's chapel closed, because it is a sunday, but discover you may attend an actual service, at 5:15pm, after the castle grounds close. i think that would be fantastic, and ruth agrees, so we stay: for church, in the castle chapel!quite an experience! beautiful ornate chapel, intricate stained glass. the service was sung by a boy's choir. francis reprimands me for sneaking a few pictures with my cell-phone...probably not a good example for my boy who obeyed the rules back in the state rooms.



with the castle now closed, and the rest of the shops in town following suit, (it is a sunday in england: shops close) we decide to head back to ruth's for supper, and to pack up; francis and i are heading to our free hotel for two nights, courtesy of a british airways special offer.

but by the time we get back, between packing up, emailing greg, etc...we don't get out until well past 10pm, and this is still without supper! we say good-bye to ruth, who is off to the pub with friends, and we head to the tube, for russell square. no mapquest. just an address and a london city map.

the station is clamouring with football(soccer) fans whooping and cheering, and i find out spain just won the euro cup. they're running, yelling, waving flags, and a whole group of them cram on the train, pushed up against us. we were standing just inside the doors with our luggage, as we only had 2 stops to go, and just before the doors closed, about 20 people rushed in and crowded around us, still singing their victory, and jumping up and down. the conductor came back and opened the doors and yelled to be heard: "oi! you can yell all you like, but no jumping up and down. you're rocking the whole train!" they apologize and stop jumping, but continue singing at the top of their lungs. francis, small, surrounded by all these yelling grown-ups: but they were smiling at him, and i was smiling too. maybe he will remember this in years to come?

the station we needed was closed for repairs! (just like in the board game: "miss one turn!") and so we hopped off in confusion at holborn. hmmm...now to walk back to russell square, with our luggage, in the dark deserted sunday night of london city streets. i ask directions and off we head.



this whole time i had been excited for our hotel experience. i saw the pictures and read the blurbs, and assumed it was a nice hotel. originally, it had been intended to be with greg; the plan was for us to meet up with him earlier, but things changed, and we kept the booking, besides, it was free. however, when we found it, i realized why they were giving rooms away for free, and it couldn't be to attract business: after staying there, i probably wouldn't have paid to stay there again.



it was like being in a motel, except on the 7th floor, and thru such a labyrinth of hallways, that i actually got lost and had to go down to reception and ask again. i was frustrated and tired and hungry. it was past 11pm. when we finally got to our room, there were two single beds. (where would we have all fit if greg was with us?)it was tiny. BUT: francis didn't seem to notice. he was so excited. he immediately claimed a bed and said: "isn't this nice?" could i really complain? we had a place to sleep in the heart of london. we even had a bathtub. he checked out our view from the window, of the courtyard below, and when we opened the window, we could still hear football fans chanting and whooping from victory: apparently many of them were staying here. he turned on the tv and immediately found "coming to america" with eddie murphy. he asked if he could watch it. as he has seen that movie on quite a few rainy sunday afternoons with greg, i said ok. besides, i still had to go hunt us down a supper.

my search for food ended with the hotel caferteria restaurant, apparently still open for a little while longer, take-out only. i paid &6.50 for an old dry fish and chips and roll. (sigh) passing the hotel bar, i decided it would go down much better with a gin and tonic, and happily paid the &3.50. took the tray back up to our room, and we gorged ourselves, supplementing it with an apple from my bag, and ribena (blackcurrant cordial you add to water) i had brought with us.

it seemed a shame to go to bed just yet, even tho it is so late, it is vacation after all, so i opted instead on: a bath, organizing our stuff, trying to figure out what to do the next few days, and then i sent francis to bed, to catch up in my journal after he fell asleep (which was promptly), by the light of the bathroom.

somehow, in the end, day 2 was still so rushed we didn't even get tea or supper. ??
this will not do!

this is our vacation and i want us to be relaxed and enjoying ourselves.

francis wants to go to a bookstore, to spend the british bookstore coupon that ruth's mum sent him. he wants to see the british museum. buckingham palace. he asked to see a toy shop. ride a cab. to go to elephant and castle to see the imperial war museum. (which he learned about, by the way, from an old british boardgame from my childhood called "the london underground". i first had to make sure it was still there! it is.)

we have two full days until we meet up with greg on wednesday. can't wait for that!
i need to go to bed now.
i called the operator to ask what time it was (2:10am!) and to ask for a wake-up call tomorrow morning...at least there's free breakfast...

london: day 1

saturday: 28th june, 2008

it was very hard getting up this morning. i woke at 6am to the sound of the city waking, and the brightness. i used my british airways complimentary eye-mask and fell back asleep, til ruth came and got me at 10am. francis could not be wakened. so ruth and i had some lovely girl-time, catching up over coffee and pancakes, with me periodically trying to rouse francis. he could not be moved. finally, by noon, we forced him up; he was delirious. we packed a sack lunch and took off to catch the bus, for the zoo.

