Team Sullivan's Adventures in Warsaw

Monday, August 15, 2011

Three Days of Fun!

Today, the 15th, is a public holiday in Poland. There are actually two holidays that fall on this day; 1) National Army Day and 2) The Holy Assumption. There has to be some sort of irony that a religious and army holiday fall together. But, anyhow...We have thoroughly enjoyed our three day weekend in Warsaw. We have been blessed with sunny weather. We spent all day Saturday exploring some small towns and villages outside of Warsaw. We had forgotten how long it takes to get somewhere without any major highways. So, we weren't too far outside of Warsaw, but it seemed like another world. We drove through farm land and very quiet and cute towns. It was cool to see a different part of Poland. We took Charlie with us and made a stop off at a big grassy park so he could get some good playtime in. On Sunday we took Charlie to our favorite park in Warsaw, Pole Mokotowskie. He had so much fun hcasing his ball and playing with other dogs. As a special treat we even let him into the little lake to play fetch. It was so much fun to watch him go swimming and a reminder of our times in Michigan. Today we are getting caught up on some stuff around the house and relaxing. Its been quite nice to have three days of family fun!

On a aside note, we are taking our big Polish test to pass level "0". Wish us luck! And, you have to love the European numbering system...we feel so accomplished that we are almost through level "0". : )

Renovations on the Castle

Please, can I play some more?

Charlie being silly!

Friday, August 12, 2011

Tuscany Family Vacation - Part IV

Tom and I spent one day heading back to a place near and dear to our hearts.....Rome! It was so wonderful to revisit our old stomping grounds where Tom and I first met and fell in love. We started our trip a bit outside of the city and headed to the Loyola University Rome Center campus. Tom and I studied there together in the fall of 2001. It was so much fun to be back there and to see all of the changes that have been made to the campus. Now the campus is super techy with wireless internet throughout and even computer labs devoted to skype. The staff at the Rome Center were very warm and welcoming. We spent some time with them catching up and they were eager to hear about our current situation living abroad. Tom and I are going to help them with a Loyola student trip to Warsaw this fall. We are very excited to give back to such a great place!
After reminiscing at the Rome Center we headed downtown. We had forgotten how bad parking is in Rome. After a good 40 minutes we finally found a parking spot and we were off! We spent the day walking around the entire city and maanged to get to all of our favorite places. We went to the Castle San Angelo, Piazza Navona, Campo di Fiori, The Pantheon, Trevi Fountain,and the Vatican and St. Peter's (where we got engaged). Of course we also made a stop off at our favorite gelato shop just outside Campo di Fiori. It was funny how quickly everything came back to us and we were navigating the city with ease. After a long day of sightseeing we went to our favorite restaurant, Spirito di Vino, for a wonderful dinner. As always, the food was amazing and it was so much fun reminiscing about our day and all of our special times in Rome! We are so glad we decided to go back for the day. Over dinner we realized that we wind up in Rome about every five years...studying abroad 10 years ago in 2001, getting engaged in 2005, and now visiting in 2011. I guess we'll have to plan our next trip in 2016! : )