BERLIN BABY and a snow storm WHAT!?!?!

WHERE BACK... and boy did we have some ADVENTURES hahaha oh I love how cheesy i can make these blogs, I actually LOVE it!

I will start you off with a few scenic pictures.

This is ME, standing in the cold infront of the gate!

Rita and I were so lucky we just stombled across this, its the Berlin Dome and we didnt even know it existed =S

We stayed at a hostel called Hostel4Youth and it was in a great location and it was more like a Hotel. Even thought we booked 2 beds in a 4 bedroom room we ended up getting our own room with 3 beds and our own bathroom, which was very nice. It was located right by the tube line and it had some really good resturants and convience stores around it that came into great use. Friday night we got there at around 11:30 and then once we settled in we went out for a walk and discovered the BEST EVER italian resturant that had the BEST EVER pizza for 2.70 EUROS and so we had pizza and cocktails before heading to bed. We got up bright and early Saturday to enjoy our FREE breakfast and we headed to Berlins oldest church St.-Marien-Kirche and we found the Berlin Dome as well!

From there we went to the East Side Gallery which is a section of the Berlin wall that has had famous graffiti artists come in from all over the world to paint it. I LOVED THIS, it was my favourite spot I think... Although it was restored in 2000 it has still be weathered off is sections and there are holes and everything in the wall... althought its sad that its begining to deteriorate I enjoyed the feel of it. Rita and I even found stores that sold peices of it and so we each came home with pieces of the wall! It was a very nice walk from the beginning to the end. From there we tubed to a concentration camp, which had 13 barracks 11 of which were in their original form. We were disappointed in the sense that we couldnt get a tour because you had to book them early and even then they were in German, and also the museum aspect of it was all in German so we could only look at the picture =( but none the less I wouldnt have skipped it. On Saturday we were just on the ball we were able to get a lot done, we also saw Unter den Linden the gate, parliment and Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas a jewish memorial.

Saturday night we went out for dinner and were planning on going on a pubcrawl because Adrian and Cat suggested it, but when we showed up to the meet up point it was very sketchy and it looked more like a bunch of 16yr olds who had nothing to do so they were hanging out on public stairs listening to a boombox and drinking.... so we skipped that crown and found our own bars to go to! We spend most of our time at a bar that was on the top floor of a resturant and they DJ was amazing... we wished he worked at a club in London. I love how much fun Rita and I can have all by ourselves (HEART)! And of course we couldnt end the night without food so we went back to the Italian resturant and got another PIZZA! it was LOVE.

Sunday we went to Schloss Charlottenburg a famous Palace it was HUGE obviously it was a palace. With our entrance fee we got a audio tape tour which in the past thought were stupid but I LOVED IT, it was a nice way of learning a lot but still being able to do what you wanted. In the past we've only done guided tours but my ADD kicks in and ya so the audio tour was fabulous. From there we went to Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz the house were the Final Solution was created. This museum was so well put together, it started from the very beginning and talked about how Hitler got into power and ended with how the trials. In the room where the meeting was were the original documents from then, started from the invitations to the meeting and what was finalized at the meeting. From then we went back to the hostel to get our stuff and head home... little did we know what was in store!

The timeline of our night...
9:55pm - our flight was suppose to leave Berlin
10:15pm - we left Berlin
10: 30pm - we were told that our airport (Stansted) was closed, so we were flying into Gatwick
11:00pm - we leaded at Gatwick
11:pm- we loaded off the plane and noticed the 1inch of snow on the grow (below picture)
12:00am - our shuttle bus into the airport was finally there, we were told a bus would come to take us to Stansted in 1hour
4:00am - our bus came
6:00am - we got to Stansted
6:30am - we caught our bus to Stratford Tube station
8:30am - got to Stratford
9:00am - we got home

hahaha just thought you'd enjoy that timeline as much as WE DID... oh ya and we were suppose to be at Stansted originally by 10:40pm, but our 1inch snowstorm changed that.


Anyways, the girls school/nursary has been closed for the last two days because there was a total of 6inchs of snow hahaha love it the UK has no idea what snow is. But its fun, today we went out and played in it... and they had never done that really. Livy didnt even know what Snowpants were, or how to make a snowball!

Hope the weather there is nice!

Low Key Weekend

This weekend was unexpectingly low key... but thats aloud because FRIDAY we leave for BERLIN, which has a huge reputation for being a party place!!! WOOT WOOT can you tell i'm pumped!