we got to ride a double-decker( still around in london, it was the old-fashioned "route-master" with the hop on/off the back, that was taken off the streets, --only to be replaced by what the brits call "bendy-busses" and not with fondness) and francis was so excited. we sat at the top, front row, and it looked like every time we turned, we were going to take a chunk out of a building, or knock over signposts, and every time we stopped, that we'd rear-end whoever was in front of us. it was quite a ride!



we walked thru regents park, to get to the zoo. francis, with his camera, already catching fountains, park benches, british squirrels...you get the picture. at the zoo, it got quite hot, and we were in jeans. after a while i noticed that francis kept sitting down every chance he got, and maybe the zoo wasn't the best first day choice; he was still too jet-lagged to really appreciate it. he did enjoy seeing animals he hasn't seen in our zoo, tho, like the pelicans.



by the end of the afternoon, he was a bit miserable, saying his legs hurt, he was too hot, and he wanted to sit down. poor guy! but we had a whole evening of sitting ahead of us: ruth had got us tickets to regent park's outdoor theatre, to see shakespeare's "twelfth night." we rushed home, packed a picnic supper, and rushed back to regents park, quickly thru the beautiful rose garden, found a patch of sun and green grass, and crashed outside the theatre, where brits were all about, picnicing in the grass too. we had: bread, cheese, proscuitto, wine, olives, sundried tomatoes... yes, wine! in the park! this is england!



8pm we went in for the performance, which was 3 hours long, and frankly, quite fantastic! the theatre had stadium seats, which was nice, and you were allowed to bring in food and wine, etc... but even still, francis had a hard time staying awake...he was still so tired! i tried to explain to him what was going on, and i think he understood most of it, and really enjoyed the jester and laughed outloud. i was thoroughly impressed and entertained-- it was set during the roaring twenties, with suits and long dresses and gangsters. it got chilly when the sun went down, but we had brought our layers.



back at home, tucking him in, i asked if he had fun today. he said it was too busy. i said: tomorrow we're only doing ONE thing: taking the train to windsor castle!

it feels like everything is going too fast, and it is only the first day! how can that be? so i am hoping for a not-rushed day tomorrow, and that francis is rested and enjoys himself fully.

and i would like a cup of tea...we missed ours today..

i see london (i see france)

friday: 27th june, 2008
on the plane...British Airways to london...

francis is happily watching a movie. he was happy with our seat; he said: "look at all this stuff you get for only 2nd class! i wonder what 1rst class gets!" he's loving how fancy this is: luxuries you don't see in the US anymore. each seat has its own pillow, blanket, headsets, and comfort kit: eye-mask, socks, and travel toothbrush with mini-paste. he was in awe and very excited. "would you like a full british breakfast, luv?" said the steward. you get the accent already, and you're not even there yet. i said yes, even tho i didn't know what it was. we were then served a tray each, consisting of: scrambled eggs, potatoes, ham, sausage and mushrooms, OJ, yogurt, coffee, blueberry muffin, roll and butter, and fruit. it was too much to eat! and better yet, complimentary!



i am having trouble feeling excited. i'm on a plane to london, but my stomach isn't in turmoil. i mean, i am excited, i am looking forward to it, but i don't have the physical feeling of excitement. maybe it hasn't hit me yet? i am kind of in a daze. i am not nervous, i am not giddy. i am very tired. it's hard to explain. i have not planned what to do in london for 5 days (i've been so focused on france and italy) but that doesn't bother me. we will see what we can; i am just happy to be there, staying with our friend ruth. we will be meeting up with greg on wednesday. i am content to see familiar sights, eat british food, drink tea, hang out, and show francis 'round the town. but i consult my lonely planet london guide anyways, for some ideas...



we land and go thru customs: always a hassle. but we get thru ok, and follow signs to the underground. it's about 9pm british time, but francis can't keep his eyes open. we catch the picadilly line, and he promptly falls asleep on the tube, for our hour ride. i have trouble waking him up; he's delirious. we follow ruth's directions to her flat: "when you get out of the station cross the road and walk straight ....... you pass sainsburys supermarket on your left. turn left down the side of sainsburys till you get to a zebra crossing. cross the crossing and walk straight til you hit another zebra crossing, cross it and turn left. my building is at the end of that street on the corner. my door is red and on copenhagan st. buzz the 'flat' bell. it's about a 5-7 min walk". how do you like them directions! ruth wanted me to call her when we arrived, so she could run out and meet us, but i liked the challenge of navigating the city with just those directions. i wanted to see if i could find it, and find it i did!

francis' first sight out of the tube station was a double-decker bus and he got so excited! i'm happy watching him, all these sights, for the first time. i'm enjoying stepping back into a place that's familiar, a place with memories...





