Krakow, Poland

We saw an Easy Jet sale months back on flights to Krakow - and that was all it took. TJ was the main 'planner' for this trip and seems to be totally smitten with Poland.

I won't go into the hellacious experience of 'check in for Easy Jet at Gatwick', let's just say it's not a BA lounge. There are no Hello Magazines and refreshing cold drinks.

We did drive and park at the airport for the first time, which was quite easy...and almost made up for the lines at Gatwick.

Krakow was not bombed during World War II so the main square is the largest operational city square in Europe. It still has tons of restaurants, cafes and shops and is the main hub of Krakow.

We started with a lovely lunch in the square and then the sight seeing started. It was hot, almost Philadelphia Phillies hot....

But there were plenty of places to cool off, (above is an image of the Singer bar/cafe, where the tables are old Singer sewing machines...it was on the top of my must-see list.)

We ate well, (another post to come,) saw a lot, walked everywhere and stayed in a beautiful modern-meets-traditional hotel. We went to Oskar Schindler's factory which was just re-done and was one of the most interactive and fascinating museums we've been to.

There is a trumpeter, (or bugler) in this tower who plays every hour. Each time he plays, the song is cut off before it ends. According to legend, this is because when the city was invaded, the bugler was shot in the throat. TJ saw the man waving one time after he was done....

It was a lovely long weekend, and we're already excited about coming back to Poland. All of the pictures are here.

4th of July - London Style

We arrived back to London just in time for 4th of July. Our friends John and Melissa hosted a barbecue at their beautiful flat in Primrose Hill, (they have a garden - which we in the US call a backyard. A rare find in the London flat-hunt.)

As you can see the American flag trousers were on full parade.

In fun city-living style, John and Melissa invited a couple they had just met that morning at the grocery store. Melissa noticed the husband's Chicago Cubs baseball hat, and the next thing they are coming over for burgers.






This is Brooklyn - she's a sweet Dalmatian and Pointer mix that I fall over myself to volunteer to dog sit. She gets smiles from everyone as she walks through Primrose Hill.



The burgers were great, we enjoyed some fun English rose that we're all in love with, and had a bit of an American flag verses British flag battle with their neighbors.

We won in the end - our flag was bigger!

Last trip in June....Berlin

The last bit of my travels in June after Jackie's wedding consisted of a quick trip to Fire Island Saturday morning, a train to Philadelphia Saturday afternoon, dinner with our friends Daniella and Drew and a stop off at Caitlin and Jim's wedding Saturday night. Sunday we had breakfast with the Church and Dillon families, then went to Charlie's first Phillies game, and then flew out.

TJ went home to London, I took a quick shower in Heathrow's BA lounge, and then flew from London to Berlin for work.

We had a site visit of the venue for my event in November and the venue set up a fun evening of World Cup watching in Berlins FIFA fan area. The weekend before, there were over 100,000 people at this venue watching Germany play. We were there during a Brazilian game, so it was a bit more tame.








I was tired, and a bit ready to 'go home' to London....but some how this last bit of the trip reminded me of why I like living where we do and made me ready to be here.

Mr. and Mrs. Ryan and Jackie Donnelly!

The night before we left New York, my cousin Jackie married her fiance Ryan Donnelly.

She was beautiful, his smile was infectious and it was a warm, beautiful, elegant and fun wedding.


It was so fun for us to connect with my cousins, exchange stories, hear about their children and dance.

Even Uncle Eddie was out on the floor =) We had a lovely, lovely evening and it was the perfect way to end the long trip to New York.