Sabbatical Blog: 9/15 London, UK - Washington, DC

9/15 Flying to Washington D.C.
Today we began our day with packing up for the flight home. This time we have a daytime flight. We flew out of London Gatwick this time. Our day began with a rush to get packed since I didn’t wake Traci up at 7AM like I should have. We got out act together (maybe the adrenaline helped), and made got a Taxi to Victoria Station. This was the first London Cabbie that actually talked to us. He even got out to help us with our luggage when we got to the Train station. This is what we were used to from our past experiences, but the whole time in London, we rarely had a cabbie who talked to us much more than, “where to?”

We lucked out, as soon as we got to the Train platform, there was a Gatwick Express Train, nearly ready to depart. We loaded up and within 30 minutes we were at the Airport. We made it to the Continental counter in time for them to close our flight behind us. Much better than last time we flew out of London. I originally budgeted for 2 hours in advance, and Traci thought we only needed 1.5 hours… I think the truth is you need 2.5 hours if you account for all the security checks and queues. None-the-less we made it…

… Well, all except for one of our bags. The Baby backpack, at Gatwick, they don’t put the backpacks on the conveyor, even though we had it bagged in plastic. Who knows where our backpack ended up, but it wasn’t on the Baggage Claim conveyor for Customs clearance. We were told to notify the Baggage claim agent in Washington D.C. when we get there.

Because of the delay in waiting for our missing luggage we missed our connecting flight to D.C. So they put us on the next flight at 5PM. It’s only a 45 minute flight from Newark to Washington D.C. Pretty quick, but not long enough for me to finish the Sudoku puzzle in the flight magazine.

When we got in, we headed over to Hertz to claim our rental car that will take us all the way down to Florida. They initially had us in a Mazda 6. This would’ve been okay, but we couldn’t fit our luggage in the trunk, so they got us a Suburu Outback wagon. It is a little smaller than the Ford Mondeo wagaon we had in England, and much weaker in the way of Horsepower. Oh well, it will be fine.

We had a short 5 mile drive to our hotel, the Westin Grand. It’s not the nicest hotel we’ve been in, but is reasonably nice. The problem with these city hotels, is that there is no parking. So we’re always paying for parking or valet parking…. Then we have to deal with the valet guys giving us the “tip me” look.

Needless to say, we didn’t do much this night other than drive around a bit to see some of the sights.

We don't have many pictures from this day. This was on the Gatwick Express. 30 minutes from London to the airport.


And this was in Newark, before we caught our next flight to D.C.

Sabbatical Blog: 9/14 Heptonstall - London, UK

9/14 Back to London
We made the drive back to London okay. It took a little bit longer with some of the traffic, and only one wrong turn in getting back to the Hertz location.

After getting checked into the Hotel. We took another walk through St. James Park. It’s amazing how many couples are making out in the grass. I’m not used to seeing that in the states. Even in Central park, I don’t recall many people being affectionate with one another in the park. Simply, Joggers, bikers, walkers, strollers, and people sitting, reading, contemplating. It’s a bit different on this side of the pond, but quite lovely none-the-less (a few British-isms for you).
We found the childrens play area and had some fun trying out all the un-safe play equipment by today's standards. The slid was lots of fun, and Kylie really enjoyed it.

After getting the Kylie’s wiggles out and some walking for us, we headed back towards the hotel and to the original Hard Rock Café (again). It’s good food, and reasonably priced relative to some of the other nearby options. This time we picked up a few souvenir T-Shirts from the Hard Rock Store, even got a Hard-Rock shirt for Kylie.

Kylie wandering around the near-ancient cemetary behind Larry's house.


It seems weird, but is very common. It is apparently a high-traffic area on the main footpath for many residents. This is one of the oldest towns in this part of England. And the Church dates from between the 13th and 15th Century.

An overview of some of the Church Ruins.


Another favorite photo of the Ministry of Defense from across the pond in St. James Park.


Kylie and Traci having some fun at St. James park.


Kylie having a Solo Slide. Her face lit up with joy the first time we sent her down by herself. The first time we went down together, but it was safe enough for her to go by herself. We don't have slides this long at any of the parks around us in the states.


