Sandy, New York and London Baby...!

Sandy

Morning all. Here I am again, glued to Sky news watching reports of what's happening on the other side of the pond. My hearts go out to everyone who has been affected by Sandy - it truly is horrendous. Stay safe everyone.

New York, New York - a Wonderful Town!

All the film footage from Times Square has evoked lots of memories for me. Eight years ago around this time, we were there. Just me and Mia, who was just 9 at the time. Quite an adventure for us. We did all the usual touristy stuff, and we got to taste our very first Krispy Kreme doughnuts (I am a convert..). It was also a special time to be there for two other reasons - the Big Apple Fest and the Gore/Bush Presidential Election.

The Big Apple Fest was amazing! Hundreds of "Big Apple" sculptures, decorated by local and international artists, popped up all over New York as part of the Big Apple Fest, a public art initiative to promote the city and benefit charities. We had huge fun looking for the apples during our stay, and we managed to find quite a few. Here are some of them:

     

And then there was the election. What an amazingly exciting time to be in New York! Here we are at the Rockefeller Centre - I've never seen so many flags - or so many police officers packing guns...

Presidential Elections are very exciting, and as they only come round once every four years, it's important that we take the opportunity to teach our children about the reasons for elections and the process behind them. If you're looking for some help, I have made up some child-friendly packets that you may have already seen floating around. You can check them out in more detail in yesterday's post here.

London Baby...!

As a lifelong "Friends" fan, I can never talk about London without hearing Joey's immortal words - "London, baby...!". We're off there tomorrow for a few days in the Big Smoke. I'm looking forward to it because we'll get to spend some time together as a family - me, Mia, my mam and dad, my brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew... Phew..! It'll be lots of family stuff, like a visit to Madame Tussaud's wax museum (groan..), the Imperial War Museum (which is absolutely fantastic) and an absolute must is Buckingham Palace. There's a fantastic exhibition at the V&A that I'm hoping to catch - costumes worn by the stars in Hollywood blockbusters. James Bond's tux, Indiana Jones' leathers and whip, Dorothy's dress and ruby slippers - and THAT iconic dress that Marilyn wore in Seven Year Itch . I'll keep you posted.