Seeking Santa

Who does a 2 day road trip to Germany from England?!?! We do! That's who!  All our British friends thought we were nuts but we are from a driving culture and since we have little time to spare we managed to do a quick 2 day drive through England, France, Belgium and into Germany for their world class Christmas markets.

Cologne or Koln

Anyway, we wanted to go see what all the hub bub was about. Everyone here talks about these markets.  And after going, I would HIGHLY!!! recommend them. The drive was 4 hours once in France. The same distance from Maryland to NYC. We hardly bought anything apart from amazing German food.  So we will need to go back next year to purchase some German souvenirs. But the food is really great!

Back in 2009 when we went to Germany on our Honeymoon trip we discovered that German food was unique to the region and very very tasty. For some reason when your there German sausage and sauerkraut is so much better. Pretzels are fresh, cookies and candy are made in front of your eyes. And let's not even get started on the delicious beverage options. Mulled wine, Jaeger in the streets, beer and the whole nine yards!

Champions aka Mushrooms

Aachen

We ended up going to 2 market towns.  Cologne, voted #1 Christmas market, and Aachen. Both were great and after getting our fill of the markets we headed back into Belgium and stayed in a small hilly village.  I would say that Belgium is by far my favorite country so far. We've been there a hand full of times and every time is a wonderful experience. They speak a mix of French and Flemish making it a very diverse place.

Gent

This go around we stopped in Gent and Brugge on the way back to the train. Our first time in Gent and it didn't disappoint. Very beautiful city and lots of history. After lunch in Gent we headed to my favorite, Brugge. We've been to Brugge so many times that I feel like I know the city in and out. We made our way to our favorite beer stop and picked up a good selection for the holidays.

Back on the train and a quick 35 minutes under the sea and we were back in England! No official Saint Nick spotting but we did it! Done and done and now we know that it's possible to do quick European weekend travel with a 1 year old. The possibilities always seem so endless.

Food - as a yoga practice...

I eat! 

I eat what I like cause I do what I want!

Usually, I don't make the best choices. I just eat when I'm hungry. And to be frank, I'm surprised I don't weigh 300lbs, because I love to eat sugar! So when one of my yoga instructors (and boss) mentioned that November is Vegan awareness month, I naturally cringed. And I immediately thought....

"oh, no! That's also when Thanksgiving is."

See I've been down this road before... My family didn't have a particularly good relationship with food. We were that typical 80's American family born from the 50's lifestyle. Parents grew up with processed meals cause both parents worked and we grew up with making things from a box and making them fast! Not that there is anything wrong with that but now we know that it's not the healthiest way to eat. Many in my family battle with obesity and depression and food is an easy outlet for both of those. So frequently I would just eat and not even know or care what I was eating. And sure enough half the time I didn't even taste my food.

My first look into food came in college. Luckily, my American Studies degree helped to explain why American's eat the way they eat and what the future was to look like and the options that we had. I really appreciated our food course. It made me think! And thinking is always a good thing. I vowed to always try to shop organic as much as I could even through the rest of my poor college career. But still I ate and never really knew what I was eating.

Then I became a yoga instructor and we again came to the Food Subject. A lot of yogi's are vegans or vegetarians. There are lots and lots of reasons to go "Veggie" from a yoga perspective but for me it always came back to "I don't like being told what to do, especially about something so simple that I've been doing for so long." I would love to be present while I eating but really I'm just too busy. So I completed my yoga training and began teaching and was convinced that I didn't need to be veggie to become a good teacher or to be enlightened.

Without knowing it my sister and brother dabbled in the veggie lifestyle. And then I got to thinking. As a yogi, I have trained myself into controlling little bits of my mind. My practice was purely asana based (postures) and then when my daughter was born my life went into a tail spin. Mainly due to the fact that time was no longer on my side. I had no time to practice my postures. I couldn't get it together. And forget about making it to a class. 2 hours of my life was needed at home with this little human rather than on the mat at a studio.