Friday I babysat the girls while Sara went to a dinner party with the other woman who are on Isabellas nursary committee. It was fine, i dont mind babysitting Fridays because by the time they roll around I'm exhausted. But Thrusday me and the girls went to The George, this is becoming a Thrusday night ritual. So Matilda, Kylie, Ula, myself and these two new au pairs we met came out. Matilda had been joining Au Pair meeting groups and such and doing a great job at recuiting new friends lol, there was one from Germany and one from France, they were both 21 and seems cool enough so we hopefully will get more chance to meet them this Thrusday. I really enjoy getting together with the girls on Thrusday its a nice relaxing break after working all day and they are all fun. We are trying desprately to plan weekend stuff but everyone has such busy schedules hardly any of us have the same days free... but we did make plans for Feb 13 - 15th weekend so its something to look forward to. They can all be my Valentine seeing that i'm away from my man!

Saturday Rita and I re-planned our trip to the British Museum because we wanted a cost free day because we were going to the house party at night. This museum is HUGE... there is so much to see we mainly explore Greece and Rome and we went on a free eyeopener tour of Early Ancent Eygpt that was very interesting. Our guide was a volunteer and I liked this best because she was so interesting in teaching us! The had mummy remains of a man who because he was burried in the Redland in the desert where its so hot the sand preserved his body and he even had HAIR left of him. Then there was bones from another person remains and this person was preserved as well because he was burried in a wooden grate and therefore the sand couldnt preserve his body and the bacteria from his inside decayed his remains. They also had the tumb on Cleopatra! It was VERY COOL, we are hoping to go back again to see the other part, because althought it is all very interesting undoubtablely my ADD kicked in and I got bored and hungry!

So Saturday night was our big house party to attend however the British Friend Gods weren't on our side and we never made it. Londons public transportation was against us and all access to there area of town were down (ie. tube, bus, and DLR) and then when we called a cab it never came and so by 11 we gave up seeing that the party started at 7 =S but Rita and I had a good night together watching 2nd Season Finalle of Greys! But don't worry I message Fran (the girl whose house it was) and we are going to arrange drinks again soon so the potential friendship is still kicking.

Sunday we also took in easy because Rita was sick and because we planned our Berlin trip all morning! I love planning trips it make its so real and it gets you so pumped for the FUN!

Catherine I hope you had a good Birthday Friday Night!
<3

Fresh and Vibrant vs. Old and Feeble

My weekend was a mixture of adventure and relax, I spend my days exploring my favourite and new markets and Saturday night us girls went out!

Friday night I stayed in and spent so well needed time doing a bunch of things I've been putting of i.e. starting stag t-shirts for Jeff and Ash but Im happy to stay that they are started and are looking good in my opinion! It was nice to have a low key night and go to bed early and get a good night sleep because I was lacking that since Ive been back.

Saturday Rita and I were planning on having a low key day with a trip to the British Museum but the weather was sunny and nice so we changed our planned and went to Notting Hill instead and hung out on Portabello Road (one of my favs.). We actually discovered a new subsection of the market that we never saw last time and it was actually really cool and exciting! We were meaning to go to South Kensington Palace to the Orangary for tea because its on our list of things to do but by the time we were done at the market it was already 4:30 and we figured it was closed so we will just save it for another day. Then we headed back to my house (Rita slept over) to have dinner and get ready. We also took that time to plan our next trip to BUDAPEST and we get an extra day there because I get that Friday off!!!

Saturday night Rita and I headed to Leicester Sqaure to go to Oxygen a new bar but it was POURING rain and we couldnt find it so we just went to Zoo Bar again. But this time we stayed upstairs and listend to all the classic top 40's and hits from the 90's it was GREAT. Matilda ended up showing up and joining us with was great also needless to say we stayed out way to late and I didnt get to bed till 6AM. Man my body isn't the same as it used to and I can no longer keep up with 18 and 19 yr olds (Matilda).... Sunday was a write off!

BUT Rita and I forced ourselves out of bed EARLY to go to Brick Lane Market, a new market thats underground! There is an old double decker bus parked outside that has been turned into a organic resturant... we need go sunday but Im definately going to take Cassie there.

Also good news... Sara got her holidays so Cassie is for sure coming April 3 - 19th, and she told me that Daniel is FOR SURE aloud coming, so if all goes as planned he will come in MAY <3

LOVE IT

Us Girls walking to the Night Bus at 4AM in Piccadily Circus
(acting like tourist on purpose)

Me and Bell today making funny Faces (shes getting SO big!)

Weeding out Consumerism

Its Monday and my first weekend back was a good one, had a lot of fun hanging out and catching up with everyone.