On this trip, Kylie has started playing with plugging her ears, and experimenting with her voice. This is us at the Hard Rock Cafe. Large open churches create a loud echo for a little voice, and plugging her ears means she needs to squawk louder.

Sabbatical Blog: 9/13 York, UK

9/13 York
Today, we made a short 1 ½ hour road trip to the town of York. Part tourist trap, part city, and part history. York is very old. It still has the remains of the Roman wall that used to protect the city. The oldest church in the town of York is York Minster. It is a large church that is reflective of its age.

We were told to go to Betty’s for lunch/tea, but at the time we were hungry, and couldn’t remember the name of the place. So we ate at Reed’s teahouse in front of York Minster. The food was good. I had a Ham and Cheese Omelette, where Traci’s was sans the Ham. The coffee, however, was horrible. Good thing they have at least 2 Starbucks in York.

Kylie trying on her shades before we leave for York.


Traci outside the wall of York.


York Minster Cathedral. I had this question, Why is the Minster a Minster?
Minster Churches are basically churches that were established in the Anglo Saxon period as missionary teaching churches. York Minster is also the Church of the Archbishop of York. He is the most senior bishop in the North of England. It is where he has his seat, called a Cathedra, which makes York Minster a Cathedral as well.

Not all Minsters are Cathedrals, and not all Cathedrals are Minsters, but York Minster is both. The present Minster is the largest Gothic Cathedral in northern Europe and was built over a period of 250 years

When was the Minster built?
The first Minster was built for the Baptism of an Anglo Saxon king called Edwin in 627 AD. It was small and built of wood and named after St Peter. This church slowly grew and developed into a quite large stone church. This church was badly damaged when York was captured by the Normans in 1069.

Between 1080 and 1100 a new stone Minster was built, this was the direct ancestor of the Minster that we have today. In the year 1220 Archbishop Walter Gray started to rebuild the Norman church by making the South Transept much larger the north side was enlarged at about the same time. In 1295 work began on the Nave, which took 70 years to complete. The East end was started in about 1360 and was completed by around 1407 when the central tower collapsed. From 1407 to 1433 a new central tower was built. The Minster as we know it today was finally finished in the year 1472. It had taken about 250 years to build!


Here we are at the Tea House/Cafe in front of the Minster.


Here are some more remnants of the wall.

Sabbatical Blog: 9/12 Heptonstall, Hebden Bridge, and Halifax, UK

9/12 Heptonstall/ Hebden Bridge, Halifax
We got some good sleep, and visited the village of Hebden Bridge below. It is a quaint little village. Allegedly this area of England has some of the oldest towns. Towns that date back well before the 1400’s. According to Larry, Hebden Bridge has a large Lesbian population. You probably wouldn’t notice except for the larger number of Aromatherapy shops per square block. There seemed to be a few too many of these for a small English village.

We walked around a bit, and had lunch at AJ’s Fish and Chips. This place was good! And the prices were refreshing, everything was very reasonably priced. The Fish and Chips lunch special was 4.95 ($10 US), and included a large cup of coffee, bread, salad, and Haddock and chips.

After Lunch and browsing a few shops, we headed to the fabled Hospital that we tried so hard to find the night before. Much easier now that we know where we are. We paid a visit to Janine in the Hospital, and visited with her for awhile before Larry got off work. Larry checked Janine out of the Hospital (no formal process, she just lets the nurses know she’s leaving). They are okay with her being gone for 2 or more hours. We headed back towards Leeds (near where we got lost the night before) and had TGI Friday’s (UK style). Our only constraint was family friendly, and this was Janine’s choice since she was craving a Milk Shake. We were okay with anything. The food was as you’d expect, with exception of the milk shakes. They had to be sent back… they were too thin for Traci and Janine.

This is the view of the hills from Heptonstall, where Larry and Janine live. There's no parking in the town, so you have to park up the road a bit.


The little town of Hebden Bridge.


We stopped at a park in Hebden Bridge so Kylie could walk around a bit. While at the park she met a kitty cat that was more interested in chasing birds, but stopped to say hello. And then off to smell the flowers with Traci.


