Our Last Few UK Days

Hi Family and Friends!

I'll make this one short and sweet since we have to be at the airport in 7hrs and we haven't gone to bed yet ;)

We've enjoyed our time here in England so much and had an emotional week as we said our goodbyes to family and friends - old and new. This week, I cried at home, the Children's Centre, Liam's Nursery and driving back from Rubery after seeing family!

I think the kid's channel 'Cartoonito' knew we were leaving and had 3 Fireman Sam mornings this week - we're talkin' 3-4 hours in a row - Wowsers! We didn't let him watch all of it - at least not all at once;)

We made cards from Liam and Gemma to the Children's Centre and Liam made one for his Nursery Teachers. He had an amazing last day of Nursery because it coinsided with the last day of term - they get two weeks off at Easter between terms, plus the Royal Wedding is another bank holiday here this year! Nursery had Easter Family Fun Day and we all got to go for the first hour and participate in various activities - Egg Hunt outside in the garden, flower planting, chocolate nests, hat making. Then for Liam, all the Nursery children sang 'The Leaving Song' to him whilst he played the drums and he got a card with all the children's hand prints and each drew a picture of themselves - it's super cute and Mark even almost cried! The Head Teacher would like Liam to keep in touch and possibly through his new school in Guelph - super fun! As we left, Liam gave his friend Luca a great big squish hug and I started to 'ugly cry' - it was so cute and I was so proud of him to get through the week with all our packing, donating and tossing out old stuff, including toys and books. We of course donated to the Children's Centre and Nursery, but also gave our little friends some things we couldn't bring back.

We packed a lot into our last days in England (not to mention all the actual packing we did!):
- Man City Football Stadium Tour (thanks Paul and Dawn!)
- Train and Butterfly biscuits every day!
- Mummy Friends visit at our place
- Parent/Teacher Meeting at Nursery School
- Visit and tea/dinner with the Gorski's and Woodward's at the Packhorse (our local pub)
- Our last Stay & Play and Messy Play sessions at the Children's Centre
- Mark finished his bike across England in just one more stage for a total of 2 stages only!
- Trip to Thomas Land
- Cousin Evie's 1st Birthday Party in Rubery, near Birmingham (that's Mark's cousin Rog's daughter)
- Nursery friend, Ashleigh's Brithday Party
- The Last Supper with Alicia & Mike, who are back from caravanning and whose house we rented (yeah, we went to the Packhorse again - twice in a week!)

Thanks to all our UK friends who made our stay here incredible! We'll miss you so much!

All our bags are packed and although our UK adventure is coming to an end, our 'Guelph Adventure' is just beginning :)

Photos on Facebook

Ode to New Mills Photos

Cheers for reading,
Tarah (goodbye/see you later),
The Nicholson Family

Viva Italia!

Bongiorno Family and Friends!

Whilst living in England we really wanted to take advantage of being super close to Europe. So when Italy came up in conversation, our friends, Al & Mike, whose house we are renting mentioned that Alicia's brother has a holiday villa in the Marche area and we would get the family & friends' rate (we only had to pay for the cleaners!) We checked the home out online and it looked amazing - we needed to use this hook up! I've also wanted to go to Venice since I did a French class project on the city in Grade 11 so it was decided - Venezia and San Ginesio Italia! To prepare for our trip, we drank lots of coffee and ate lots of pasta to use up as much of our food possible since we only had one more week in England on our return. We also told Liam it was going to be a week full of pizza, special ice cream called gelato, pasta and salami ('lami') - we were all excited:)

Strolling Through Venezia
We flew out to Venice from Manchester on Krystal's first of two Mother's Days this year - UK Mother's Day is in April (for any UK readers - Cdn Mother's day is in May) - total score! Our low cost Jet 2 flight left late and kept us on the plane about an hour before taking off - annoying, especially when the flight is only 2.5hrs. Upon arriving in Venice we decided to buy tickets for the coach style public transit bus for 5€ (euros) each taking us to Piazza Roma - the last stop for vehicles in the city. After that to get around it's either water taxi, water bus, gondolas for touring or walking - what we did as our hotel was close to this area. We read online of many people who had trouble finding their hotel because the main sign was either on the canal side and not visable from the pavement or it was on the most obscure narrow street. Fortunately, we had no trouble finding the Hotel Antiche Figure which was great since we arrived around 7:30p and we were all very hungry. Our hotel was right on the Grande Canale and a few restaurants were close by - we had antipasto, wine and gelato for the kids on one of the patios before heading up to sleep. The room was quite small, especially since Liam had his own bed (Gemma slept with us this time) so we left our pram on the main floor in the storage room.

