YO! Sushi

Today Matt and I had a new dining experience. In fact it is quite a cool, yet simple concept. It is a Sushi Bar but there are also other dishes on the menu. The fun part is that all of the food revolves around the restaurant in dishes on a conveyor belt. The color of the bowl/dish indicates a particular price, so you have to be careful of what you pick up because it could get kind of pricey. I think there might be a few of these places in the US, but none that I've ever come across myself. Obviously it doesn't take much to excite me. I love to try new restaurants!

Thanksgiving in Paris!

Yes, that is right. I spent Thanksgiving in Paris with my Mom! My Mother visited us the week of Thanksgiving (and my birthday), which was her first trip overseas. I was so excited to share that milestone with her! Also, she has always wanted to go to Paris since taking french in high school. Unfortunately at the time her family could not afford to send her with the french class for study abroad. Matt bought us train tickets and offered his Hilton points for our stay (as my birthday gift). It was quite a short trip for us. We took the new Eurostar from London's St Pancras station about 8:30am Thanksgiving Day. Upon arriving in Paris we were told that the train workers were on strike and we wouldn't get very far on the subway. That turned out to be a good thing b/c we would have missed a lot of the city if we would have stayed underground. Despite having to walk several miles to the other side of the city to our hotel, we had a fabulous time taking in all there was to see. We didn't have time to go into any museums or other important buildings, but we did enjoy views of the Eiffel Tower, an evening boat cruise on the Seine River, and a casual dinner in a french restaurant. We were laughing all the way back to the hotel because of the price of our dinner. While most of the items were reasonably priced, my soda cost 8 euros (which is about $12 USD)! That was a shock. We stayed at the Paris Hilton Eiffel Tower. As you will see from our pictures, we had a fabulous view of the Eiffel Tower from our room! What a dream come true for my Mom and a lovely time for us to share. We had to leave the next morning, but will cherish our Mother/Daughter time together in the city.

Enjoy the rest of my photos at

http://picasaweb.google.com/amber.biviano/November2007!

Paris is definitely the City of Lights and the City of Romance. I hope to go back there with Matt to take advantage of all that the city has to offer. I would like to climb the Eiffel Tower for its incredible view, take a romantice boat cruise, and tour one or two of the museums. I would also like to take a day trip to Versailles to view the Palace. Matt isn't up for the museums, but would be happy hanging out at a cafe watching passers-by while I get a 'bit of culture'.

During my Mom's visit, we also took a bus tour of London, went shopping in a few of the local malls, and had a delicious Italian dinner at the coast for my birthday! I can't explain how happy I am that she was able to visit and make this trip of a lifetime!

Our little family, on my Birthday!

Kurt's Visit

In November Matt and I were blessed to have two guests visit us, in back-to-back weeks. Kurt, Matt's friend from grad school, arrived on Monday 12 November. We didn't really get to say goodbye to Kurt before we left Denver, so it was nice that he could come for a visit. He took it easy on the first day and then on the second day I joined him in London for a bit of sightseeing. I think he needed the day after that to recover from the jetlag, as he slept for most of the day. On Friday and Saturday of that week, all three of us went to London both days. One of the highlights of those days was a traditional English Tea in Fortnum & Masons (one of the first department stores, established in 1707). My how time flies when you are having fun. His visit came to an end that Sunday. We went to one airport to pick up my Mom that morning and then we dropped Kurt off at a hotel near another airport. He was going to get another day out in London before flying out the next day. Thanks for the good times, Kurt! See you when we return to Denver!

A Polish Day in London

As Matt previously mentioned, he has been traveling to Poland for several months now. Well, since mid-October the new Polish employees have been traveling back and forth between England and Poland for training. During the first weekend they had to stay in England (3-4 Nov), they were treated to a day in London. For a lot of them, this training travel was the first time they've been out of Poland much less into the great city of London. Matt and I had the pleasure of escorting them into London that Saturday. There were 22 of us altogether! Thanks to GroupSave discounts, we were able to take the train into town for a reasonable price. Our first stop was the Tower of London. Once we got through the entrance gates everyone went their separate ways. Matt and I decided to take a guided tour, since we've previously been to the Tower on our own.

After lunch, we all met back up in front of the Tower to head to our next attraction. We had tickets for the London Eye and were able to get all of us in one capsule. This gave us awesome views of London in all directions. I hear it is equally fascinating, if not more, at night when the city is lit up. Following our ride on the Eye, we split up again for the rest of the evening. Matt and I joined a few fellows for walks through the Westminster area and Leicester Square before stopping at a Chinese buffet in Soho. On the way back to the train to return home we stopped at a jolly good pub. What a wonderful day!