Then my boss issued this challenge, 7 days, vegan lifestyle. I thought to myself, no way am I being told what to do.  Then he explained that it's the bridge to bring your practice home. Immediately, I was intrigued. Why had I never thought of this? Have people been telling me this all along and I just wasn't open enough to hear it? It's a way to control eating and therefore bringing my yoga practice home.  I was shocked at this revelation. So easy, so simple.  So I signed on and started the challenge.

Turns out that being vegan is easy and hard all at the same time. Just about everything has dairy or eggs in it. But it forced me to finally (after 30 years) understand what was going into my body. I kept my mouth closed the first day until I could find something that was totally vegan. Took about half the day, but I was determined. I cooked for the first time since before my daughter was born! (let's face it, I didn't cook before she was born either.) But here I was trying it out and doing a good job. My husband was eating the soup I made and he said that it tasted really good. And there was no animal products in it at all. It was a total win for me.

Throughout this roller coaster of food education I've learned a lot.  Being vegan isn't only about helping animals but it's also about helping yourself. And the word, Vegan, is no longer scary. In the end, I was only able to be vegan for 5 days and vegetarian for the last 2 days.  After the 7th day I felt really strange going back to eating my "regular" way. But the seed has been planted and now I can blossom into my fullest potential. 

And on top of that... I volunteer...

In a former life I was passionate about Events. All kinds of events! Weddings, Birthday's, meetings, conferences, you name it... I liked planning it. When I was laid off in 2009 I decided I would never go back to the life that I had as an event planner. I was so stressed out. I grinded my teeth, I didn't sleep much, I worked all kinds of hours, I drank more, I ate badly and all in all I was a pretty cut throat mean person to those who loved me. I came to yoga and totally relaxed into a new lifestyle but the passion was still there. I found myself planning my sister's 30th birthday, SPCA fundraisers, holiday parties, weddings and our very own going away party.  I even acquired an award for event planning while I was laid off. Weird! I know...

Now 3 years and 1 baby later I have come back to events. I know I will never get away from them so with open arms I move forward into this dharma. (Dharma means life work!)

So what does an overseas lady do with events?!? Well she volunteers in the Protocol Office at the base, that's what! I've been in the office for a couple months and I've already learned so much. "Protocol is the set of rules prescribing good manners in official life and in ceremonies involving governments and nations and their representatives "  Following good protocol will help eliminate embarrassing situations. Example: The US constitution says that the US Flag will always "Fly Free".  Therefore, the US flag can not be pinned or affixed to anything to hinder it to fly free. What if you went to a different country and the flag was taped down?!? You would probably be pretty offended. Well, other countries have these rules as well. And protocol helps people know what the do's and don'ts are so people don't get offended. Offence causes misunderstanding and misunderstandings can start wars.

So off I go to learn as much as I can and hopefully give the base a little of myself in return.

Sophie's 1st Birthday

1 year ago, Sweet Sophie was born!

It's been a long road from little baby to walking, babbling little human. Sophie has been to 6 countries and has met lots of people along the way. Her first year was packed with visits from family and friends. Play dates that include baby yoga, Waterbabies, massage, rhyme time, play groups, buggy boot camp, baby sign language, etc, etc.  Lots and lots to do when you have a baby.

For Sophie's 1st Birthday I was told that you have family and friends over to celebrate and that it's usually a big party. Well I was a little worried that we didn't have very many friends and we are so far away from home I didn't think any family would come. Boy, was I wrong! 13 babies, 14 parents of babies, 2 under 5 kids, 5 family members later we were able to create a super 1st birthday atmosphere.

Party shot!

When we moved here I was really nervous that we would be lonely but that is the farthest thing from my mind now. We have the some amazing and super generous friends here and I will be sad to go when the time comes.


Sophie still remains my greatest teacher! And I know it will only get more challenging and sweet as the journey continues. I'm amazed that I have been able to nurture and at very least keep this baby alive for a whole year. Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Baby!

Paris, France

Look at that Tower!

Sophie's 6th country before her 1st birthday was France. We did a eurostar trip from London to Paris. Katie's mom, sister and Charlie visited and we all headed over to Paris. The train trip was a lot of fun and very fast! I will say that when we got to Paris the metro wasn't very baby stroller/handicap accessible. So if you need assistance walking be sure to skip the metro and take a cab.