Here's us visiting Janine in her hospital hotel room. She had already been here for a week by the time we got here. Just recently, we learned that she's been discharged home for now.


From left clockwise, Janine, Larry, Me, Traci and Kylie at the world famous TGI Friday's.

Sabbatical Blog: 9/11 London, UK - Heptonstall, UK

9/11 London to the North
Today, we pick up our Rental car, and try to cram our stuff into it, before heading towards Manchester to visit Traci’s old friend Larry Chan and his wife Janine.

Before picking up the car, we made a quick journey to the London Eye for go-around. It was the perfect day for the Eye it was almost completely clear. After the Eye, we hurried back to the hotel to check-out and catch a Taxi to the Hertz location. We upgraded to a station-wagon so we could accommodate our luggage, we got a Ford Mondeo Wagon, 6-speed Manual Diesel. Despite being a Ford, it was actually a nice car. It had seat warmers/coolers and had plenty of power for the Motorway. Getting out of the city was a little nerve wracking with traffic and just starting to drive on the left side of the road, on the right hand side of the car, and shifting with my left hand. I think I must have stalled the car like 3 times on the way out of the city. (there was traffic so it wasn’t that bad).

It is about a 3 and half hour drive to their place, however, there are a few slowdowns along the way due to construction. Average speed is about 80 mph, though the regulation speed limit is 70 mph, but I didn’t learn that fact until asking Larry and Janine. There are no speed limit numbers posted on the road, only in the slow down areas.

We took the M1 to the M62 and were to meet Larry and Janine at the Hospital. Larry and Janine are expecting a baby any day now, by C-section originally scheduled for 9/14, but re-scheduled for 9/19. Larry gave us the wrong Junction to get off the Motorway. And without detailed map, we couldn’t find our way to the hospital (of which we didn’t have the name of). We only knew we wanted to get on the A629, from there we were certain we could find the hospital. After another 3 hours of being lost, stopping for directions in the small towns of northern England. We got reasonably close the hospital, and was able to borrow the cell phone of the Security guard at a Tesco gas-station/mini-mart. The people at this Tesco were especially nice and helpful, in trying to get us on track. We finally arrived at Larry and Janine’s place in Heptonstall around 11PM. It was a long day, but we were truly blessed in that Kylie didn’t freak out on us after having been in her car-seat for so long! She was so patient, if she had been freaking out, throwing a fit, it would’ve have increased the stress level by at least an order of magnitude.

Big Ben!


Traci and Kylie on our way to the London Eye.


Traci and Kylie checking out the view from our eye-pod.


Me with Big Ben and the House of Parliament in the background.


And Me, gearing up for our maiden journey driving on the wrong side of the car. It was very strange shifting with my left hand, and it took some getting used to the 6-speed transmission, since Reverse was off to the left of 1st gear.

Sabbatical Blog: 9/10 London, UK

9/10 London

Today we got out by noon, and headed to the Hard Rock Café for Lunch.
The food was good, much better than the Citrus place downstairs. Then off to Madame Tussuad’s Wax Museum. It was fun. Not something you’d need to do over again, but they have it set up well. You can sort of interact with all the figures. Take your picture with various celebrities, etc.

We stopped by an internet café so Traci could get Larry’s exact address and catch up on some email. I finally found my first free/open wifi portal while walking Kylie outside. So I was able to check a few emails via my iPhone.

After that, we headed for the Tower Bridge so we could walk across. We did that. Then stopped for dinner at a French restaurant recommended by the Hilton Concierge, Auberge. We had pizza again. We walked back via the London Bridge. And came back to the Hotel.

Eating at the Original Hard Rock Cafe, in front of the famous No Nukes sign.


Can you spot Kylie and I with the Fab 4?


Here's Kylie giving a speech to the United Nations.


Traci and Kylie, with the Tower of London in the background.


And of course the Tower Bridge (view from London Bridge).

Sabbatical Blog: 9/9 Paris, France to London, UK

9/9 Paris to London via the Chunnel
This morning, we spent our time packing up for our Eurostar train to London. Leaving at 1:43PM and arriving at 3:25PM (we gain an hour from Paris to London). Kylie did pretty well on the train. The downside, is that we didn’t have a seat for her, and in Lile, France we picked up some extra passengers (many more people). Our Train coach was all but full. Maybe 1 seat? I had to ask a guy if I could sit by him, since we put Kylie in her car seat so she could take a nap. It worked out.

