Marlow has been a great home away from home the past month.  We’ve actually settled into a bit of a routine here and have some favorite things to do with Stella.

It’s funny as one of the reasons I was looking forward to this trip was an escape from the routine.  But now I’ve found myself happy to just have a weekly and daily routine here in Marlow.  Maybe it’s a routine in a new place that makes it enjoyable.  Who knows.  I’m a restless soul I guess.  Always up for something new.

Onto our favorite things.  Ducks, Geese and Swans oh my…they are everywhere right on our doorstep on the Thames.  It’s been wonderful to wake up and look out the window onto the Thames and the beautiful bridge.  And ofcourse our regular trips to feed all the ducks, geese, swans, birds and just about anything else that is swarming on the docks.  Stella has gotten quite brave and goes pretty close and has even learned to throw the bread since we’ve been here.

Feeding the Duckies

Higginson Park.  We go there at least once a day, assuming it isn’t raining, and sometimes twice.  It’s right out the backdoor and it’s the best playground I’ve ever been on.  Very nice and all this great Swedish equipment.  Stella loves going to the park and we can’t walk by without her pointing and wanting to go.   They also have a merry-go-round on nice sunny days and weekends.  Stella loves it, mommy, not so much, I get a bit sick going in continuous circles…I know, I’m pathetic!

Merry-Go-Round in Higginson Park

Walks on the toe path have been really nice and especially this time around as the fall leaves are beautiful.

We have also found a local farm we can walk to that is open on Friday’s and Saturday’s so you can buy their local meat and eggs.  Stella has been able to explore all the farm animals she reads about and we even fed the pigs last weekend.  As a former vegetarian, I have to say I did find it a bit nauseating to see the creatures I was about to cook…but by the same token, as a cook and lover of all things natural, it was nice to see a working farm and know my meat and VERY fresh eggs didn’t travel far to my plate.

Feeding the piggies

My grandfather (my Mom’s Dad) had a great farm and I grew up eating wonderful produce, eggs and meats that were fresh and wholesome.  It’s nice to get some of the things you grew up with even when you are in another country.

And we can’t forget the library.  Weekly reading groups have really been nice and being able to get some new books out for Stella was great.  We even found a few English books that Stella really liked and picked up a few for her to have.  If you haven’t read the “Bing” series, I recommend it, but beware, your child will become addicted.

This is our last weekend here in England.  We are going to Cambridge on Saturday as I lived there for 5 months almost twelve years ago.  We are going to hit the pub I worked in, the Free Press, for lunch and then walk around the High Street and “Backs” of the colleges.  I’m really looking forward to going back there and hope that the owners of the pub are still there.

We are having dinner at our friend Vik’s house on Sunday.  He and his wife Monika are cooking us a nice Indian meal.  We met Vik when Justin and I were on our last adventure in S. E. Asia.

We are getting excited about heading back to N. America.  While we have had an enjoyable time in Europe we are looking forward to getting back to our American conveniences and being closer to friends and family and in a better time zone for work.

We have exciting plans for the next month and are really looking forward to the weeeks ahead.

Since we had Stella I truly understand what people said to me for years before I had children, “you’ll never know the love you can give until you have a child.”  It is clear to me now how much you can really love someone.  It’s a love you can’t even explain.  An unconditional love.

The past few days I’ve really thought about this a lot.  A recent story in the news here in England has been haunting me.  Terrorizing me actually.  I heard the story in the car on the way back from Liverpool.

A man had been charged and sentenced to life for snapping his 16 month old baby daughter’s spine.  Hearing the story on the radio was heart wrenching and painful just to listen to.  How could anyone have the strength and anger to snap a child’s spine?  And it was her own father? What parent could be so evil and uncaring to a poor helpless child?

Well on Saturday I actually read the paper and got the entire story.  This little girl had been mistreated and abused since the day she was born.  Malnutrition and severe dehydration (she weighed a little over 13 pounds when she died, a very low weight for that age, Stella weighed that much at a mere 6 months) was the likely reason that this evil man was able to break the little girl (Amy’s) spine.

Amy also had a broken arm, leg and ribs and bruised terrible.  Amy hadn’t been seen by a Dr. since February.  Her mother lived with her father who was also pregnant.  The mother only got a 1 year sentence.

I am now haunted with the thought of what her unborn baby sister or brother will go thru.

Mercifully, according to the doctors, Amy died instantly and suffered no additional pain.  Given that her mere 16 months of life were spent in pain I can only hope she’s in a safer and happier place.

I wanted to write about this as it has really impacted me.  I look at our sweet Stella and think I don’t know what I’d do without her and am so thankful to have her in my and her Daddy’s life.  We shower her with so much love each day.

So I dedicate this blog post to Amy.  I hope that in some way she knows that there is someone out there who cares about her and is sending her a little bit of love.

Hug your children.  Give them kisses (in our cases hundreds a day).  Play with your children.  Listen to your children.  Enjoy your children.  All they need is LOVE.

If you don’t have children, I’m sure there are some “little people” in your life in some way that you can probably make a difference in making sure they know they are loved.