Even though I've only met the group on a few occasions, I feel a connection with them. We are both in a new country learning the culture and how to "survive" away from home. They are a rather young group (around my age) and are very friendly and fun-loving. Every weekend they are in town, I ask Matt if the group has any plans in hopes of joining them again. This past weekend I met a handful of them in the town centre for a bit of shopping before a late lunch. I will truly miss the group when they return to Poland for good (later this month). Many of them continue to ask when I will join Matt on one of his trips to Poland and ensure me they will take good care of me once I am there. I do hope I can join Matt after the first of the year. I look forward to visiting the Tri-City (Gdansk, Sopot, Gdynia) area in Poland and seeing my new friends again!

Rubbing elbows with the Stars!

Matt and I got to mingle with the Stars...at Madame Tussaud's in London! After waiting an hour to purchase tickets, we were finally admitted into the "grand attraction". It was very crowded, but we tried not to let that stop us from getting up close and personal with some of our favorite actors and personalities. The figures were amazingly life-like. Everyone seems much taller on television so it was surprising to stand next to some of the actors. Ha, some of the figures looked much better than the real-life versions we see on tv! I had a bit of trouble immediately recognizing a few because they appear much different. Overall it was a very cool experience - not only feeling like you were really with these people but also seeing the result of the great talent and skills that are put into creating the figures. The staging ranged from figures in the middle of your walking path to arranged areas for particular personalities. There were hundreds of figures, I wish I could tell you about them all and show pictures. But, the pictures don't do enough justice. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Madame Tussaud's (Las Vegas, New York, D.C.) I highly recommend it. It is generally a bit expensive, but quite an experience.

Please enjoy the slideshow of some of the famous faces we encountered at Madame Tussaud's!

Biviano time!

We had such a great time earlier this month visiting with Matt's family in South Carolina. They are a big and boisterous group...and I LOVE it! We don't all get together that often, but when we do it is wild and crazy times. We had a whole week full of quality family time and bonding with some new additions. I can't forget the dinner Matt and I had with a college friend and his family, as well as an old friend of mine from Batesburg.

Let me introduce you to the family: Deacon Joe & Kathy (a.k.a. Mr & Mrs B. OR Dad & Mom), Oldest child - Bridget, 2nd in line - Matt (and me of course!), 3rd - Maggie, 4th - Sarah, 5th - Tony, 6th - Peter (and new wife, Kelley). Bridget and Maggie have both been in serious relationships (with Gregg and Brian, respectively) for a couple of years now...perhaps leading to more permanent relationships soon. Nudge, nudge, boys! Sarah is now living in Nashville and Tony will be heading off to Navy boot camp in mid-November. Some of us have spread our wings farther than others, but family is always close at heart no matter where we live.

The breakdown of the week (16-22 Oct):

• Tuesday - Arrived in Columbia and joined in birthday celebrations dinner with the family. (Maggie and Bridget both celebrated birthdays this month. Dad, Mom, me, & Sarah - as well as Cheyenne - celebrate birthdays in November.)


• Wednesday - I went shopping with Sarah, which included getting pampered at a nail salon. Matt and I had dinner with the Moores and Mendenhalls in Columbia. Jonathan Moore and Matt have been best friends since college. April Mendenhall and I were neighbors back in high school, out in the boondocks of Batesburg/Saluda.


• Thursday - More shopping! Matt, Bridget, Sarah, Brian and I hung out in Harbison before heading to Peter's for a sibling cookout. Brian wasn't able to stay for dinner, but Gregg joined us. We brought a bottle of Polish vodka to share and it made 8 shots even! Maggie opted to take the picture instead of drinking up. It was awesome!


• Friday - The first half of the day was dedicated to decorating the Family Life Center for the reception. With all of us working together I think we were finish by mid-afternoon. That evening was the rehearsal for the wedding party and dinner at the Bivianos. Around 30 people attended and it was nice to have an opportunity to meet Kelley's family and Peter's firemen brothers.


• Saturday - The Wedding Day! The groom and boys met for breakfast while the rest of the Wedding Party ran around getting dressed and such. The wedding took place at 3:30 at Kelley's church. The wedding party was then escorted to the Biviano family church by fire engine, with all the bells and whistles and caravan of honking cars. Of course the reception was a blast!


