Summer Solstice at Stonehenge

-in the field outside stonehenge where we camped and where rome took his first few steps alone!!

So much has happened since our last post, I don't know where to begin, so I'll start with this past week and show some pics from our latest adventure to Stonehenge.

Once a year, on the eve of the Summer Solstice, Stonehenge is opened to the public to go inside and experience the area from 8:30 p.m to 8:30 am (usually there is a rope that prevents people from getting too close and so the stones can only be seen from a distance). There were hippies and druids, ravers and old-time soul searchers, drum circles and drunkards, country bumpkins and a bunch of other crazy people (like us) who headed out & camped overnight to see the sun rise inside the stones at 4:00 am, experiencing what it was possibly created for.

Although it is still a mystery how they built or used this sacred temple, it was constructed over 3,000 years ago and the massive stones were aligned so that the sun rose above the heel stone and shone through the center of the circle on the sunrise of the first day of summer-the solstice. It was a very interesting experience and, although it was cloudy that morning, the sun did poke through for a short moment and made it worth the effort and sacrifice (just our sleep for one night-not a lamb or our first born like they probably used to do). These pics tell the story better than I can, so here they are.....




drinking wine from rome's sippy cup


stonehenge at sunset with merlin in the background

the crowd gathers inside the circle

druids??
arthur pendragon (aka. "King Arthur the Once and Future King Reborn" giving a blessing with his excalibur sword)
waiting for the sun to come out...

with 20,000 other people the sun peeking through the clouds (can you see it in the center? that was it!)

more solstice characters
a magic wand

love & kisses for being such a great baby and going along with all our craziness without any fuss

Tina and Valentina in London

In May, we had a few visitors including BFF Tina and her little girl, Valentina. We explored London with the little ones, stopping at parks and playgrounds along the way. Here are some highlights from their trip....
tina with rome and valentina on the millenium bridge in front of st. paul's cathedral

exploring the backstreets of Islington running around outside of buckingham palace our first beer at the george--in the rain


afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason yummy cupcakes checking out the rocks togetherpracticing to walk in the gift shop at stonehenge t & baby v at stonehenge valentina in front of the cathedral in salisbury

the abbey at the salisbury cathedral

last night in london at the house of lords champagne reception a night out with champagne--and no baby- in our hands. aaah.

with queen elizabeth at the house of lords
romance along the river thames

Roman luxury in Bath

Last weekend, we went to the old Roman town of Bath in Somerset. The natural springs found here made it a very sacred and wealthy town. The Celts bathed and worshipped before the Romans came in and built grand bath houses and theaters. One thousand years later, much of the town was architected by a suspicioned member of the Knights Templar and has many mysterious symbols designed into the streets and buidlings constructed, most of which still remain today. Bath is a lovely town steeped in history and surrounded by natural beauty.

We , of course, had treatments in the new spa just built and soaked in the natural healing waters of the baths (they didn't even have a spa here for the last 20 years until last November!!! Can you believe??)

Ston Easton Hotel

The place we stayed in Somerset was the highlight -- a gorgeous mansion house with lush gardens and four poster beds. My best mother's day present yet-). If we timed it right, we should have come here after car camping at Stonehenge to work out some of the kinks my back still has....

view from our window in the morning

playing around

the gardeners cottage at the property - the gardens were so vast, especially the kitchen gardens--this is actually where she lives

view from the bathroom- can you see the cows in the distance? old mac donald had a farm....

Birthdays & Holidays

The past month has been too busy for words- at least to too busy write them down here. Rome's been babbling away though and is starting to make sounds that even resemble words in their correct usage--or so it sounds.


In March, we visited friends & family in New York. Rome's nonna (grandma), aunt and new cousin, Michaela, came down from Maryland for a visit over the weekend and Rome had a little pre-birthday celebration with them and his extended Italian family -- including his great- grandmother pictured below. Daniel worked during the week while Rome and I explored the parks & playgrounds, did mom & baby yoga, shopped at Buy, Buy Baby and met an old friend for a walk in Central Park with her new baby. I saw a whole different side of Manhattan I've never seen before. We even took the Staten Island ferry with our friend Katie who was visiting, went out to a restaurant with flamenco dancers with Daniela and hung out a bit with Alli and JJ in the West Village.




















April began by celebrating Rome's first birthday. On that Wednesday, we had cake and then went with his friend Alexander to Zoomaround, an indoor soft-play center full of balls, slides, and tunnels to crawl through. They had a ball!

We spent the weeekend celebrating at Spitalfield's Market and City Farm, one of the many local parks with farm animals for children to learn and explore. No day is complete without a trip to the playground to take Rome on the swing and slide--his new favorite pastime. Rome's also been working on his motor skills and the week before 1st his birthday picked up his walker and started to go -- around and around the kitchen and living room. He did laps for quite some time and hasn't stopped going since!