Chef!

Napoleon' - Little man, big Tomb

In 2009, for our honeymoon we spent 4 days in Paris.  We ended up reliving our Paris trip. We all stayed in the same hotel and visited the same restaurants and the same museums. It was a great trip since we got to share those places with our family. The Louvre is still the best museum ever, the Rodin has amazing sculptures, Napoleon's tomb is still huge, and the Eiffel tower is still standing.

Walking in Versailles

One of the best day trips that we did again this year was a trip to Versailles. I love that place! It's beautiful! Although very crowded it was again worth every penny! (covered on our Paris museum pass) We even made it for the fountain shows. We did run into some ignorant tourists though. I noticed that when lots of cultures get together there are bound to be some misunderstandings. le sigh....

Any way, the food in France is amazing! The service is terrible! But the experience is totally worth it and I would go over and over again.... Oh, and best part of the whole trip was that Mandy and Charlie got engaged! Last of the Llewellyn's to get hitched and my older sister. Congratulations!!!!

Look at this ring! Wow!

Barcelona, Spain

Right after Italy we had 2 weeks home and then we went off to Barcelona. We ended up getting the air plane tickets for 19 pounds each. Really couldn't pass it up. So off we went for 8 days.

Honestly, 8 days was way to long for one place. We could have stayed there for 4 to 5 days and seen everything. So we did a lot of baby walking practice around town. We saw all kinds of things and found ourselves spending lots of time on Las Ramblas. Every day we ended up there.

We went to every Gaudi thing that we could find. Including the Sagrada Familia. This was by far the most amazing church we have ever been to. It was definitely more of a work of art in my mind.  The pillars were inspired by Sequoia redwood trees (my favourite tree). The facades are beautiful works of the stations of the cross and the nativity scene. The church hasn't been completed yet. The estimated projection for the completion is when I'm 60 (so 30 years). I can't wait to see it completed.

The relic

Seems like Spain has a lot of 2 things: Religion and Art! Luckily those two things go well together. We visited the Monstraat monistary in the mountains of Barcelona and saw a very special relic that was founded at the site. (The black Virgin and baby - may or not be real) And then we made our way 2 hours North to see the Dali museum. Dali is one of our favorite artists. He made something out of nothing. It was very much like art in Baltimore and it always makes me miss home.

South Italy

Sorrento at night

As you may have realised blogging and a baby don't really mix. =) So here's my attempt at catch up. In September (2 months ago) we went to South Italy. Mainly Naples, Sorrento, and the Amalfi Coast.  In our guide book it said..."if you don't like Northern Italy then don't travel further south." Oops... we have never been to Northern Italy so we figured we would wing it and do the south first and see how it goes. 

We stayed in Sorrento, which was amazing. The hostel we stayed in looked like an expensive hotel and the the location was central to everything we wanted to see and do. Sorrento the town was great. No pushy sales people, very nice and patient people. I really liked Sorrento and they loved loved loved Sophie! Baby's are really welcomed in Italy. 

Sorrento daytime

Any way, Sorrento was amazing but Naples was super scary.  We should have known what we got into by the bus ride from Naples Airport to Sorrento.  Trash everywhere, it really looked like Mexico. And then I read that Naples is the home of organised crime.  And one of their main businesses is trash collection. Le sigh.... In Naples the city (which we visited only for the main archaeological museum) I felt very unsafe. We walked through town being harassed all the way. By the time we made it to the first pizza place I'd had enough so we got back on the train and hot tailed it out of there. 

Pompeii with Mt. Vesuvius

The best part of our trip was visiting Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius. (I've dreamed of visiting these places) Both are half way between Sorrento and Naples. And both are totally worth a visit!  This is the place were you can see the effects of a natural disaster. Pompeii is huge!!! And the best example in my opinion of Roman life. Pompeii was a town of rich and poor living together. You can walk through buildings, on side walks, in streets and see how they lived. And this was very important to me as a history lover you are actually able to walk where they walked rather than walking on plates of glass to protect mosaics. Vesuvius just as interesting and amazing for the view of Naples bay. Vesuvius is still an active volcano although it's currently resting.

