Staszek's new car

Staszek came home on Friday afternoon in his new automobile. A very nice all-leather-inside family car: a Volvo XC70 turbo Cross Country. Now we both don't have to worry about getting stuck in the snow this winter!

We moved!

Yes, we moved last weekend to the house on 1352 Huntington Drive. Unfortunately we don't have internet there yet, but that should change next week. Now it's taking the Apple to Panera lunch cafe where they have free WiFi: I have become a regular customer! The new house is great with the big garden and lots of space inside. The cats are very happy too and they wake us at 5 am everyday because they want to go outside, which they can, but at 7.30 am. So far, they have always found their way back home, but there are of course a lot of interesting places to be discovered in our neighbourhood, not to mention a lot of intrigueing animals like, chipmunks, ground badgers, skunks, racoons, rabbits and according to the neighbours even deer and coyotes!

The only thing we are waiting for now is our furniture. It has arrived in New York and should be on its way to Chicago, where the customs clearing will take place. A little bit more patience and if all goes well, we should have our stuff in about 2 weeks. In the meantime, the IKEA sofa bed and wooden garden set are the only items in the house so it's a bit like indoor camping, but this should all change soon!

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.

Goodbye Staszek!

Warsaw 27/04/2006, 10:00 AM.

On a beautiful sunny thursday it was time for Staszek to say goodbye to Poland.

We had a great time here in Poland, and we are sure that this is not a final farewell.

The last...

The last time I drive out of this garage;



The last time on Plac Konstitucja;



The last time I see the Palace of Culture;



The last time I park my car on a Warsaw street;



The last time I cross the tramrails to enter ul. Ogrodowa;



Chicago, here I come!

Cerise flambee & Bloody Mary's

The last weekend in Warsaw, the last meeting with Franck and Patricia on Sunday afternoon.
In order to forget the saddness of saying goodbye and to celebrate our next meeting in Chicago, we started with champagne, followed by a few strong Bloody Mary's before dinner.
The wisniowka from our Falenica garden was used to prepare a Cerise flambee with vanila ice cream (for already the third time this week!).

Sushi time

Ook onze sushi spulletjes moeten eraan geloven. De rijst, mirin, gember, wasabi, nori en sesamzaadjes kunnen helaas niet mee naar de USA dus besloten we om afgelopen vrijdag een avondje DIY-sushi te organiseren.


Onder het genot van een paar inspirerende caipirinha's gingen we aan de slag samen met Franck en Patricia. De nigiri waren snel gemaakt, maar de futomaki en sakamaki (hoe vol kan zo'n rol eigenlijk?) vergden wat meer tijd.

Na een kleine drie kwartier stond de tafel dan toch vol met onze culinaire creaties en hebben we heerlijk gegeten.

Cocktails

Het was een mooi feestje afgelopen vrijdag waar iedereen goed zijn best heeft gedaan om ons van onze drankvoorraad af te helpen.

Iedereen had iets te eten meegenomen en onze taak was de alcohol. Hoewel de combinatie van geroosterd wild met een blue hawaiian of bigos met margharita's niet meteen tot de verbeelding spreken, was het erg gezellig. Binnen no time was het tapijt opgerold en werd er enthousiast gedanst.

Om half vier namen de laatste gasten afscheid en de volgende ochtend had ik toch wel spijt van die laatste caipirinha...

Drank maakt meer kapot dan je lief is!

Deze week hebben we besloten niet te riskeren om onze verhuiscontainer een paar weken extra kwijt te zijn voor eventuele FDA (Food & Drugs Administration) controles. Het offer dat we voor deze risiko mijdende strategie moeten brengen is groot.

Gedurende de afgelopen jaren, ja zelfs al in Nederland, hebben we een mooie internationale drankverzameling opgebouwd: Koffielikeur uit Costa Rica, Peperwodka uit Ukraine, Cachaca uit Brazilie; iets wat heel raar ruikt uit Kenia, etc. etc.

Al deze vloeibare reisverhalen mogen helaas niet mee.

Gisteravond samen met Franck en Patricia al een mooie fles Grappa soldaat gemaakt en een goed begin gemaakt met de Laphroaig.

Komende vrijdag een cocktail feestje met collega's: Caipirinha's en margharita's staan al op het menu; de rest gaan we nog bedenken.

Hij is weg

Na meer dan zes jaar trouwe dienst is hij vandaag weggehaald; weg van zijn vertrouwde plekje in de schuur.

Voor het eerst sinds bijna 10 jaar ben ik motorloos. Howel ik de laatste 4 jaar nauwelijks gereden heb, is het toch een raar gevoel.

Dag ML-50-GR