After work on Friday night I took the DLR over to Ritas house and from there we went to the Docklands (the line of bars by the Thames that we went to the first night Rita was here) and we went to a bar that Silivio recommended Bar 38. The bars along the Docklands are all pretty swanky because its right by Canary Wharf the business center of London and all the men and woman go there to unwind after work with their briefcases and suits. It as really cool actually the bars open early but close at like 12 and then everyone heads somewhere else, and the crowd is older than all the other places we went... since the drinking age is 18 usually the club crowds are younger but this was all people our age or older which was a nice change. So Rita and I got drinks and found a spot to sit and catch up about our holiday and then the people sitting by us started talking to us: Fran, Mark, Tommy and William. We spent the rest of our night with them and they have not invited us to their housewarming party on the 24th (Fran and Mark just moved in together).

Saturday we really didn't have any plans and we spend most of the morning lazing around and planning our next trip... which is on January 30 - Febuary 1st and we are heading to BERLIN!

Sunday Rita and I met up early on Oxford St., January and August are when all shops have sales and so we went to check them out. Now I had told myself I was not going to be a consumer any more partly because its totally uneccessary but also because there is no way I am going to be able to pack all this stuff home in the end. But then again it is me and my favourite store had 50-70% off of everything, but Im proud I only spend 16 pounds and I bought a BEAUTIFUL new skirt and to shirts that can be worn with jeans or tights! While we were in town we received a text from Silv and he had a friend coming done from Italy and they invited us out for dinner at their favourite Spanish place in Greenwich and it had GREAT tapas and sangria!

It was a good end to a nice weekend!
Hope it was nice in Canada <3

Life is like a Box of Chocolate

Keeping to one of my new years resolution here is another entry =)

Today was a fabulous day... and why wouldnt it be seeing that it is the first Wednesday of the new year and we all should know that Wednesdays are my favourite day of the week.

My week has been going great other than the fact that this jet leg is kicking me in the ass... I mean last time I didn't feel any jetlag but I think its because last time I was so nervous and everything was so new I was forced to settle in, where as this time everything is normal and ordinary and thus jetlag is kicking me in the ass. But I think that its getting better... I am now sleeping at night but I just tired all the time, and im sure this weekend won't help because its back to another busy adventure weekend with Rita again.

Anyways back to my day today Livy didn't go to school this morning because she had a meeting at a private school they are applying to. (They are sending her to private school next year if she gets accepted and they have applied to two: Forest and Bancroft) So today at 11 she had her Bancroft appointment. Note: Private schools here cost average 10,000 pounds a year thats around 20,000$ a year and because shes 6 she has 10 more years of school left... all of which will be at private school! HOLLA HIGH ROLLA So that was an excited thing today, seeing that anything that is out of the ordinary is exciting to us haha. Then today in my Year One class I got a box of chocolates for Christmas but since I wasn't there the last day of school I got them today! It was a very nice surprise :)

Crazy playground story: The other day I was walking around the playground holding hands and having a conversation with Ivy (a cute girl in my class who has long blonde hair and blue eyes) and she asked me "why do we go to school?" and I said "we go to school to learn and become smart" and her response was "BUT IM A GIRL, GIRLS AREN'T SMART"! I was shocked shes 5 and how the heck did she get that idea... so I asked her... and her spacecadet answer was "only boys are smart because they dont have hair" haha THE END

The icing on the cake of why today was so good was because Livy has football tonight and she FINALLY won the game trophy!!! She has come home so many times crushed because she has tried her hardest and hasn't gotten it and today SHE GOT IT and I was sooo proud <3

All and All = GREAT DAY + I have my Online Date tonight lol thats actually why Wednesdays are my favourite day ever!

Back to Life - Back to Reality

AND WERE BACK IN THE GAME!

Hello Everyone,

Before I start I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, I hope everyone had a great holiday with their family and friends!

My visit home was super busy and super fun... thank you very much to everyone who had a chance to hang out with me and I'm sorry that my time with each of you was def. shorter than I wanted but not to worry I shall be home for good in no time.

In true Jenn fashion, tons of stuff went wrong with my flight haha... After Ashley dropped me off that the airport (thanks again!) I went to register for my spot on the plane, which I paid for 2 months ago and they said because they OVER BOOKED the flight lucky me was put on STANDBY. OMG can you just imagine the mood I was in after leaving my family, friends and Daniel and then to find out that because AIR CANADA sucks I might not even get on the flight I have paid around 500$ to be on! BUT at least luck looked my way and a spot had opened up for me. Next my flight that was super to leave at 8:40pm didn't end up taking off till 10:30... did i mention I hate international flying. I arrived at my England home at 1:00 and was greeted with a GREAT BIG HUG from Olivia and Bell and it was soo nice. I had thought that they may have reverted back to their bad behaviour when I was gone but Livy is still acting fabulously and it made me so happy because then I started thinking that when I leave for good in July that she will stay a good person, which at first I was a little sceptical of. Before I had left for Christmas Sara had invited me to the family trip to watch Pantimime so we went to that at 5:00 and for a childrens play it didnt get over till 8, I was dying by then end of it. I finally got to bed at 9:00pm and was awake for 30hrs straight!

