Dave and Beck stayed at our place for 2 nights, their last nights here before the big move to Denver. F was very excited that Beck finally was sleeping under our roof. The two played like crazy. On Monday, when F was still at school, A had her first real play time with Beck. She also got used to Dave, a little late though. Of course, we gave fish bread. Kids love that! Tuesday, we all left for school, and that was the time we said goodbye. We will surely miss them, but hopefully we became good enough friends that we will keep in touch forever.
Poor Dave flew on Tuesday for Denver, to a house that he never saw before, to a floor bed and paper plates and plastic glasses.
F says she is getting married to Beck and before they left, I got flowers from Beck. See, he is already trying to win his mother-in-law's heart!
We hope to go to Denver soon, and inspect the new guest rooms!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
U2 was at Soldier Field - and where was I?
Somethings are meant to be. I was sure I was going to miss the U2 concert. I was sure about it. I first thought, if I go to see U2, it has to be on the field. Then, I need to be there early, and P would never do that. Then, I was sure P would be travelling. So, I hadn't even look for tickets.
P was indeed gone for a week and a half. Wednesday before the first concert, I saw a friend at the parking lot. She told me she was going to U2. She said they had tickets through their friends. She said her friend might have an extra ticket. I found it tempting, but we wouldn't be able to sit together. Would I go to the concert alone? Would I dare to do it for U2????.... I didn't think so.
After dropping off the kids, I went to the dentist. I was just sitting at the chair, a U2 song began on the radio. "Are you going to the concert?", I asked my dentist. "I didn't know they were coming to town" he said. While he was digging some holes in my teeth, his next patient came to sit on the chair at the other side of the wall that separates the clients. My dentist asked him if he was going to U2. He said something about having 2 tickets for sale, for the Saturday concert (sept 12). That's the only information I got from their conversation. "Could I get those tickets?", I was asking myself. This was just too much! The dentist asked for me how much the tickets were. 200$ a piece, but they were supposed to be special tickets. Wow, kind a expensive. No no no, I wasn't going to do it. How could I spend 200$ + babysitter + parking for my pleasure? No way!
I went to school to pick up the kids, still a bit confused. I parked my car next to Tricia. I said: "Can you believe it. I could get tickets for U2 and P is not here, so I am not going!" "I'll go with you", she said. Sure...or was she serious? Picked up A and F, went to the park with Fauzia and her kids. After a while, I had to call Tricia. "R U serious?", I asked. Well, she was.
At home, I called the dentist, who went to get Phillip from his work across the square. Phillip was the guy with the tickets. I thought... It appears that his colleague Brooke had the tickets. Brooke had the tickets on sale on Craig's list. He was going to let me know the next day if they were sold or not. And don't I hate to wait!!!!
Now were waiting....
Waiting....
Oh, are the tickets 200$ a price or 200$ for both.
Call Phillip, get his answering machine and leave a horrible message - A kept on talking through, and I had to walk the whole house to get away from her -.
Wait...wait...wait
Next morning, I waited for a while and around 9.30, I called Phillip again, didn't get a hold of him. My last resort was to drive to shopping center and try to see the guy. I stepped out of the car and he was just stepping out of his. Just meant to be! I introduced myself and asked him about the tickets. He sent me to Starbucks, Brooke was there. She told me that there were negotiating about the tickets with someone else. "Before 1.00 p.m. I will call you and let you know", she said.
After picking up the girls and saying a "I still don't know" to Tricia, I took the girls to "Little" Lauren's b-day. The kids started to jump up and down - we were at Pump It Up, I was talking to other mothers, all with the telephone clenched in my hand.
Before 1.00 p.m., somehow I realized I missed a call I never got. Brooke was on the answering machine. "I still have the tickets, you can have them for 150$ or 100$" a piece". I called her and somehow, she sold the tickets for 60$ a piece. Tickets for the field on U2 concert! Oh my gosh! I am going to U2! The next stop from the b-day party -which was very fun by the way - was Target to buy the new U2 CD.
Saturday, I made the girls crazy. I was listening to the new U2 the whole day, just too excited. At a certain moment, F said, "mama, can you stop singing that!" My poor girls.