we buzz the buzzer to the flat, and ruth's calls out "hello" from the third floor. she says: "that's it?" to our luggage, a carry-on size wheely bag for each of us. we wanted to travel light, but it still feels like too much.

ruth shows us to our "quarters"; the nook she's made up for us. it's so homey and like camping out. it's late, but francis wants to read before bed; he is thoroughly engrossed in the lord of the rings. we say good-night to ruth, with plans to sleep in, have breakfast, and hang out with her tomorrow.



i think i'm starting to feel excited. i'm happy to wander and be, to hear the accents, and drink tea...

when in rome...

stay in rome...as long as you can...you will not want to leave...

so anyways, this is us: in front of the trevi fountain, making our wish (can you guess what it is?) and what you can't see is the hundreds of people crammed in next to us, doing the same. i know, i know: i was that person!! can you believe it? i was a bit suprised at myself, and greg rolled his eyes, but i rolled with it, and had no shame in doing the touristy self-portrait with my cell-phone. hence, it is blurry and dark. it is not a great photo. there is even another person in it. but it still caught the rare moment of the three of us, together, and it captured the memory.

we can say: "remember that time when..." and we are all included in the inside joke. we can laugh at the memory, and we were all there. no one left out.

and now when francis complains it is hot outside, i can rightly say: "what??!! are you kidding me? this is NOT hot. you have seen hot. remember that time in rome when you clung to inches of shade, moaning: "how many degrees hot is it?" now THAT was hot!..." and then i freely laugh at him. (ok ok, WITH him!)

ah, rome: missing it already.

so that's it for now...
one photo, one snippet...
stay tuned, more to come...

home again home again jiggety jig

can you believe it's august???

well, we nyssens are back state-side, for about a week now. francis and i returned and received a welcome home present of: the flu. puking and out of commission for about a week. greg came home during that as well, exhausted, and a little under the weather after his week in india, with spicy indian food, and lots of it, for three meals a day! but he survived it quite well, i should say, and we are slowly getting back on track to life as we know it in seattle.

there shall be stories, in snippets, and there will be photos, someday, but for now i will say that it was entirely wonderful and exhausting. and worth it. and we are glad to be home.(except for the fact that we'd rather be in rome!) if anyone's wondering how it was traveling with a 10 year old: francis was absolutely great! (despite the fact that we are going thru the "terrible 10's" right now, and have to deal with some wannabe-teenage attitude lately...on the trip he did very good.) he was old enough to keep up with us, often til midnight every night, he carried (er, wheeled) his own luggage, needing only our help up and down the many many subway stairs we encountered along the way. he didn't need naps, and often had more energy than we did by mid-day. he thought every single thing we saw was "AWESOME", and he's at an age where i'm hoping this trip lasts as a wonderful memory. also, not being a teenager yet, he was still entirely content with our company, except when he saw kids playing at the beach, or park, and would ask us: "how do i say: can i join you? in italian?" and we would look it up in our book, he would memorize it and run off, loudly announcing "non parlo italiano! posso giocare anch'io!" (i don't speak italian! can i join in?) and the kids would then either practice their grade-school english on him, or just play side by side, chattering away in italian, but play often needs no translation, when there's smiles and sandcastles...

we were totally content to not even try to do everything.

we went to: rome, venice, the cinque terre, marseille, paris, dover (that was francis' pick) and london. and even that, in 18 days, was alot. we wished we had stayed more days in rome. i think that was a definite favourite.

we stayed out late, and could not get up early, no matter how hard we tried. in italy, we ate paninis, gelato, and pizza every day and didn't tire of it. i really loved ordering cappucinos, and practicing my limited phrase-book italian, and the italians were very happy to watch us try. francis even picked up on the tonal influctions, and would announce "grazie mille!" with enthusiasm, and they got a kick out of that.

in france, i had a much harder time with the language, and left most of the communicating up to greg, seeing as he took french in high school. not one single word is pronounced the way it looks! and they weren't as happy as the italians to watch us try. but, despite their reputation, and some of our own experiences with rudeness, we encountered many friendly french that proved they can't be stereotyped. maybe it was traveling as a family? i don't know. but we had fun wandering the streets, eating crepes, baguettes, croissants, and "cafe cremas"...

we traveled on foreign trains, planes, busses, ferries, boats, subways...everything an adventure. i am sorry to report that i did not cope as well as i would have liked, i was not as easy going as i remembered either, and i became a bit of a frantic spaz when it came to making our connections. we had some frustrating moments, dealing with the "lost in translation" language barrier, and always winging it. but that should be expected i guess, and i remember the vacation being wonderful, so it must not have been that bad!

anyways, real life beckons at this very moment, the sun is shining, and i must get outside. more to come later...