Part of our trip was planned to visit family and friends that we haven’t seen in awhile and especially since we have moved to Vancouver.   While it means we are moving around a lot, it’s been nice to see a lot of friends and family.

This week has been spent visiting Justin’s family and hitting Manchester so Justin could see a Manchester United game (a missing item on his “resume of sports events” that can now be “ticked”).  While the week had its challenges with poor little Stella having a pretty bad cold, it was a nice trip.

Francesca and Stella

We started out at Eden and Janine’s house in Stratford Upon Avon.  Wellington, Justin’s Dad, had arrived there for a visit so we met him for dinner with Eden, Janine and Francesca (Justin’s cousin).  It was a nice visit and good to catch up.  We had not seen them since 2005 when we were over for a visit.

We then headed up to Manchester so Justin and his Dad could go the match.  We stayed in a really nice hotel, Yang Sing Oriental Hotel.  I highly recommend it if you are going to Manchester.  Free breakfast, mini-bar and very nice/ornate rooms.  There’s also a great Chinese restaurant attached where we had a nice dim sum.

Stella and I spent the evening shopping and then hanging out in our hotel room with room service and a movie.  It was very nice mommy/daughter time which was quite fun for me as she’s finally old enough to relate to  – well sort of – and “hang out” with.

I even picked up a pair of proper English riding boots!

Manchester is a great city, shopping, culture and a variety of ethnic cuisine.  And of course they have teh best footy team Man-United!

Helen and Stella

We then headed back to Liverpool to visit Justin’s Grandmother Alice and also see some close family friends (and Justin’s Mum’s long time childhood friend), Helen, Charles and their lovely three boys.

Charles and Samuel with Stella

It’s been nice to let Stella spend some time with family and experience the life and culture of her roots here in England.  We look forward to the next few months as well where we will be taking her to Pennsylvania, NYC and of course VA to visit and experience some of my roots and places where Justin and I both have many memories.

That is the one thing about travel.  Outside of experiencing new things (which we love to do), it’s also nice sometimes to go back to your roots and explore and remember who you are and where you came from.

Back to Marlow for 10 days and then off to St. Louis for work on November 5.

Some Baby Tips:

Make sure you travel equipped with a few relief medicines, balms, etc. for baby in case they get a cold and you find yourself unable to get to a market.  Stella unfortunately picked up a really bad cold last week at the little daycare/play time we took her to.  I had a few things that I knew helped relieve her cold with me and picked up a few other things here.  At her age there isn’t much you can do but Vicks balm and menthol vaporizers really help.  Unfortunately I was unable to find a cool mist vaporizer in England.  Apparently no one uses those here.

Another thing to think about if you are traveling in Europe.  Don’t run out of diapers on a Sunday (and in some places, any day for that matter).  We were rationing out our last diapers last Sunday as I didn’t realize I was out until 5 pm on Sunday and every shop was closed.  Thankfully we made it with the last 2 diapers until morning but we could have been in BIG trouble!

It’s been a nice week and half in Marlow. We’ve gotten caught up on work and life and have settled back into “the simple life” a bit. Stella even started a mini-childcare for 2 hours today at the local community center. I dropped her off and I could barely get her coat off before she was off and running and never looked back.

Stella and Mommy Having Some Fun

Clearly, Mommy must prepare for her little bird to take flight sooner than she had expected!

Train to London

Last weekend we went into London to visit with some friends, do some shopping and eat some yummy meals. We met up with Emma, Simon and Tiffin on Saturday at “Inn the Park” and had a nice long leisurely lunch in the park. Emma and Simon live in London and Tiffin was in town on his way home from work travel. They are friends from Vancouver and went to high school with Brandon (Justin’s brother).

Stella took some breaks and walked around the park carrying her new Louis Vuitton purse and was quite a hit. It’s her favorite thing to do, that is, walk around and carry her purse. And by the way, no, I’m not crazy, I did not buy her a real Louis Vuitton…she got a really nice fake while we were in Greece.

Lunch with Tiffin, Emma and Simon

Dinner at Aaya - yes, it was "HIP" and Stella loved it

Saturday Justin, Stella and I went to a very stylish and hip Japanese restaurant, “Aaya,” and all ate well. Stella even gobbled up her favorites: edamame, barbeque ribs and yam tempura. It was a great evening even with a small baby at a non-kid friendly restaurant. We had contemplated a babysitter but after finding out the prices (nearly $200 for 4 hours) we decided to risk it and take her with us. She was fantastic and it was an enjoyable meal. Don’t miss the lobster salad if you ever go! Yum.

After a very un-restful Saturday night…we were staying at the Le Meridian, Piccadilly, great location but incredibly loud and “wild” on the streets (and of course Justin had to stay up to watch the Penn State game and woke Stella and I up several times)…we were off for yet more great food at the very famous and old “Wolsley’s” for breakfast and then a bit of shopping at Selfridges and Zara (there was a line-up at noon to get in the door at Zara).

Tip: If you are in need of a stroller repair and are in a big city, hit some of the high end department stores. Selfridges had a bike shop and we think they “finally” fixed our tire issues on the Mountain Buggy.