OK, this is taking too long, let me get to the concert. Tricia arranged a parking place, right at the stadium. We were there right after 6 p.m. We entered the Soldier Field and it was WOW! It was real something. Did I feel like, small; and the whole place was so big. We did one mistake with Tricia, we went to buy something to eat. We could have been much closer to the stage. But whatever. The opening act was The Snow Patrol, it was good. Then, after making us wait for 50 minutes, U2 came on the stage. There is no way I tell about the concert, there are no words for it. The stage was very impressive. Bono and Edge got quite close to our view. 360 it is. Adrenaline rush, singing, dancing, jumping... I couldn't sleep till 3 a.m., just too much for one day. The songs are still going in my head, almost a week later.
P was indeed gone for a week and a half. Wednesday before the first concert, I saw a friend at the parking lot. She told me she was going to U2. She said they had tickets through their friends. She said her friend might have an extra ticket. I found it tempting, but we wouldn't be able to sit together. Would I go to the concert alone? Would I dare to do it for U2????.... I didn't think so.
After dropping off the kids, I went to the dentist. I was just sitting at the chair, a U2 song began on the radio. "Are you going to the concert?", I asked my dentist. "I didn't know they were coming to town" he said. While he was digging some holes in my teeth, his next patient came to sit on the chair at the other side of the wall that separates the clients. My dentist asked him if he was going to U2. He said something about having 2 tickets for sale, for the Saturday concert (sept 12). That's the only information I got from their conversation. "Could I get those tickets?", I was asking myself. This was just too much! The dentist asked for me how much the tickets were. 200$ a piece, but they were supposed to be special tickets. Wow, kind a expensive. No no no, I wasn't going to do it. How could I spend 200$ + babysitter + parking for my pleasure? No way!
I went to school to pick up the kids, still a bit confused. I parked my car next to Tricia. I said: "Can you believe it. I could get tickets for U2 and P is not here, so I am not going!" "I'll go with you", she said. Sure...or was she serious? Picked up A and F, went to the park with Fauzia and her kids. After a while, I had to call Tricia. "R U serious?", I asked. Well, she was.
At home, I called the dentist, who went to get Phillip from his work across the square. Phillip was the guy with the tickets. I thought... It appears that his colleague Brooke had the tickets. Brooke had the tickets on sale on Craig's list. He was going to let me know the next day if they were sold or not. And don't I hate to wait!!!!
Now were waiting....
Waiting....
Oh, are the tickets 200$ a price or 200$ for both.
Call Phillip, get his answering machine and leave a horrible message - A kept on talking through, and I had to walk the whole house to get away from her -.
Wait...wait...wait
Next morning, I waited for a while and around 9.30, I called Phillip again, didn't get a hold of him. My last resort was to drive to shopping center and try to see the guy. I stepped out of the car and he was just stepping out of his. Just meant to be! I introduced myself and asked him about the tickets. He sent me to Starbucks, Brooke was there. She told me that there were negotiating about the tickets with someone else. "Before 1.00 p.m. I will call you and let you know", she said.
After picking up the girls and saying a "I still don't know" to Tricia, I took the girls to "Little" Lauren's b-day. The kids started to jump up and down - we were at Pump It Up, I was talking to other mothers, all with the telephone clenched in my hand.
Before 1.00 p.m., somehow I realized I missed a call I never got. Brooke was on the answering machine. "I still have the tickets, you can have them for 150$ or 100$" a piece". I called her and somehow, she sold the tickets for 60$ a piece. Tickets for the field on U2 concert! Oh my gosh! I am going to U2! The next stop from the b-day party -which was very fun by the way - was Target to buy the new U2 CD.
Saturday, I made the girls crazy. I was listening to the new U2 the whole day, just too excited. At a certain moment, F said, "mama, can you stop singing that!" My poor girls.
OK, this is taking too long, let me get to the concert. Tricia arranged a parking place, right at the stadium. We were there right after 6 p.m. We entered the Soldier Field and it was WOW! It was real something. Did I feel like, small; and the whole place was so big. We did one mistake with Tricia, we went to buy something to eat. We could have been much closer to the stage. But whatever. The opening act was The Snow Patrol, it was good. Then, after making us wait for 50 minutes, U2 came on the stage. There is no way I tell about the concert, there are no words for it. The stage was very impressive. Bono and Edge got quite close to our view. 360 it is. Adrenaline rush, singing, dancing, jumping... I couldn't sleep till 3 a.m., just too much for one day. The songs are still going in my head, almost a week later.