We arrived at Waterloo station, I dumped my Euros for British Pounds. We were offered a “cab” ride from a guy in a Mercedes for 2O Pounds ($40), but from our last trip here we learned not to trust the non-black cab taxis. Plus I don’t think all our luggage would fit. These guys aren’t regulated, they are like the Gypsy cabs of Rome. When our turn came up at Taxi stand, we loaded up and headed for our hotel. I didn’t have the full address. Only the Name.. the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel… which is on Picadilly, not Park Lane. Anyhow, I now know the address is 112 Picadilly! Right down the road from the Original Hard Rock Café. And across the street from Green Park. Near Buckingham Palace and St. James Park and Hyde Park.

They upgraded us to an Executive Suite on the Starwood Preferred Guest floor. The room is nice. It’s not extravagant like the W Hotel, just large. The room is on the curved part of the building and his it’s own hallway. To the right is the bathroom, and to the left is the bedroom. Plenty of room for Kylie’s crib and room to run around.

After getting settled we went for a stroll, through the park by Buckingham Palace to pay the Queen a visit, and through St. James Park, so Kylie could see the ducks and Geese. We came back to the Hotel to eat at their streetside restaurant, Citrus. What a waste of money that was. 65 Pounds for Paella and a couple of hand rolled Gnocchi for Traci. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the service wasn’t so terrible too.

We headed back up to the room, let Kylie wind down. And after she went bed, I wandered down the road to go check out the Hard Rock Café. They have a store in a building next door, which used to be Queen Victoria’s Bank. Now they house a handful of Rock memorabilia, such as Jimi Hendrix’ Gibson Flying V (same one from the famed Isle of Wright festival). An acoustic guitar from Pete Townsend, John Lennon’s army jacket and hippy glasses, among other things.

Kylie and I on the Eurostar on our way to London.


At Green park at the WWI/WWII Canadians memorial... for the Canadaians who joined the Brits in fighting.


Buckingham Palace.


One of our favorite scenes in St. James Park... Now we know what we're looking at. It is the Ministry of Defense in the background, along with the Horse Guards building in the near background.


Kylie just having fun walking around.

Sabbatical Blog: 9/8 Paris, France

9/8 Paris
Today was the first day that we were ready to leave the room by noon! Quite an achievement, but I think everyone was finally adjusted to the time change (that and we set an alarm). Today we decided to make a trip to the Chateau de Versaille. The RER was down, and unfortunately we didn’t learn this until we bought our day pass for the metro. The alternate route was via the “Suburban Trains” or “Ile de Paris”. These were great, only about 15 minutes point to point. Plus another 15 minute walk from the train station to the Chateau.

After dealing with the stroller in Paris yesterday, we thought today would be a good day for the baby backpack. It was by far the nicest day we had in Europe so far, which means, it was a hot day for the backpack, not that big of a deal though.

We waited in line for our tickets, stopped to feed Kylie Lunch before going in the museum. It was 3PM by this time. And when we finally tried to go inside, we learned that Baby Backpacks aren’t allowed inside the Chateau. And because they had already signed off on our tickets before being screened by their X-Ray, we couldn’t get a direct refund. So we talked to their information desk, explained the situation, and they told us we had to write them a letter explaining why we need a refund. Our trip to Versaille was very frustrating, and was nearly a complete waste of time. Except that the Gardens in the back of the palace are free and open to the public at 5PM but close at 5:30PM. So we had a little time to walk around. Versaille is a pleasant city, that still has some of the old-world feel. Much different than Paris, but flip side is that there are more tourists than native French people.
In Summary, the Chateau de Versaille is NOT a baby friendly place to be. Granted we could’ve just gave up the back-pack and carried Kylie around and let her walk a bit, but it didn’t seem feasible at the time.