Im actually excited to be back, while I didnt really think about my girls that much because I was so busy but I def. missed them when I saw them so its nice to be back and be able to hang out with them again. The difference between my two homes its when I'm away from here I dont really miss it even though I love Issy and Livy but when I'm away from Canada I DEFINATELY MISS PEOPLE :(

But... I'm excited for all that is to come and see and I know come August I will be ready to go home and start my life <3

PS. my new years resolution is to no NEGLECT my blog hahaha so if I start to slack keep me on the ball!

Rainbows and Butterflies

the girls (or tigers) after the christmas bazaar

Good Morning, its Monday and im making myself write this blog while I watch The OC, because if I dont do it now I know it wont get done. This weekend was actually better than I thought it would be considering the fact that I had to be awake by 7am both Saturday and Sunday. So the girls and I went to the Christmas Bazaar on Saturday and they had fun. First we went to visit Santa who is creepy here hahaha I know its a mean judgement but they put Santa and a room covered with black sheets and he sits in a corner and your not allowed sitting on his lap, and our santa even had his mustashe and beard around his neck :( seeing that it scared me you can just see how scared the girls were but they were good and brave and there were no tears. Then we went on the teacups and once Bell came off she couldnt walk straight haha it was hilarious!
Once we were done at the Bazaar I met up with Rita in Oxford Circus, for the Traffic Free Shopping Day... it was INSANE there were so many people but it as also a success and we both found nice new DRESSES, so now i just need to decide which one im going to wear to the wedding and see whict one gets New Years! Once we finished shopping we headed back to The Maple Left for some nice Canadian food and man did it make me desire pub food from home (note friends we will have to go to Mortys for wings and fries when I get home!). Its funny because we were dressed all classy for the ballet and then we ate pub food but we loved it! The ballet we went to was called Ondine and it was kinda like The Little Mermaid but this prince had a woman on land and in the sea and he was playing them both back and forth and ended up dying in the end so it was actually like Little Mermaid meets Romeo and Juliet. The Royal Opera house was amazing and the ballet experience was interesting haha it was beautiful but not really our cup of tea, i like things with words, but it does make you have different interpritation which was cool. The play had three acts and two intermissions that were each a half an hour so that was a little excessive but it was a nice classy night out!

Sunday morning I woke up with the girls (well Livy got them breakfast) and I listened from my bed to make sure everything was ok. Funny side story: Isabella was giving Livy a hard time so Livy mimiced what I say and said "Isabella Jack thats Enough" but she left a pause between Isabella and Jack and then Bell responded twice with "MY NAMES NOT JACK" hahaha it was so cute I was laughing quitely in my bed. Anyways we all watched a festive Christmas movie together and then we acted out Livys school play (she has the leading role with 22 lines, and her characters name is Jenny!) and we sang Christmas Carols. Aww us three are a really cute family haha. Jay came down at about 10 and then I met up with Rita, Silv and Marius for the day. We went shopping and then skating and Marius lady friend joined us for that. The skating was in Canary Wharf the business place in London on a block called Canada Square (i guess the canadian government sponsers it). So of course because its Canada Square the ice rink was located there (and they even had a bar called The Moose Bar!). But unlike at home skating it was sooo expensive here... it was 12 pound (thats 24$) for an hour skate with rentals. But they dont have a zambonie so by the time we went (5:30) the ice was shit and the skates were shit but the experience was a blast!

Here are a few pics... the first is Rita and I being our cute lovely selves, and the second is an action shot!

we love a good boop

<3 ice skating in canada square <3

Now its Monday... and I have just come back to writing this (i had to leave mid way to go be a midday) hahaha which is actually going awesome. I now have my own class of year ones I take care of and there the cutest. I do have my favs. on the play ground even though thats not suppose to happen haha you can stop it from happening, but they are all so cute in their uniforms and accents. The other day actually a two little girls were so amused by my accent and then proceeded to ask me if I knew Gabriella... and I said "No where is she from?" thinking that she was a student in their class from North America and their response was "High School Musical" hahaha LOVE IT!

Anyways back to it being Monday... I've already gotten very stressed out by David and I'm sure there is more to come but mommy says I just need to let it go because it wont change. Which is a super shitty way of living because its really just dealing with stuff instead of having it changed but what can I do... I'm just hired help right!

One more week with a great weekend planned then I'm HOME!
<3

(note if these blog are sounding more bitting my apoligies haha but even life in England cant always be rainbows and butterflies)