***
...and why did Brooke wanted to sell her tickets. Yeah, she got from her husband, for their anniversary, Red Zone Tickets. She had Red Zone Tickets. I talked to her today at Starbucks. She said she was happy to give the tickets to a real U2 fan, to somebody who was excited to see them. We talked about the concert and got all goes bumps talking about it. I felt like a teenager. Wow, that was a long time ago. Love U2!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Sept 15th
Wedding day and P is away. We tend to forget about it. We just don't seem to have any problem with it. Works for us!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Dancing A
A had her first ballet lesson today. What an excitement! We got her ballet shoes from the real dance shop. She showed them to her sister with proud. After she got dressed, we went to the rec center. Dave and Beck were by us, so F stayed home with them.
A went to the class head up high. She walked in as the first child. Then her classmates came in. I think there are seven kids in the class. Then started the dancing. She was really doing her best, so focused... Little feet going back and forth, little hands flapping like bird's wings... I think she felt really older, a big girl like her sister. Last year she was too young to join, this year she was standing herself in the dance studio.
She came out proud and happy. She was dying to tell it all to F. She wants to go tomorrow again. She doesn't accept that she has to wait another week before the next lesson. She surely has interest in dancing, we still have to see if she has some talent!
A went to the class head up high. She walked in as the first child. Then her classmates came in. I think there are seven kids in the class. Then started the dancing. She was really doing her best, so focused... Little feet going back and forth, little hands flapping like bird's wings... I think she felt really older, a big girl like her sister. Last year she was too young to join, this year she was standing herself in the dance studio.
She came out proud and happy. She was dying to tell it all to F. She wants to go tomorrow again. She doesn't accept that she has to wait another week before the next lesson. She surely has interest in dancing, we still have to see if she has some talent!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Ayse was here!
Last Saturday, Ayse arrived for a short visit. Always nice to see old friends who, even if we don't meet often, feels so familiar. It was a busy day, P had tickets for the football game downtown and he was going there with Dave. Tena came with Beck - a little late, they were selling old cars and buying a new one -. F has been asking for Beck for days. They can play so nice. Anyway, we had a nice dinner, 5 girls and 1 boy. (at that age, I guess Beck didn't mind!)
Sunday was P's day with the kids and we went to downtown Chicago. It was a nice day to walk and to shop. We saw the old Union Station, Grand Park, took a walk at the shoreline, went to the pier and got on the Ferris wheel. Nice view of the downtown by the way. Then we took the water taxi to the Magnificent Mile. Uups, then we saw the shops and that is always distracting... OK, also fun! We had to go back by train and P had to stop by his work that evening, so we had to leave not too late. We didn't have the chance to have some nice Chicagoan dinner. We did have a Cosmo at a restaurant and after the bread and the olives (Ayse was craving for olives!) I was quite full anyway.
Today (Monday), the weather was gorgeous. Ayse did some "beads" with the kids. She is really way more creative than I am. They made a zebra and a elephant with the beads! The kids, especially F loved it. (I'm afraid she will expect the same from me. It will be quite a disappointment to realize that mommy has no talent for beads.) We walked down at the beach, we drove around and had a drink in Libertyville. Unfortunately, after a day with their father, late night and a way too early morning, the kids were grumpy. They kept on fighting and complaining. I think Ayse was quite happy to leave in the afternoon for Denver, where she has a meeting. She took her cute little jet lag with her to feed it some sleep in the plane. I hope she won't sleep too much for her own sake. Getting sleepy at a meeting is a nightmare.
Thanks for coming Ayse, and don't forget the pictures!
Sunday was P's day with the kids and we went to downtown Chicago. It was a nice day to walk and to shop. We saw the old Union Station, Grand Park, took a walk at the shoreline, went to the pier and got on the Ferris wheel. Nice view of the downtown by the way. Then we took the water taxi to the Magnificent Mile. Uups, then we saw the shops and that is always distracting... OK, also fun! We had to go back by train and P had to stop by his work that evening, so we had to leave not too late. We didn't have the chance to have some nice Chicagoan dinner. We did have a Cosmo at a restaurant and after the bread and the olives (Ayse was craving for olives!) I was quite full anyway.