Positano

We also went on a tour of the Amalfi coast. This is were many films were made. And I could see why the moment the bus turned the corner and you could see the amazing cliff faces.  There is an island you pass on the way to Positano which was owned by a famous male ballerina. (Love that some who made beauty was inspired to live somewhere so beautiful) Positano is amazing, I wished we had time to stayed longer. The town of Amalfi was beautiful too with a big church at it's city center and lots of tourists. It's the main bus stop on the coast.

Baby eating squid

All in all I would love to go back to this area of Italy. The food was great, the espresso was hot and the lemoncello was cold. 

Health Care... To pay or not to pay???

I personally feel really lucky to have this opportunity to live abroad and experience a different culture. Had I lived abroad for a semester in college I don't think I would have gotten this same kind of experience. I would have probably gotten to know every pub in the area and how to stumble to my classes.  But what I really appreciate is now at 30 learning all the in's and out's of being in a different culture, a different way of life and different perspectives of the world. 

So do we cancel our US Health Insurance or not?!? This is what I'm faced with at the moment. I have always had health insurance. It's always been very important to me to be covered. We are paying over $3K a year in US Health Insurance costs.  (That's a trip to a far away land) So why aren't we using the US Health system?  Well mainly because they told me on the base that if I wanted to have a natural birth that I would have to go to the British system. So since we were sent (kinda forced) to the British system (the NHS) we have just been getting all our care from there.

On the NHS, my daughters birth was FREE! All our pre-natal care was FREE! My dental while pregnant and 1 year after her birth is FREE! All her prescriptions are FREE! (We got 1 ointment on the US and that costed us $129 and we didn't even use it cause it was too aggressive and the NHS doctors recommended not to give it to her and turns out the problem just went away on it's own) All her shots (they say jabs here) are FREE! All our check ups are FREE! 

Now we're pretty lucky cause we're not really sick people. (knock on wood) But that means that we don't really know what would happen if we got super sick. (We have been to the ER once and that was FREE)  However, I do have the worst teeth ever and I did need a new filling and the experience was definitely better than I've had in the US. ( Only took 30 minutes, only had to give me 1 needle, and no pain afterwards). I was a little wary though. The dentist is like 25 and eastern European so I couldn't really understand everything he was saying. But it all turned out awesome. 

So is free healthcare better than paying for healthcare?  I don't know but I can say that I have gotten better attention with Free Healthcare than I ever got with paying for it.  So I guess the grass is just a different shade of green... And we will be using that savings to travel to a far off land of amazingness. 

Canterbury Tales

What is a trip to the UK without an English lit stop in Canterbury. After all that's what our blog is named after.Did you have to read the Canterbury tales? I did. Famous for it's multiple themes and for being written in Middle English rather than Latin. A story of a bunch of peoples journey to Canterbury to a holy spot.

lighting points to the death spot

The story goes like this: Henry II needed a priest that would do what he said so he turned to his drinking circle of buddies. There he found Thomas Becket. Thomas agreed to be the archbishop of Canterbury.  He found holy inspiration in his new found position and so went against the King in his decisions. At some point the King said "will no one rid me of this priest"?  Well 4 knights over heard him and took him seriously. They headed to the Canterbury Cathedral and murdered the Archbishop right inside the church. Christians were stunned! The Archbishop was buried and that's when the miracles began! The Pope made Thomas a saint and pilgrims began to flock to the cathedral to gain a little miracle for themselves. The Canterbury Tales are about these pilgrims. All walks of life went on this journey just to pray at Thomas Becket's memorial.  Well then good old Henry VIII got rid of the body of Thomas Beckett so that pilgrims would stop coming to the Cathedral. But they still come! Even to this day!

Black Knight

Amazing and interesting! The Cathedral isn't that grand in my opinion. I would say the York Minster is way more impressive but the history and lore is enough to bring me in. Canterbury is now the head quarters of the Anglican Church. Inside the cathedral you can feel the importance of times gone.  The tomb of the Black knight is there. The original knight in shining amour. Yes, he was a real guy! And the place where Thomas Beckett took his last breath.