The days are getting warmer and we're starting to get some semblance of a routine finally with regular visits to our local "one o'clock club". These are large indoor/outdoor play areas filled with toys, games and activities for mums and their tots to visit between one and three in the afternoon each day. They're great for the babies to roam around with no worries with others their age but even better for the moms who need to get out of the house and meet others in their area. We've met a few nice people already and I even have a routine with Alexander's mom, where one of us watch the boys while the other goes to work out at the gym next door. It's working out quite well and I hope continues.

Easter Sunday was spectacular with Sunday service at St. Paul's cathedral.

This is our best-kept secret. It's a way to see the inside of the cathedral without paying an entrance fee (usually $20) and experiencing it with the organ, the choir, and a sermon as well. We even received blessings and Rome was offered a chocolate egg from the Bishop of London himself! All we had to do was convert to Anglicanism (j.k.-it's open to everyone) . That evening, we had a dinner at a gastropub with a big group of friends from INSEAD.


















We're also discovering beautiful treasures in our own neighborhood and are loving it more everyday. With over 160 parks and green spaces, loads of great shopping, outdoor farmer's markets, restaurants, and theater our little borough of Islington seriously has it all......

We've had a few more friends visit this month as well --- and met Noah, Daniel & Kathy's new boy who came from Montreal.

We're looking forward to the rest of spring and summer here and are gearing up for some more travel. Stay tuned to hear stories from Paris and possible even Disneyland Paris in May.

Fashion Shows, Five Star Restaurants & Friends in February

We've been really lucky to have a few friends visit us this month. Karyn came from L.A. to photograph and write a story "London Like a Local" for Marin Magazine. We started at Clarke's, the Chez Panisse of London, for brunch before heading to Portobello Market and many other interesting spots. Check out her story for more info and some beautiful shots of London and the Clivedon (there's a small chance you might even spot me in one of the pics.)

Rome joined us for afternoon tea at The Wolseley. He was, as usual, the center of attention in the buzzing restaurant and had all the staff and people sitting around us charmed. After much heavy flirting, one woman even took off her 4 carat diamond ring and diamond-studded bracelet for him to play with. He immediately tried to put them in his mouth and drop them through a crack between our booths (note-never give expensive jewelry to a baby to play with).

Alli and JJ arrived the same week for London Fashion Week. Alli exhibited her handbag collection, aGaiN NYC at the show and was part of a sustainable fashion section called "Esthetica" featuring very stylish fashions that are gentle on the environment. She was also chosen out of 5 designers to be featued at a fashion show held at the Science Museum called "Refashioned: from Waste to Wear". Alli, who had never even been to a fashion show, almost missed it since she was conducting a workshop upstairs making buttons with vintage fabrics. She was swarmed with people so I stayed at the booth to let her go down and watch. Some of the girls got their knickers in a twist when I tried but botched their "badges " as they call them. This was a highlight of the evening's events. The BBC and lots of press were there to cover the event and interviewed Alli!!

It was Rome's first live fashion show too. Since the place had a bar, they didn't allow us to sit on the floor around the catwalk but up on the mezzanine, viewing the show from above. Rome especially loved it since we were right near "backstage". He greeted all the models with a big smile as they came out and they smiled back at him and made silly faces before they went on the floor looking so serious and chic. Thanks to Alli,I got passes to the London Fashion Week sample sale and rewarded myself for having lost all my baby weight by buying lots of unique British fashions. Many of the local designers were at the show manning their booths and selling their wares so I got to meet them too.

This past weekend we celebrated our friend, Randy's b-day (some of you remember him from Cornell). Randy loves "tasting menus" so a group of us had a six course dinner with wine pairings at Bacchus, a new place nearby. The chef has worked at Jean-Georges in NY and El Bulli in Spain and prepared a meal that did not disappoint, in spite of the expectations. We tried a new baby-sitter the week before on Alli & JJ's last night, and it didn' really work out, so we brought him along. Since we had a little one, they gave us our own private room upstairs to celebrate while Rome roamed around on the floor until he fell asleep. I have to say that we had the best service of any place any of us had been to in London and it was a lot of fun. Rome had a great time too!

We're finally starting to settle into life here -- Pepe joined a tennis club and is taking tennis lessons and playing regularly (so he's pretty happy). I have yet to find a good yoga center nearby but am planning to join a gym. Rome has a few new friends and has been really enjoying London-- seriously, who wouldn't want to go to a fashion show and flirt shamelessly with the models, and then to a five star restaurant to eat, roll around on the floor, sleep and then eat some more??

I've met a few nice girls--several of them new moms but am still busy unpacking and trying to get our new place in order. Hopefully, it will be done before it's time to come home.... In the meanwhile, we wish to have more of you visit in the hopes that we'll never get homesick while we're here.

photo courtesy of Karyn Millet