Today (Monday), the weather was gorgeous. Ayse did some "beads" with the kids. She is really way more creative than I am. They made a zebra and a elephant with the beads! The kids, especially F loved it. (I'm afraid she will expect the same from me. It will be quite a disappointment to realize that mommy has no talent for beads.) We walked down at the beach, we drove around and had a drink in Libertyville. Unfortunately, after a day with their father, late night and a way too early morning, the kids were grumpy. They kept on fighting and complaining. I think Ayse was quite happy to leave in the afternoon for Denver, where she has a meeting. She took her cute little jet lag with her to feed it some sleep in the plane. I hope she won't sleep too much for her own sake. Getting sleepy at a meeting is a nightmare.
Thanks for coming Ayse, and don't forget the pictures!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Second Honeymoon in Italy!!
22/6 - 28/6
Now, this is something! P was going to Italy for his work and since we had the excellent sitters at home, I went to. We had a second honeymoon, really. (we did fly separately and I was very happy with that!) I flew 1st class, thanks to P's miles. My trip started with champagne! I was on AA to Philly and to Venice. In the seat next to me were the pilots resting in turns. That gave me such a confidence. I don't like to fly, but I thought if the pilot was not alarmed at some turbulence, it should be OK.
I was supposed to arrive earlier than P and wait for him, but my flight had some delay and we ended up almost at the same time in Venice.
First we were at Vicenza, a small town where P was attending a conference. We had a beautiful hotel, Hotel Michelangelo, just outside the city, on a hilltop. Beautiful views. The man who was the chairman/host of the conference recommended the hotel to P. Later I heard that the man actually got married in that hotel. The prices were very reasonable, too.
For 3 days, I walked and walked in Vicenza. For the first time I felt homesick to Europe. The narrow, winding streets were nothing like the blocs of America. The first day(Monday), we went to the conference with P. There was an opening concert, I met his Italian colleagues etc. His colleagues invited us for dinner. Marco was driving us and we were a bit early. There was an old building up on a hill and P asked what it was. Marco didn't know, but since we were too early, he decided to leave the main route and bring us first to that building. All the old building in Italy look like monument anyway, but this was some monument for the world wars. We got back in the car and Marco went to ask where the restaurant was. Well, we were actually parked right across it. What are the chances! We had a very nice dinner and the company was good. It was time to time a bit difficult to communicate, but that made the dinner just more informal. Doctors, P's colleagues and me. Especially P's colleagues are very nice people, it was nice to meet them.
The next day, I visited some churches and the Olympic Theatre. Palladio's design and, I can't remember who finally built it etc, but I'm sure all the info is on Internet. It is the oldest surviving enclosed theatre in the world. Very impressive, beautiful. Later that day, I could show P what was nice to see, where the nice squares were.
Wednesday, I went to downtown again and we decided to meet with P at the villa La Rotunda, a famous villa build by Palladio. I went by bus, nice adventure. I was there on time, bought the tickets and I started waiting for P. He called and said he arrived. I went to the door...no one. I thought maybe there was a second entrance...no. We kept on calling with P, but somehow, I couldn't find him. Then I realized, I was at the wrong villa. There were 2 villa's, with similar names, just 5 minutes from each other. Finally I was there. It is quite strange to be in a house where people actually live in. Every Wednesday, they apparently clean up and remove almost all 'normal day stuff' and leave or go upstairs. Well, you can only see the 1st floor. (reminded us to Annemieke, cleaning up the house every weekend for endless showings.) P was a bit disappointed, I was too, I guess. It is very beautiful, but I also wanted to see more, to feel how it is to live in some kind of a museum. You only get to see the museum part of it.
