Around and About

I want to get back into the habit of blogging regularly, so there is no time like now. Life is moving at warp speed at the moment, so I will just move forward with a quick update of what we have been up to. We had a wonderful visit with Nancy/Grandma who was here for a week and for Rosh Hashana. Yom Kippur was spiritually uplifting at New London Synagogue, where we have joined. The Minyan Chadash is warm, welcoming and feels much like home. Sukkot arrived. This is the first time I have been homesick, as we don't have space to build a Sukkah here and it is my favorite holiday. Julia spent hours making paper chains and pictures to decorate our porch. Though this is not a "kosher" Sukkah, it provided me with tremendous joy and our little space has been transformed for the moment.

Karen and Dan arrived on Friday. We visited the Kenwood House and had lunch there. This is my favorite thing to do in London, so it was fun to share with them. Dan is very knowledgeable about art, and though this was my 5th visit to Kenwood, I learn something new every time I go, and from Dan I learned about a rare painting. We knocked a few more things off of our London To Do list: fish and chips at a very yummy place, the Imperial War Museum and high tea.

Today, I spent a wonderful day and some money (though not as much as I could have spent) at the Origin Craft Show in Spitalfield Market.
That's is all for now.

Courtauld Gallery

 

Spain

We spent 4 nights, 5 days in Barcelona last week. We had a great time. We all enjoyed the architecture, food, warm Mediterranean climate and nice people.

Back From Barcelona

I just want to see what it is like to blog from my new I touch. First of all, I can already tell you I have a problem with a device that will not allow me to type a lower case "I" if I want to!! There must be a way.

Anyway, more importantly, I loved Barcelona.

More when I figure out how to get pics on here.

Barcelona

I love Barcelona. I love everything about this city: incredible food, great weather, interesting and beautiful architecture and nice people. This is my kind of city. I have sorely neglected my blog the past few weeks. It is next to impossible to sit down and blog while the kids are not at school or camp. I can't wait to organize pictures and recap our travels, but that will have to wait.

Surprise Visitors!!!

The joys of technology: I woke up this morning to a  Facebook message from Dahlia saying that she, Natalie and Johnny would have an 11 hour layover in London. Thanks to my Vonage visual voicemail, I got a message when they arrived at Heathrow. We were out and about for the day at this point. Thanks to my Skype to Go number, I was able to call Dahlia on her U.S. cellphone and reach her at Heathrow and make arrangements for them to meet us at our flat. We ate quickly and the took a 4 hour, whirlwind tour of London. We started at Trafalgar Square, walked to Buckingham Palace, through the park to the Tube to Westminster, quick look at Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye and Westminster Abbey and then back north to Hampstead, via Belsize Park (Tube problems...) What a day!!