Our first hike...

We're so fortunate to be living minutes from many amazing places - including some magnificent hiking trails. We've decided to start taking advantage early...

Halloween 2010

Ella is finally learning what all this means and it was fun to celebrate her first Halloween ever in America in her new school. Poor Maya got stuck with Ella's first costume - we'll try to be better next year :)

Acapulco

On the way to our new home in CA, we stopped in Acapulco to visit our friend Naz who was getting married to a wonderful woman named Fern. We had a great time visiting with Victoria (their daughter) and spending time with Josh and Steph and their lovely daughter Mangnolia. We met many new friends - it was a great way to get used to the time difference and start adjusting....however, the flight over with the girls getting sick was less enlightening. We must admit, it is nice to recognize that the 11-hour flights will be less frequent now.

Leaving London

We can't believe that this is it and we're actually leaving. It's where we became a family of four, where we spent nights and nights staying up with the girls, where we've shared so many memories....

There are many things that we will miss about London (not in any specific order):

1. Our friends and all the places they've been, all the stories they've shared, all the cultures we tasted through them, all the politics we've learned, all the books they've written and read, and so much more

2. The amazing travel opportunities we've had, whether it's spending time on local hikes outside of London, exploring Scotland, or sailing down the Nile, it's all within such easy reach

3. In line with this, Heathrow Terminal 5. Scary, I know, but it is such pleasure to actually fly out of this terminal with less people, more restaurants, amazing shopping. In fact, we'll miss European airports which are so much nicer than any American airport

4. On same topic, being close to my family in Poland was invaluable. In fact, extending our family by having our Polish nanny, Weronika, with us was such a blessing.

5. The parks. Hyde Park, our backyard with our first place, and the Heath, our backyard of our second place (particularly Golders Green park - one of the finest institutions ever created)

6. The walking. Sometimes it's very painful to be carrying groceries up the hill in the rain, but most days, knowing that we did not own a car with two kids gave us such pleasure

7. The urban mixed with quiet. London is special and really nice to raise a family in despite the size of the city - it's a mixture of villages that ebb and flow easily together allowing you to disappear in the craziness of Covent Garden and minutes later relax in the peace and quiet of a park

8. The theater. We saw some amazing plays in London and will miss the small productions as well as the big shows with all the stars

9. The food. Yes, we're moving to the land of magnificence where food is concerned, so I'm told, but London has become a culinary explosion in the past decade and we were fortunate to participate in just a little part of it. From the Fat Duck to the corner Pub, we've had a great time never running out of new restaurants and food experiences

10. The discovery of it all. There is so much that we still did not see and knowing that there is always more to discover was a thrill

Now - there are some things we won't miss:

1. The cost. I still remember the first sticker shock a couple of days after we moved there...but what's more upsetting is that soon it all becomes the norm and you think that it's OK to pay $75 for a mediocre Chinese takeout.

2. The school situation. I know this is similar to other cities, but somehow the Brits have a way stressing this a bit more. The child-assessment game that starts before the toddler turns two is deeply troubling

3. The service. It's incredible that the lack of service is so prevalent and somehow does not seem to improve!

4. The closeness of the Brits (and apologies here to our British friends, but they already are the exception :). We found it so odd that neither we, nor many of our ex-pat friends managed to have many British friends, even after years of living in Britain. We spoke the same language and came from what appeared to be very similar cultures, but somehow, it was very difficult to integrate

5. I know that rain should be included somewhere in this list, but really, somehow I did not mind - the sprinkles were usually short and sometimes even sweet

6. The NHS - really, this belongs also in the top list. We'll miss the cost ($0), but not so much the actual service :) The doctors are fabulous if you could actually see one...

I somehow thought the the second list would be longer but I'm happy that it's not. We will miss London dearly, but that said, we're very excited about all that is upcoming.

Here are some pics from our last days - when my brother and his family came to visit and we spent some time in the Cotswolds