Thursday, I shopped! Then we went to Verona to see an opera at the Arena Di Verona. How special can it be! We rented a car in Verona, because it was the only way to go back to Vicenza. We bought the tickets and had a dinner on the square facing the Arena. The birds started flying like crazy and dark clouds filled the air. When it was time for the Opera (Aida, by the way), it was raining. They announce to the to the square what they are planning. They said they believe the rain will stop, then they will start. It didn't really look like that rain would stop, but OK, we had to wait. The thing is, if it rains, they cannot play. The instruments get damaged, they say. If they cannot start at all, they have to refund all the tickets. But....if they can start, and then they have to stop - because it rains again - they don't have to refund. Nice trick. So, the rain stopped after a long wait, we all went in, the Opera started. We saw 20 minutes of it. It started raining again. The artists left...We waited.... The orchestra came back for 2 more minutes, when it wasn't raining for just a short time. Then. of course, it started raining again... Around midnight, they called the thing off. Very VERY disappointing. Before the show started, we were sitting in a cafe and we were talking to a couple from England. They had bought their tickets months ago. I am sure they were even more disappointed. So, that's how it is. The arena looked nice and wet! That was the day that Michael Jackson died.
The next morning was actually the beginning of our real vacation. We drove in our rented car to VENICE. Everybody says Venice is beautiful. Believe them. It is everything people say and more. We came there tired, still had to find a hotel, return the car and had no idea how to get to places in a city where you cannot drive. It all worked out OK. We found a hotel, brought the car to the office by the station by Mette, took the train to Venice, chit chat with an Australian family (two teachers who did an exchange with an American teachers family. They swapped houses for 1 or 2 years. Since the Aussies were just around the corner from Europe, they decided to travel for 2 months with their 3 young daughters), arrived to Venice, bought tickets for the water bus (whatever it is called) and arrived to our hotel just 5 minutes to Piazza San Marco. Our view from the hotel room was a canal with Gondolas. We walked that day for hours and I couldn't feel or accept my tiredness. By chance, we saw a fish restaurant and we decided to come back there to eat dinner. (we had to reserve.) That was destiny. OK, that was very melodramatic, but the dinner was so heavenly! The restaurant is called the Trattoria Corte Sconta. The entourage in the garden was beautiful. Then the owner of the restaurant, a middle aged lady came to tell us what they had. (they don't have a paper menu). She insisted tat we had the starters plate. 'That's how we do it here' she said. That starters plate was so amazing. They brought like 5-6 different dishes, one after the other and everything tasted like nothing I ate before. After a small main course (we were almost full after the starters) I had a tiramisu. I tried tiramisu many times and I just couldn't figure out why people are so crazy about it. Now I know. I never had tiramisu till that day. With the energy that we got from all that food, we walked couple more hours before we got back to our hotel and collaps!
Saturday started with rain. It rained liked crazy. The whole night, I kept on waking up to the thunders. We left the hotel to get a Venice book and decided to take a boat to anywhere. We ended up by the Galleria dell’Accademia, the art museum of Venice. Very nice to see. Even P liked it. When we were outside, the rain was gone and the sun was shining. We went to Murano to see the glass work. Unfortunately, in the weekends, the ateliers are not open. You cannot see how they make the glass. Still, it was nice to be there. We did some shopping and went back to our side of Venice for dinner. Again, a nice dinner, this time by the water. Again, tiramisu. Not as good as the night before, but still better than any tiramisu I had till Venice. We had a short nigt ahead, we were going to leave the next morning at 4.30a.m. And we left! I could spend couple more days there, just walk on the streets and get lost in alleys. Unfortunately, it was time to go back.
We had different planes again. I was going from Venice to Vienna, to Warsaw to Chicago. I had 8.5 hours delay in Warsaw. Did I say before that I was flying 1st class? So I spent those hours mainly in the lounge. I really cannot complain. It was tiring though.
P was at home much earlier and he took a cab to go home. He was going to pick me up with the kids but of course, because of my delay, it was not possible. The kids had prepared little flags for welcoming. I think they were quite disappointed that I came so late. I saw them when they were already asleep. They came one by one to our bed in the night. Then I don't want to be anywhere else than home.
Now, this is something! P was going to Italy for his work and since we had the excellent sitters at home, I went to. We had a second honeymoon, really. (we did fly separately and I was very happy with that!) I flew 1st class, thanks to P's miles. My trip started with champagne! I was on AA to Philly and to Venice. In the seat next to me were the pilots resting in turns. That gave me such a confidence. I don't like to fly, but I thought if the pilot was not alarmed at some turbulence, it should be OK.