We capped off the trip with an early dinner at a dim sum and tea house. We had some great dim sum and the place was just beautiful to look at.

Clearly the food was the draw for us to London and since we hadn’t had much Asian food in awhile we were all about getting our fill. (We eat Asian food at least 2-4 times per week in Vancouver so we were definitely missing it).

A few tips for traveling with a baby in a big city: As I’ve said before don’t over plan and wear very comfortable shoes. We failed on both regards. We had big plans to do a ton of stuff while we were in London but we only ended up doing about ¼ of the things we had planned. We both wore shoes that killed our feet and we even ended up buying Justin a new pair.

Plan for at least one nap in the hotel for your baby if they are still taking 2 a day. Stella only got 2 full naps the two days we were in London and both were in her stroller. It did not make for a very happy baby for much of the time we were gone but we still made the most of it.

Take cabs. While we tried to use the tube to be more environmental and save money (at the end of the day it was NOT much of a cost savings anyway) it was so much work with a stroller. There were few lifts/elevators and carrying bags and the stroller up stairs is not ideal, especially after being tired after walking and sightseeing, shopping, etc. all day. We finally just gave up and walked to most places and then cabbed back.

Be prepared for crowds. While we had just visited Munich and we live in Vancouver (both reasonably sized cities) I had forgot how crowded the streets are in London. I guess you also pay more attention to it as well when you are navigating with a stroller. Have patience and breathe…

We have a lot going on with our business right now but hope that the end of the week will bring some success and relief from a bit of stress.

The weather in England has actually been very nice and we’ve been enjoying walks along the Thames and exploring a bit. Stella still loves her daily trip to the park.

Outside the City Walls of Dubrovnik

Of everywhere we visited so far I’d say Durbrovnik was my favorite.  I highly recommend it to anyone who dreams of a Mediterranean get-a-way right out of Conde Nast.  Thanks to Craig we had a gorgeous villa with amazing views.  (Minus the 300+ steps from top to bottom—but we all have strong calves now).

Our Villa - A View From the Sea

There were kiwis, fresh herbs, lemons and limes growing right on the property and a lovely garden with roses and all sorts of trees and flowers.  This was amazing given that the villa was literally built into a cliff.  A lot of history in this house as well, it was used as a look out point during the war.  For more information check out this article that was featured in the Washington Post in 2002 where the writer stayed in our villa.  And yes, they left us homemade apple streudel as well.

The View From the Garden

Old town Dubrovnik is a beautiful walled city with red tiled roofs.  We did the walk around the entire wall and had some great views.  There’s also a monastery, one of the oldest operating pharmacies in Europe and many galleries.  I read that the City of Dubrovnik spends 22% of their budget on cultural projects – that’s a lot given the country is still recovering from war torn status.

View of Old Town Dubrovnik from Tower Lookout Window

There’s a lot of debate amongst the locals regarding how and if they want to become a big tourist destination.  Dubrovnik is already being called the Riviera of the Adriatic and there are 4-5 cruise ships docked their on any given day.  The locals didn’t seem to keen to have any of us tourists there either.  The friendliness of Greece was virtually non-existent here.

We also hit Korcula, an island about 100 KM from Dubrovnik.  We were lucky to have a very traditional and yummy meal at our friend Randy Farac’s family’s restaurant, “Mate” in Putnap on the island.

Lunch at Mate

Most of the trip was spent relaxing on our porch overlooking the Adriatic and cooking fantastic meals in.    While we had a pool and steps right into the sea it was too cold for swimming.  Justin and Craig did hit the sea twice just to say they had been swimming but Sanaz and I weren’t going to brave the cold.

The only complaint anyone had was that since the Dubrovnik area and Croatia for that matter isn’t very toursity, outside of the Old Town of Dubrovnik we were hardpressed to find many shops or restaurants in the little villages we went exploring in.  We did find a great roadside stand selling fresh oysters and mussels.  We got 2 kilos of mussels for 16 kuna…that’s about $3.50 US!

There is a lot to see in Croatia and it’s on my list for a repeat visit.  I think the best way to do it would be to do a sailing trip so that you can hit all the islands and coastal villages.  Maybe in a few years when Stella won’t be falling overboard!

We are back in Marlow now and back on line and contactable via phone easily.  So back to a normal life again.  We are here for a month so we hope to get caught up on work and with friends and family.

As for the simple baby travel…we have to say that we are ready to not get on a plane or go anywhere for awhile.  With Stella walking she doesn’t want to sit still for long.  So perhaps the simpleness of baby travel may be coming to a close but stay tuned!

A tip on staying in a villa with children.  Check out how many stairs there are and if the place is child friendly.  We knew going in that our villa was not recommended for small children.  We figured that since she was just learning to walk it would be OK.  Carrying her up and down the stairs wasn’t so bad and she actually climbed a few herself.  However, the challenges of baby proofing were quite high this go around and she actually fell from the picnic table while Justin and I were sitting and standing right beside her.  But children will be children and they are going to fall!  Our villa did provide a pack and play and high chair again which was great.

We continue to be happy to have had these experiences traveling as a family and look forward to our future plans.