Team Sullivan's Adventures in Warsaw

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Hallow-what?

We haven't seen more than a handful of jack-o-lanterns here in Warsaw these past few weeks. They are selling pumpkins at the markets. But, these are meant to be cooked with and not to

be carved. So, I started asking some Polish friends about Halloween. And found out that Halloween is simply not celebrated here in Poland.

Instead, the Poles celebrate All Saints Day on Novmeber 1st. All Saint's Day is such a major holiday over here that Tom has the day off of work. We are excited to celebrate it later this week and share our experiences.

It's a bit odd not to see any signs of Halloween around this city....no Halloween candy in the grocery store for sale, no Halloween decorations in local businesses, no jack-o-lanterns on front porches, and no one dressed up in costume ready to trick-or-treat. We did see an advertisement about one Halloween party at a bar that caters to expats but not much more.

So, tomorrow will be just another day here in Warsaw. But, our thoughts will be with our nieces and nephew. Some of our favorite Halloween memories are of taking them trick-or-treating around Chicago. During this trick-or-treating Tom happily "held" their candy bags when they got too heavy and treated himself to a snack or two. : )

If you are in Bucktown tomorrow night, look for one adorable Flamingo and a gorgeous Rapunzel....that will be our Chicago nieces. Give them some extra candy for us so they know we are thinking of them!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

LONDON!

We returned earlier this week from an exciting weekend in London! We had beautiful sunny skies to enjoy this fabulous city. The main purpose of our trip was to go to the NFL International Game at Wembley Stadium which was featuring the one and only....Chicago Bears!

We arrived Saturday morning and met up with one of Tom's friends who works for CH Robinson in Europe. We decided it was only right to grab a proper British lunch of fish and chips at a pub and wash it down with a pint! After lunch we were off to Trafalgar Square to attend the NFL Fan Rally. On our walk to the square we wandered through Buckingham Palace where we saw Chicago Bear defensive lineman, Anthony Adams, doing a television interview. In typical me style, I ran up to him and told him how excited we were to watch him play on Sunday. I asked the guy interviewing him to take my picture with him. I think Tom was partially embarassed and partially amazed. I thought it was a cool photo opp but didn't think much more about it til we started getting emails from friends. Apparently they were still filming during my photo opp and Anthony and I were on Comcast Sports Net on TV in Chicago. Pretty funny!

The fan rally was a fun time and Tom got to see some of his favorite 1985 Super Bowl Bears players being interviewed. After the rally we met up with some friends from Chicago who happen to be expats in London right now. It was great catching up with them and sharing typical expat experiences.

After breakfast on Sunday we made our way to Wembley Stadium for the big game. They hosted a large tailgate outside the stadium the entire afternoon leading up to the game. It was great fun! We enjoyed meeting people and talking to the many Chicago fans that had travelled from the states for the game. We headed into the stadium for the game. We lucked out with GREAT seats! We were sitting in the section with all of the Bears fans and had an amazing view. We were sitting behind Lovie Smith's wife and son...it was pretty cool! The Bears played a solid game and took the lead in the first half. Tampa Bay started catching up in the second half making Tom a bit nervous, but in the end the Bears WON! The crowd at the game was a bit quieter than we are used to, so Tom was definitely one of the louder ones there. : ) We went out after the game to celebrate the win!

We spent our final day in London, Monday, taking in the sites. We started the morning watching the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace (sadly we did not have a queen sighting). From there, we took the big red tour bus all around the city to take in the sights. We tried heading to the Ritz for afternoon tea but apparently you need to make reservations 3-4 months in advance. Good to know for next time! We spent the late afternoon walking around Regent Street and headed to a final farewell dinner before heading back to Warsaw Tuesday morning. We had a wonderful time in London and are already talking about trying to head to next year's NFL game.