I was supposed to arrive earlier than P and wait for him, but my flight had some delay and we ended up almost at the same time in Venice.
First we were at Vicenza, a small town where P was attending a conference. We had a beautiful hotel, Hotel Michelangelo, just outside the city, on a hilltop. Beautiful views. The man who was the chairman/host of the conference recommended the hotel to P. Later I heard that the man actually got married in that hotel. The prices were very reasonable, too.
For 3 days, I walked and walked in Vicenza. For the first time I felt homesick to Europe. The narrow, winding streets were nothing like the blocs of America. The first day(Monday), we went to the conference with P. There was an opening concert, I met his Italian colleagues etc. His colleagues invited us for dinner. Marco was driving us and we were a bit early. There was an old building up on a hill and P asked what it was. Marco didn't know, but since we were too early, he decided to leave the main route and bring us first to that building. All the old building in Italy look like monument anyway, but this was some monument for the world wars. We got back in the car and Marco went to ask where the restaurant was. Well, we were actually parked right across it. What are the chances! We had a very nice dinner and the company was good. It was time to time a bit difficult to communicate, but that made the dinner just more informal. Doctors, P's colleagues and me. Especially P's colleagues are very nice people, it was nice to meet them.
The next day, I visited some churches and the Olympic Theatre. Palladio's design and, I can't remember who finally built it etc, but I'm sure all the info is on Internet. It is the oldest surviving enclosed theatre in the world. Very impressive, beautiful. Later that day, I could show P what was nice to see, where the nice squares were.
Wednesday, I went to downtown again and we decided to meet with P at the villa La Rotunda, a famous villa build by Palladio. I went by bus, nice adventure. I was there on time, bought the tickets and I started waiting for P. He called and said he arrived. I went to the door...no one. I thought maybe there was a second entrance...no. We kept on calling with P, but somehow, I couldn't find him. Then I realized, I was at the wrong villa. There were 2 villa's, with similar names, just 5 minutes from each other. Finally I was there. It is quite strange to be in a house where people actually live in. Every Wednesday, they apparently clean up and remove almost all 'normal day stuff' and leave or go upstairs. Well, you can only see the 1st floor. (reminded us to Annemieke, cleaning up the house every weekend for endless showings.) P was a bit disappointed, I was too, I guess. It is very beautiful, but I also wanted to see more, to feel how it is to live in some kind of a museum. You only get to see the museum part of it.
Thursday, I shopped! Then we went to Verona to see an opera at the Arena Di Verona. How special can it be! We rented a car in Verona, because it was the only way to go back to Vicenza. We bought the tickets and had a dinner on the square facing the Arena. The birds started flying like crazy and dark clouds filled the air. When it was time for the Opera (Aida, by the way), it was raining. They announce to the to the square what they are planning. They said they believe the rain will stop, then they will start. It didn't really look like that rain would stop, but OK, we had to wait. The thing is, if it rains, they cannot play. The instruments get damaged, they say. If they cannot start at all, they have to refund all the tickets. But....if they can start, and then they have to stop - because it rains again - they don't have to refund. Nice trick. So, the rain stopped after a long wait, we all went in, the Opera started. We saw 20 minutes of it. It started raining again. The artists left...We waited.... The orchestra came back for 2 more minutes, when it wasn't raining for just a short time. Then. of course, it started raining again... Around midnight, they called the thing off. Very VERY disappointing. Before the show started, we were sitting in a cafe and we were talking to a couple from England. They had bought their tickets months ago. I am sure they were even more disappointed. So, that's how it is. The arena looked nice and wet! That was the day that Michael Jackson died.