We went back to the hotel, fed Kylie, and then headed out for the Notre Dame Cathedral. I didn’t realize it until afterwards, but we could see the top of Notre Dame from our hotel room. Hopefully, we got a couple decent pictures. Once again, I realize how beneficial it would be to have a tripod to get some great night shots Next time! Maybe before the end of our trip, I’ll pick one up? Notre Dame was beautiful. Last time I was here, the façade was all covered up with Scaffolding, and you couldn’t appreciate the detail of its architecture. It’s quite intricate.

After putting Kylie to bed, I went in search of some Authentic French Crepes au Beurre a Sucre. I found a stand not too far away. They were much better than the crappy one I had outside the CN tower in Toronto.

Kylie sitting with me on the Train to Versaille.


The Chateau... I think of it as more of a palace, but I suppose if it's not your primary residence, then Chateau would be appropriate?


Peeping through the wall. We let Kylie eat and get some of wiggles out before we attempted to go inside and after we bought our tickets.


Here's Kylie making friends with some of the Garden statues.


Notre Dame Cathedral at night.


Notre Dame from another angle.


Kylie started playing with my shoes, and was trying them on for size. I will qualify, that she did this on her own... these are not staged photos. Initially she tried walking with the feet pointing backwards.


Traci in all her glory. Eating the Crepe I brought back to her in bed, while watching a movie.

Sabbatical Blog: 9/7 Paris, France

9/7 Paris
We got another late start today, awake at 2PM and out the door by 5pm. We’re setting our alarm for tomorrow. Today we headed for the Champs Elysees and the Arc di Triumphe. It’s a nice walk up and down the Champs Elysees. The streets are lined with designer boutiques for pretty much any designer you can think of. We then walked the other direction towards the Musee Louvre and saw the pyramid lit up at night. I forgot just how large the Louvre was until we started getting up close.

After our experience with the Civil War Museum, we decided it wasn’t worth going in the Louvre. It was already late at this point so we headed back to the Hotel. After putting Kylie down, I ventured out in search of a Cappucino, the Jazz club just outside the Hotel unfortunately charged a 25 Euro cover charge, so I ended up in the Hotel lobby for a caffeinated beverage.

The Arc di Triumphe.





The Champs-Elysees with the Grand Arch at La Defense in the packground.


The Louvre entrance and Pyramid at night.


Waiting for the Metro to get back to the hotel. Lot's of walking today. The Metro is not stoller friendly.

Sabbatical Blog: 9/6 Paris, France

9/6 Paris
We rested up… Traci woke up in the middle of the night not being able to sleep, so did Kylie. But by 4AM. They were both nearing ready to sleep. And we all didn’t wake up until 2PM. I apparently racked up like 14 hours sleep. Not the best sleep, but sleep none-the-less. After waking up, we decided that our “classique” room was too small for us. I went down and talked to the SPG Gold/Platinum desk agent. Though the hotel is full, they found us a DUO room. This room is huge compared our last one, and better suits our needs with Kylie’s crib and all. It cost us another 1000 starpoints per night. Well worth it. It feels much more comfortable. Has a Plasma TV, two desks, and a larger more comfortable bed.

Needless to say, we spent the better part of the early afternoon dealing with or room change. By 5pm we ready to head out and eat. We went to Pizza Roma, a street side Italian restaurant. Good pizza. It rivaled the best pizza we had in Italy.

We stopped by the super marche and picked up some bottled water and a couple staples. Fed Kylie some more, and then hit the Metro for the Tour Eiffel. We made it before it was dark, but there’s a long wait to get tickets and ultimately ride the elevator.

In 1995 I made it to the Eiffel Tower with my cousin Tri, but due to high winds, they weren’t letting people to the very top. Today, we made it to the top. The platform is much smaller at the top, and it is much windier at the top. But the view is great! I wish I had a full-size Tripod for my camera. I was able to get some good pictures with our point and shoot, using my mini Ultra-pod.

Kylie was down by midnight. Hopefully, tonight works out to be a much better nights rest for everyone. We’ll see what tomorrow has in store?

Teaching Kylie some French phrases.


Our first Dinner out at a restaurant.


The view from the top of the Eiffer Tower.


A couple Eiffer tower photos at night.


And twinkling. The Rugby championships were going on while we were there, hence the green lighting at the base of the tower.