For our home-town Marylanders... there is a plaque to the 1st bishop of Maryland who came from Canterbury and his relatives became the mayor of Canterbury. Go Maryland!

I'd say on a trip to the UK, Canterbury deserves 1 day.  PS - we had the best Indian food there on the high street. And the Tourist information center is incredible helpful. Visit the Canterbury Tales story show. Totally worth it!

Olympic fever!

Watching the opening at the Ely Cathedral

Well the Olympics have come and gone. We never really cared about the Olympics until our home-town hero, Michael Phelps, made us Marylanders proud. But even still we had no plans in watching or participating in all the craziness in London. I mean... it's historic yeah... but so was the Queen's Jubilee and that was neat but we just didn't want to get all into it. Crowds and such are not our thing...

But being in England the Team GB spirit is infectious.  I found myself agreeing to take my 9 month old down on a crowded train and through the crowded tube and onto another crowded train just to go witness some kind of history. What can I say... I'm a sucker for history.

Luckily, when we went down to watch the cycling race the trains were crowd free. Kings Cross station had no crowds! And the only time I had to stand on the train was when everyone was leaving the cycling viewing area. We were able to walk right up to the road and stand anywhere we wanted. I thought for sure it was going to be a mad house but really it was as easy as it could be.

The Cycling was so exciting! And it was a really great experience for all of us. I only wish I had a USA flag for circumstances like this. I was actually wondering why we don't have a US flag?  Maybe I'll ask for one for Christmas. In any case, we represented well but Team GB ended up winning that race. But I still can't help but snicker a little when I think Team GB could mean Team Glen Burnie. =)

7 Day Irish Road Trip

Over the 4th of July Mike, Mike's Dad (Pat), Sophie and I all went on a 7 day road trip through Southwest Ireland.  We drove from our house in Ely, England across England and into Wales. From Fishguard, Wales we took a ferry across the Straight of St. George to Rossalear, Ireland. Once in Rossalear we drove through New Ross and stopped our first stop in Kinsale in the County Cork.

Kinsale is apparently the culinary capital of Ireland and the food was pretty tasty! The beer was better though. =) Kinsale was once a large port area but was silted in and since then has become a fishing town. Instead the city of Cobh became the main port town. In fact, Cobh was the last stop of the Titanic before sailing into the Atlantic. I really enjoyed Kinsale for the people. The Irish are amazing and funny. And many times we were told "you must know my cousin that lives in America".  Apparently, lots of American's say the opposite.

Any way, from County Cork we drove around the Ring of Kerry but didn't see much due to rain and fog and then we stayed in a cute little town of Kenmare. Usually the tourists hordes stay in Killarny but we decided to skip that craziness. In any case, Kenmare has a great old stone circle and I just love a good stone circle. From Kenmare we made the trip to Dingle. Oh, famous Dingle!  If your American your family probably came from this southwest area. I know mine came from County Cork so lots and lots of Americans. In fact, Pat said that he was "glad to come to Ireland and all the American's were really nice."

Dingle is amazing though. The Ring of Dingle takes you around to where the famine can still be seen. Since the population was so devastated they never re-plowed some of the fields and therefore you can see the lines of crop that failed all those years ago (1800's). Amazing! A crop that only failed for 2 to 3 years created so much damage. Mainly because a man would eat something crazy like 13lbs of potatoes a day in Ireland at that time. Hard to think that was all there was to eat.

Dingle Peninsula

From Dingle we drove across the country to Cashel for the ROCK! The Rock of Cashel looks like a big castle but in fact it was a church.  The place where St. Patrick baptised the King. It's said that during the baptism St. Patrick jammed his staff into the Kings foot and the King didn't say a word. At the end of the service St. Patrick saw his staff still in the Kings foot and asked "why didn't you say something?" the King replied "I thought that was part of the service." Apparently, he thought that was symbolic of all the suffering that Christians had been through. Oh the Irish!

