Chicago Botanic Garden

Because we had the Monday off as well, a visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden was on our list. Opened to the public in 1972, it's a 385 acre area of woods, greens, prairies and waterways and it's the second most visited botanic garden of this size in the US. We especially liked the fruit and vegetable gardens and the English walled gardens. Recommended when you come to visit us!

Navy Pier Chicago

Because of Memorial Day, we had a long weekend in de USA. One extra day to enjoy the hot weather predicted for that weekend. Everybody was leaving town to escape the heat and enjoy the country side. We decided to go into Chicago and check out the Navy Pier. It was constructed in 1916 as a commercial shipping pier and renamed in honor of the Nay in 1927. Today, the pier is multi-use complex and a docking site for large dinner cruise ships and Lake Michigan tour boats. The very welcome breeze certainly made our stay there pleasant as did the nice cold beer and great views of the Chicago Downtown skyline.

An Apple for Anita

Anita is a very happy woman. Staszek got her a new, cool laptop that she can use anywhere in the apartment because it has wifi. Now she can mail, skype and surf any moment of the day; she promises to do so and keep you updated on a more regular basis.

Our temporary place in Northbrook

In our last post you could see where we are going to live in June, but for the moment we are still staying in our 2-bedroom apartment in Northbrook. Just to give you an impression of the flat , here are a few pictures. It's quite spacious and light, but we can't wait to move on to our 'own' place and have our own stuff around us again.

1352 Huntington Drive

Afgelopen woensdag reed Anita er toevallig langs en zag het bordje 'for rent'. Eergisteren (donderdag) hebben we een principe akkoord gesloten en volgende week tekenen we het huurcontract.

Geen Evanston, geen Arlington heights, maar Mundelein (7 minuten verwijderd van Staszek's werk). Een klein dorpje, met maar liefst zeven golfbanen (!).

American life: een huisje met een kleine veranda voor, een groot houten terras achter in een hele grote achtertuin (die 's zomers elke week gemaaid moet worden). Binnen hebben we drie slaapkamers, een huiskamer, eetkamer en 'family room'. Keuken, toilet en badkamer zijn enigszins gedateerd, maar dat mag de pret niet drukken. Grote garage voor twee auto's en een wasmachine en droger al geinstalleerd!

Zodra het contract getekend is, gaan we adreswijzigingen sturen. Nog even geduld.

A new car!

Integration is important so when in America, when living in the States you'd want to have a big car: and voila -> today we finalised the adventure of buying a small SUV. A 4WD Hyundai Santa Fe, 2.7 V6, automatic. Anita is very happy she does not have to be ashamed of parking her car on the parking lot of the shopping mall and even more so that the engine of her car is bigger than the one of Staszek's car!

Together again

Anita and the cats arrived late afternoon on Friday 05/05/2006.
Staszek made it to the airport in time without problems (thanks to tomtom) and at 16:30 everybody was together again!

Jip & Janneke seemed to have survived their first transatlantic journey pretty well. Jip lost his voice a little bit and Janneke needed a bit longer to get used to her new home, but they were eating and drinking almost immediately.


We used the weekend to look for housing, a car for Anita and checked out the neighbourhood..

Goodbye Anita!

After one night in an empty house with the cats, it was time to get ready for the big 9.5 hour trip to Chicago. With the help of some valium, a relatively quiet Jip & Janneke were put into their temporary travel homes and off we went to Okecie airport in Warsaw. After a 'thorough' cage inspection by the Polish border police, they were taken away by a LOT employee to be taken to their reserved seats in the cargo area of the flight LO 001. With a delay of only 20 minutes we were on our way to the USA.

Packing...

With Staszek gone, it was time to pack everything and get ready for the big move. The moving company started the whole expedition on 2 May, which resulted in a living room and kitchen full of boxes. The finishing touch was put on 4 May: a 20 ft container filled with our stuff left ul. Pytlasinskiego at 16.00 for Gdynia->Bremerhaven-> New York -> final destination Chicago. If all goes well, we will be sleeping in our own bed again around the 9th of June, but where in or around Chicago that will be still has to be decided.