We had heard that having a pram in Venice may be a nightmare with all the bridges and their steps. There was only one bridge that gave Mark stress and that was the Rialto - it's the main bridge with tons of steps and is super busy.
Whilst in Venice we did exactly what we wanted to do - ride the canal, see the large squares, drink coffee, and eat gelato, pizza and pasta. We didn't really want to do any inside stuff with the kids (and pram) as they would be bored and the weather was super nice - unseasonally warm (low-mid 20's). 

We did our canal excursions on the water bus system - vaporettos. We got a 24hr pass for 18€ euros each (kids were free) and went on 5 times, including a nighttime 'cruise' where we went to the large San Marco square and just stayed on to take us back on a round trip:) We had the luckiest timing with this water bus trip because as it got dark, we saw lightning and began to hear thunder as we got nearer to our stop. During the walk to our hotel it started to rain and once in, it just pounded down. That's the only time it rained on our enitre trip!

We had also heard that Italians love kids, and we were like, sure, doesn't everyone? But they really do. Liam and Gemma were commented on constantly by Italian women and men of all ages. I think it was the blue eyes and blonde hair;) Actually, I'm pretty sure an Asian tourist took a photo of Liam running through a narrow street. 

Venice wasn't too busy at this time of year, but we've heard it gets ridiculous in the summer. There were tourists from everywhere and lots of Italian tourists too. Some of them even thought Mark was Italian and started asking him directions in full-on Italian (he gets this a lot - happened in Iceland too!)

It is very hard to describe Venice in words other than amazing - the photos do more justice.

San Ginesio
After 3 nights in Venice it was off to the Marche area to San Ginesio. To get there we hired a car from the airport and got a Mercedes A160. Without stops, the trip was to be about 4.5hrs - with stops it took us about 6hrs. Italians know how to do rest stops - the food is fresh and delicious, served on real plates with real cutlery and bottles of olive oil and dressings are available to take to your table. One stop even had a little 'Balls Room' for the kids which they loved.

We followed instructions to get to the Casa Scrucchi Villa and almost went up the wrong farm road that would have got us stuck on a steep, long gravel road that's really only for farm traffic. The road didn't feel right so Mark got out to try to speak with the farmer, who only spoke Italian (which we don't speak at all) whilst his dogs were barking at our car. We decided to reverse and try the instructions again and got it right the second time 'round. 

The renovated farm house was situated deep inside a lovely valley just outside San Ginesio. It was so deep in, our ears popped each time we got to or left the house in the car! The surroundings were just incredible as was the actual home. The home is rented out steadily throughout the summer season for a week or two at a time. The couple who own it provide a handy binder full of information on just about anything you could want to know about the local area. This area is not touristy at all, and most locals speak no English, although we did find a few that surprised us. There are a handful of British people who have purchased old farm houses and have renovated them. From what the older Italian man at the local coffee/gelato bar was telling us (all in Italian) he didn't like the trend - he kept pointing out people in the square and saying "Inglesie" (sp?), as in, English people ;) He seemed to really like us and the kids. He asked if we were American and we were quick to find a maple leaf on us somewhere:)

We had amazing meals out in this area and all for very reasonable prices. We did have to eat later though as most restaurants did't serve hot food until 7:30p, which we found out on our first night out. Our best meal in Italy was on our last night at a local San Ginesio restaurant situated just before the walled part of the town and it was only 25€! It was the same restaurant we tried to go to the first night out but got there too early and were only able to have antipasto.

Whilst in this area we also took a day trip to the coast to Civitanova and spent the afternoon on the pebbled beach. They really cater to families in this area - each restaurant and cafe has some sort of playpark attached. We stopped here again on the way back to Venice airport.

Mark went for a run one morning from the house (he tried to run in Venice but it was too busy with people traffic). During his 1hr run, Mark asked a farmer (with lots of hand gestures) if it was okay to run up the hill on his farm and the farmer got so excited that he was going to run up, he yelled something like "Fasta fasta fasta!"

It was super hot here too - mid to high 20's - it's supposed to be cooler than Venice, even though it's further south due to the Apennine Mountain Range. The kids spent lots of time while we were at the house under the large willow tree in the back garden that provided just enough shade.

By the end of our trip we got quite good at the basic Italian we needed and even threw in an accent to make it all sound better (thank you Woodbridge and The Sopranos) - "due cappuccino" (two cappuccinos), "arrivederci" (formal goodbye), "ciao" (casual hello/goodbye), "latte freddo" (cold milk), "cioccomenta" (mint chocolate chip), "cioccolati" (chocolate).