On the way from Cashel we stopped in Kilkenney just to take a look at the Smithwick's brewery. Unfortunately  they don't allow sleeping babies on the beer tour so we skipped it and toured the castle instead.  Then we stopped in New Ross at the Dumbrody Famine ship but just a little more history on the plague and the hordes that left Ireland for the New World. The ship is a replica but it is really amazing to see how people would have made it across the Atlantic. Most would die on the trip but I'm still amazed at what Humans will do to give their children a better life. It's a testament that we will survive!

If you have a chance to go... then go to Southwest Ireland!

Time passes

Has it really been a month since my last post? Geesh... time flys...

What have we been up to... Well let's see...
1. Grandma Llewellyn and Aunt Mandy visited
2. Sophie's 1st international trip to the Netherlands for the Tulip festival
3. Grandpa Llewellyn and Me ma Cathy visited
4. Cousin Jim and Donna Spillman visited
5. Sophie's 2nd international trip to Belguim

6. Uncle Dave and Aunt Anjel visited


Wow! That's a lot!  And we aren't slowing down in the least...
Next up we have the:
1. Queen's Diamond Jubilee parties
2. Celebrating our 1 year anniversary of moving to England
3. Welcoming Mike's Uncle who is moving to England
4. 7 day road trip to Ireland with Pop pop Pat
5. A little Olympic Action
6. And possibly a trip to Rome

Sophie is now 7 months old and growing like a weed! She is crawling like a champ and already trying to walk. She is very busy exploring and mastering all that life has to offer a little baby. Brian the dog has found a new hobby of chasing cows. A great example of city dog gone country.  Mike is getting over a 3 week sickness. And starting to train for a 60 mile bike ride that is happening in 3 weeks. I'm getting back to my schedule. Teaching yoga 2 days a week and raising this baby.

Next week marks 1 year we have been in England. Wow! Time keeps on slipping... slipping... slipping.. into the future.

It's the simple things

Ely dog walk

Like how shopping carts are called trolleys and don't just move forward and back but can go any which way.  Or how you can always find a market. Or how the bushes are called hedge and they are always nicely manicured. 

It's been a month since my last post and things have been adding up. We haven't been sitting around. Although some weekends are great when we do that. I love snuggling as a family on Saturday or Sunday mornings. It's the best! But we have been on the move and preparing for journeys that will come.

Sophie and Brian in our backyard aka Garden

With Spring and our 1 year anniversary of moving to England fast approaching Mike and I started thinking of all the things that we will miss when we leave England. It's amazing how fast you become acquainted with a place and make it your home.  Now we take things for granted that we see as daily life.

Like how a vacuum cleaner is called a Hoover. No matter what brand it is.  Or how a Stroller is called a Pushchair, Pram or Buggy. Or how you can get tea no problem anywhere! Life is a little slower and everyone seems to enjoy themselves. Garden center's have more than just plant supplies and nothing like Home Depot! Picnics are a daily activity on a nice day, and let's not forget tax free shopping on the base.

Ely dog walk

It's been 10 months and a new job and a new baby since we left the US and just now am I realizing that it will be hard to leave all this behind in 3 to 5 years. (there I go thinking of the future again) I already think about the friends we have made here and miss them. Don't get me wrong I miss everyone from home too. And I can't wait to come back to the states to see our family and friends.  But it's so interesting when you leave your comfortable home to travel outside of your comfortable box.  Maybe you'll learn something interesting about a culture. Like when you order water sometimes it's assumed you want sparkling water.  Or if you want a pickle and cheese sandwich it's not always pickled cucumbers that are the pickles. And the cheese is almost always shredded. Or why almost everyone wears a red poppy pin.

So now we have broken in living abroad and at first it was hard. But given the opportunity to go any where else in the world, we will take it. After living in the same place for 29 years I almost regret not living and experiencing other cultures. Not that I'm any smarter for living in a different country but now I'm beginning to understand a different group of people and a different set of traditions that will ultimately shape our family.

I have a feeling that I will barely make a dent in my personal goal to see as much as I can before I die. But at least I can say that I tried and I wasn't afraid to take those first steps.  And with any luck, Sophie will learn that she doesn't have to be afraid either.