au revoir

it has been so very long since i've posted, and i thought that before i leave, i should tell you where we are going. the nyssens are embarking on their first ever, out of the country, family vacation. we are going to england, france, and italy for three weeks, and after that, greg is going on a week-long business trip to india. exciting! so, that is what i have been busy doing these past few months, and why i have not been blogging, or cooking, or cleaning (much!) i have been trying to plan a short-notice vacation, in the peak of summer, with the abysmal overseas dollar, and all that. i have reinforced how much i love, LOVE google. the world wide web truly is an amazing thing. if you have a question, surely someone else has had the same one. you type it in, and get all sorts of answers. it truly is a technological feat that connects the people of this big wide world and makes it a small one. how does one get to Nice, France from the Cinque Terre, Italy i wonder? i just plug it in and get results. it's truly amazing. i have been reading the lonely planet guide books. reading about cities, choosing destinations, researching train time-tables, booking B&B's with people who don't speak very good english, but better english than i speak italian. and on and on and on...

we leave in two days, and it really hasn't sunk it yet...still so much to do. but i am starting to let the excitement seep in, and hope to be fully relaxed once we touch ground on the other side.

so this is au revoir for now...

we wish you all a wonderful, hot and sunny july!

see you in august!

in other news...

alot has happened in the past two weeks, but most significantly, the boy has turned 10! he has lived on this earth for one decade now, and i have to admit, it does seem like a long time: ten years for him has also been ten years for me...

we have just completed a week off of school for spring break, in which my parents flew out to surprise francis for his birthday. the preceeding week, the week i was supposed to be cleaning and preparing, francis came down with strep and missed 4 days of school. needless to say, we watched alot of cartoons and i didn't get much done. but we managed, and luckily he was over his contagious factor so as not to interefere with all our guests and his birthday party. we had greg's brothers dave and brad, and brad's kids, all sleepover the night before the party, then francis had a whole day with uncles and cousins while i baked the brownies and picked up my parents from the airport. we surprised him at the party, which was at a boys and girls club that we had rented out last minute, when we were done deluding ourselves that we could fit everyone into our apartment. (well, we might have been able to fit everyone, but then no one would be able to move, so...it was a win-win situation for everyone. but mostly for me!)

his party was a blast: thanks to all of you who came out and made the evening so much fun! and then, in the following week, francis had a fun-filled vacation with his grandma and grandpa, and also us, which he didn't notice much. for his birthday, monday, greg took off work, and we were all trying to figure out what grand plans we would do for the day...take the ferry to port townsend? drive up to deception pass? but finally we realized we weren't giving francis his say on his special day, we were treating it more like a vacation day. so, francis, what do YOU want to do on your birthday? and instantly he said: museum of flight! so there we went. it's a boys paradise really. and my dad got a kick out of touring the concorde, which he actually has ridden on before, back in the 80's, for business. so of course we took all the necessary touristy pictures. (i'll post more on my flickr page).









i must mention this: it was sunny and bright EVERY SINGLE DAY they were here. a miracle of miracles! my dad said: "so what are you complaining about?" we were stripping off coats, had red mill burgers OUTSIDE! ON PICNIC TABLES! IN FEBRUARY! i had been preparing myself for what we could do in the rain. but as it was, we were lazy in the mornings, getting coffee and sun in my kitchen, then went out for the afternoons: downtown, pike place market, the zoo, the EMP and science fiction museum, and going out to eat for lunch or dinner to all our favorite places. we played card games, napped, watched movies, ate popcorn...truly vacationed without going anywhere. it was very relaxing, very fun, and now that my parents have returned to the actual winter that is morgantown, pennsylvania...we miss them very much.

and life has returned to its pace it was before: busy. normal. back to school and homework. ignored laundry is a towering mountain of mess, francis' room is an absolute disaster, as is our room, and my to-do list is so long that i decided if i got one thing done a day, i'd feel ok. so i make my coffee in the mornings, stove-top style, and slowly make a dent, to get myself back on track.

p.s. that birthday sign? my mother made. when we were growing up, she had made stuffed letters out of fabric, you know, the whole 70's thing, and the more kids she had, the more letters she made. i have never had the skill to do this, being i can't sew, but this year, she sent francis, in the mail, letters cut out of cereal boxes, and dollars, for him to put together. the first envelope were the letters H and A, with a dollar bill. he was confused. so i put them together and said: "HA HA, you get ONE dollar for your birthday!" and he sighed. but the next day, with a P and a P, and two more dollars, he started to get the hint. so then everyday, he ran to the mail box, predicting the next letters and eagerly awaiting the dollars. once he completed "happy birthday" there was a left-over F, and he yelped with joy! wahoo!! it wasn't just "happy birthday"; it was "happy birthday francis"!!! and he excitedly counted up the next letters and dollars he would receive. it was a wonderful plan, thanks mom and dad. and it led up to the final and best gift: you coming to spend time with us...we miss you already! and wouldn't you know it? it's back to gray...