Again, it's quite difficult to describe this amazing location in words - the Photos will do a much better job.

Arrivederci Paesanos,
The Nicholson Family

Last Chance Weekend Trips

Hi Family and Friends,
The last blog was really just an update on what the kids are doing  now – this one’s about all the places we went to in March. With Mark working full-time most of the month we really needed to cram the short trips we wanted to do into our weekends.

Manchester & Olde York

We went to Manchester to meet up with Gramma Barb and Grampa Eric, who were on a weekend stopover on their way back from a trip to Africa. They took Mark and Liam on a trip on the Manchester Eye – a giant ferris wheel designed for city viewing – while I tried to get Gemma to nap whilst shopping at Next (a store we’re really going to miss – it’s like Gap meets H&M – fun basics at a reasonable price – great kids’ stuff). We went out to a “Nicholson’s” pub for tea-dinner (this is what we call dinner now, since where we live in England, dinner is ‘tea’ and lunch is ‘dinner’, or lunch-dinner for us).

The next day we drove 2hrs to the city of York to meet Gramma and Grampa who arrived by train. We checked out the National Railway Museum, which both Liam and Grampa enjoyed, walked through the city and along the old city walls, visited an old castle tower site and took a river cruise. After a lovely Italian tea-dinner we said our see-lots-of-you-soons, as we will all be practically neighbours when we move back to Guelph.

An Irish Life for Us (at least for a long weekend)

Mark booked a Monday & Tuesday off work after the second weekend in March as we had flights to visit friends in Belfast, Northern Ireland (the Ireland that’s part of the U.K., not the one that just went bankrupt). Before we left for Belfast, we made sure we got our heads around which Ireland we were actually going to. We didn’t want to embarrass ourselves, although we found ourselves constantly forgetting to clarify we were going to Northern Ireland. Like Scotland, N. Ireland uses the Great British Pound as currency and accepts ‘English’ pound notes, but gives out their own pound notes that can’t be used elsewhere in the U.K. – annoying.  We flew with FlyBe, a low cost Belfast airline to Belfast City Airport and rented a car with child car seats (crap ones), but had our own SatNav (GPS) to get us to the Miskelly Residence. Julia, Mark’s childhood friend, her husband, Steve, and 4yr old, Olivia, were all on hand to welcome us to their home outside the city in the village of Darragh Cross, about a half hour drive from the airport.

Olivia and Liam had only met once before in August when our UK Adventure began but they were both so excited to see each other again! We arrived for dinner and Olivia had set up her little table for her and Liam, and also helped her mum set up his bed – super cute. The kids (Gemma included) got on so well all weekend together – it was so lovely (and relieving for all the parents!)

Our friends are very close to moving into their new home designed by Steve (he’s an architect) so we went for a short walk to get the Grande Tour. Ah-May-Zing! The kids had fun playing in Olivia’s playhouse outside and running around the empty rooms inside. I wanted to marry the kitchen. Mark may have an affair with the espresso machine. We will definitely return for a future visitJ

The Miskelly Family took us to one of Liam’s new favourite places – W5. It’s all about the Who, What, Where, When and Why of science.  There are tonnes of hands-on experiments for kids - of all ages - but what Liam loved best was the kid-sized Tesco supermarket – complete with cash registerJ W5 has similarities to the Museum of Science and Industry we went to in Manchester but the little Tesco was the real winner of the day with two visits from the kids. Outside the W5 building is the harbour where the Titanic was built and launched. Two famed Harland & Wolff shipbuilding cranes, nicknamed Samson & Goliath also stand tall in the area.

We had Monday and Tuesday on our own since Julia and Steve had work(what’s that again?) and Olivia had Nursery. They recommended we do the Giant's Causeway and Coastal Route which sounded fine to us. The weather in N. Ireland is even less predictable than in England. As we drove North to the Causeway (not along the coast route) it was raining and hailing! By the time we got to our destination, it was sun and blue skies – so weird, but lucky for us! This area reminded us a lot of Iceland with the black molten lava sand and rocks and the basalt formations. From here we drove South along the Coastal Route – one of the top ten drives in the world, as some list compiler once stated. There are lots of stops to make along the route including a Castle and Old Bushmills Distillery (Whiskey) however we chose to stop over and do the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge – Yowzers! Honestly, this was really scary. I’m not great with heights, particularly on bridges and particularly when there is hardly any bridge beneath me. If it weren’t for Liam holding my hands and leading the way (I was scared for him too!) I wouldn’t have been able to make it without crying or swearing my face off.  I did once utter a small ‘I hate this’ that I didn't think Liam would hear but he totally did. Gemma was brave too as it was fairly windy that day, especially on the bridge – Daddy held onto her tight. She also went up all the steps, with Daddy’s assistance, along the trail back up the hill to meet the pram we left behind.