The next morning was actually the beginning of our real vacation. We drove in our rented car to VENICE. Everybody says Venice is beautiful. Believe them. It is everything people say and more. We came there tired, still had to find a hotel, return the car and had no idea how to get to places in a city where you cannot drive. It all worked out OK. We found a hotel, brought the car to the office by the station by Mette, took the train to Venice, chit chat with an Australian family (two teachers who did an exchange with an American teachers family. They swapped houses for 1 or 2 years. Since the Aussies were just around the corner from Europe, they decided to travel for 2 months with their 3 young daughters), arrived to Venice, bought tickets for the water bus (whatever it is called) and arrived to our hotel just 5 minutes to Piazza San Marco. Our view from the hotel room was a canal with Gondolas. We walked that day for hours and I couldn't feel or accept my tiredness. By chance, we saw a fish restaurant and we decided to come back there to eat dinner. (we had to reserve.) That was destiny. OK, that was very melodramatic, but the dinner was so heavenly! The restaurant is called the Trattoria Corte Sconta. The entourage in the garden was beautiful. Then the owner of the restaurant, a middle aged lady came to tell us what they had. (they don't have a paper menu). She insisted tat we had the starters plate. 'That's how we do it here' she said. That starters plate was so amazing. They brought like 5-6 different dishes, one after the other and everything tasted like nothing I ate before. After a small main course (we were almost full after the starters) I had a tiramisu. I tried tiramisu many times and I just couldn't figure out why people are so crazy about it. Now I know. I never had tiramisu till that day. With the energy that we got from all that food, we walked couple more hours before we got back to our hotel and collaps!
Saturday started with rain. It rained liked crazy. The whole night, I kept on waking up to the thunders. We left the hotel to get a Venice book and decided to take a boat to anywhere. We ended up by the Galleria dell’Accademia, the art museum of Venice. Very nice to see. Even P liked it. When we were outside, the rain was gone and the sun was shining. We went to Murano to see the glass work. Unfortunately, in the weekends, the ateliers are not open. You cannot see how they make the glass. Still, it was nice to be there. We did some shopping and went back to our side of Venice for dinner. Again, a nice dinner, this time by the water. Again, tiramisu. Not as good as the night before, but still better than any tiramisu I had till Venice. We had a short nigt ahead, we were going to leave the next morning at 4.30a.m. And we left! I could spend couple more days there, just walk on the streets and get lost in alleys. Unfortunately, it was time to go back.
We had different planes again. I was going from Venice to Vienna, to Warsaw to Chicago. I had 8.5 hours delay in Warsaw. Did I say before that I was flying 1st class? So I spent those hours mainly in the lounge. I really cannot complain. It was tiring though.
P was at home much earlier and he took a cab to go home. He was going to pick me up with the kids but of course, because of my delay, it was not possible. The kids had prepared little flags for welcoming. I think they were quite disappointed that I came so late. I saw them when they were already asleep. They came one by one to our bed in the night. Then I don't want to be anywhere else than home.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
A's MRI
A has been complaining about her eyes so many times, and since the eye doctor didn't find a thing, the pediatrician decided to send her for an MRI. Just after Italy trip, on June 30st, I took her to the Lake Forest hospital. Nice that P's parents were still visiting, I could leave F to them. Our experience with the hospital has not been very positive, so I was quite nervous about it. She had her appointment at 10.30, the MRI to begin at 11.00 am. She wasn't supposed to eat or drink for 6 hours before the MRI. I just couldn't understand why they would make an appointment with such a young child so late in the morning. If she get thirsty or hungry, how could I explain her that she wasn't allowed? On the other hand, in the Netherlands, we would wait 2 months for the MRI, no actually we would never have an MRI, so I shouldn't complain. Plus A did OK with not eating/drinking.
At the hospital, they did an infuse in A's hand. She didn't say a thing. She just turned her head and looked surprised. While they were giving her the medication, we were reading. She reached for some picture on the page. went back and forth, and fell asleep. I should have warned them. Our little A, probably feeling she was taken from me, started waking up and screaming the moment they entered the MRI room. A little more drugs, and no crying anymore.
She woke up well and the results say that she has nothing wrong with her brain. Wow, that was one scary thing, that went by, and went OK.
At the hospital, they did an infuse in A's hand. She didn't say a thing. She just turned her head and looked surprised. While they were giving her the medication, we were reading. She reached for some picture on the page. went back and forth, and fell asleep. I should have warned them. Our little A, probably feeling she was taken from me, started waking up and screaming the moment they entered the MRI room. A little more drugs, and no crying anymore.
She woke up well and the results say that she has nothing wrong with her brain. Wow, that was one scary thing, that went by, and went OK.
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