Our last day we went into Belfast to see the city – an interesting concept indoor/outdoor shopping mall called Victoria Square, a Liverpool FC shop – random, but we guess there are a host of fans in Belfast since the two cities are just across the Irish Sea from each other and there are probably lots of ties to Liverpool. We drove through The Troubles, the area where walls of poetic graffiti now stand in place where violent clashes between Protestants and Catholics once took place. We also found two Spar Tim Hortons stores in and out of Belfast!

The kids were sad to say goodbye and still miss each other loads. Liam often asks if we are going to Ireland or if we’ll see Olivia when we’re going out somewhere. It was such a lovely visit and we were glad to go after having lived in the countryside ourselves as we really understand the appeal of British country living know. We weren’t there for St. Paddy’s day, but we did have Guinness – and it did taste better in Ireland! This trip concluded our visits to all the countries in the UK – YAY!

Lincoln, Lincolnshire (go figure)

We weren’t sure if we would be able to get in a visit with Mark’s cousins Ben and Roger before we left but by some magical luck, and a bit of planning on Facebook, we were all able to get together at Ben’s in Lincoln for a Saturday visit. We drove about 2.5hrs East to get there and Roger, Pauline and Elyse, now 13, drove about the same from Norforlk. They took us to a giant jungle gym play area in a warehouse that also served food. They seem to have a lot of these places in the UK and we think we don’t have a lot of them in Canada for two main reasons:  1. Insurance and Liability and 2. Health and Safety. They are great for kids and parents though. Liam and Gemma got right to it in the under 5 area. Gemma showed Pauline the attitude she’s developing by giving her the funniest, skeptical ‘looks’ all afternoon – Pauline runs a homebased Nursery and kids are usually drawn to her so this made Gemma’s looks even more humourous. Back at Ben’s we had fun with bubbles in the back garden until we had to leave to make the drive back to New Mills - with a stop for tea-dinner at the ‘Burger Store’.  We’ve had bubble fun at our house since then – thanks again for the bubbles pack Pauline! And thanks to Ben, Rog & Family for a lovely visit!

The Lakes (not 'Great', but pretty good)

The day Mark finished his online course we picked Liam up for Nursery in a rental car and we headed North for the Lake District. It was different walking up to the Nursery without Gemma and the pram - usually when I pick him up, Gemma  waits outside with the other toddlers and babies in prams! What was supposed to be a 2hr drive to The Lakes turned into a 3.5hr drive with traffic around Greater Manchester and a stop at the ‘Burger Store’, of course. We arrived in the town of Kendal at the cottage we rented for the weekend (or 'Hotel House' as Liam called it) with provisions in hand – donuts (albeit, Krispy Kremes), beer, tea, Cheerios and Thomas the Tank pasta shapes. This trip was a two-for-one – a visit to the Lakes and a trail race for Mark. We had Saturday to explore Kendal and nearby towns Windermere and Bowness both along Lake Windermere, the largest of England’s lakes. Liam averaged two ice creams a day here.

The race was on Sunday in Grizedale Forest, about 45 minutes from Kendal. The kids and I didn’t hang out near the race area, since there was a play area and café further into the park. After our lunch-dinner and a runaround at the play park, we attempted to make it back to the race area by walking trail to see Mark finish, but not even 1/3 of the way in, Mark texted that he had already finished! In 20^th place, we later found out! We got back to Kendal a bit late for a good tea-dinner out – many restaurants in this area are normally only open for the day and not open at all on Sundays so it was KFC for us. Liam was quite excited to find out there was such thing as a ‘Brown Chicken Store’J

We headed back to New Mills on Monday morning and even with a stop at the Stockport Tesco for Liam to have a ‘wee’, by some miracle, I fed the kids and got Liam to Nursery on time while Mark returned the car - on time and full of petrol.

When Mark was young, his family would do a trip to The Lakes about once a year, and before we had kids, we did a trip to Ambleside, also in the Lake District so it was nice to visit this area again during our UK Adventure.

Our next blog post will be on our last trip while in the UK – to Italy! We’re really taking advantage of the fact that mainland Europe is just a few hours away. And we really won’t be going anywhere for the next year or so;)

Photos of Ireland: Facebook UK - March N. Ireland
Other Photos: Facebook UK - March
Mark's Race Photo

Cheers and thanks for reading (I know it was another long one),
The Nicholson Family