• Sunday - Bridget's Surprise Party! Sarah had been planning the surprise since the summer and enlisted us siblings and some of Bridget's friend to keep the secret and make sure the day went smoothly. Maggie hosted the party at her community clubhouse. The weather was wonderful and the birthday girl was definitely surprised. We ended the evening with dinner at Mom & Dad's, before saying our goodbyes and heading to the hotel for a few hours of sleep in anticipation of an early flight back the next morning.

I am not sure when we'll get a chance to go back or when we'll all be together again, but I am looking forward to it immensely.

Have fun looking at all of our pictures from the week! http://picasaweb.google.com/amber.biviano/October2007

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

On Monday our day started out at 3am in Columbia, South Carolina. We awoke that early to pack and prepare for our flight back to England. We got to the ticket counter around 4:25 and waited until it opened at 4:35. I checked in with minimal problems, but apparently Matt's itinerary was cancelled by the airline. We had a bit of trouble coming out and it appears that whoever was handling that issue dipped into the return arrangements. Unfortunately the flight from DC to London was overbooked and there was no chance Matt was getting on that flight. We were presented with a few options, none of which we really liked, and 45 minutes later we left the ticket counter. Our original flights were a 6:09am out of Columbia to D.C., a two hour layover, and then flight to London which had us getting in around 9pm. What we ended up with was a 9:30am out of Columbia to Chicago, about a five hour layover, and then flight to London which now had us getting in at 6am the next morning (Tuesday). We were not looking forward to that at all.

The customer service agent gave us meal vouchers for the Columbia airport. I decided to use mine at a Bar & Grill for a hot breakfast. Matt passed on the voucher all together. He decided to try to get a bit of sleep on the floor in a quiet seating area. I on the other hand was very uncomfortable as it was very cold in the airport and I did not have a jacket or anything to keep me warm.

We arrived in Chicago around 10:30am. Knowing we had five hours or so until our flight, we were curious as to how long it would take to get into town. We asked a nearby shop attendant how to get into town. She said that it would be about 30 minutes by taxi (and about that in price) or 40 minutes by train and $2. We decided to try the train and soon discovered it was the slow and rickety way into town. It actually took us an hour and the stop we were told to get off at by the shop attendant was no where near where we wanted to be. We had to walk at least a mile and take some wrong turns to get to the Hard Rock Cafe. Of course I had to get a HRC Hurricane glass for my collection! During our walk we came across Maggiano's, one of our favorite restaurants back in Denver. We decided to have lunch there and man did we enjoy it! Too bad we forget about dessert and the wonderful cheesecake they serve in our concern to get back to the airport in time. Unfortunately we did not get to see anything else in the city. We hailed a cab instead of worrying about the train. We arrived in plenty of time for our next flight - which was delayed.

One positive thing about the flight from Chicago to London was that Matt and I had a row of five seats to ourselves, which meant that we could spread out to sleep. It wasn't the most comfortable, but we had it better than others. We arrived to chilly London weather. Our ride home was at least an hour. I was a bit out of it, so wasn't paying that much attention. Within 10 minutes of arriving home (around 8am) we were both in bed and slept until 3pm! After taking showers we went to pick up Cheyenne from where she was staying. She was very excited to see us and even waited by the door while we were talking to our friends. She was a little impatient to get home, if only she knew what a long two days we had. (Overall we were awake and traveling for almost 24 hours!) After falling asleep on the couch, we finally went to bed around 10pm, I think. Matt was up and down the rest of the night between the livingroom and bedroom trying to get some sleep. I tossed and turned due to a headache and body aches. The traveling really took its toll on us.

Matt had to go to work, but here I am groggy and weak at home. It seems as though I can't recover from the jetlag as quickly as before. Hopefully we'll both be back to normal by the end of the weekend. I know this post wasn't that exciting, but just wanted to share the "joys" of our travels. I love flying, but could do without the long delays on top of the long flights. I'll post more about our South Carolina activities later.

ITALIA!!!!

A few years ago Matt and I decided that we would like to take a dream vacation to Italy. We kept putting it off for one reason or another until we heard that we might be moving to Europe. Shortly after finalizing our move in May I began research for our trip. We decided to go in mid-September, hoping to miss some of the scorching summer heat but still enjoy the weather. I put a lot of time and thought into planning our trip and while some things didn’t work out quite as expected, it was a great journey nonetheless.

We left London bright and early on Sunday, Sept 9th for Rome, traveled through Italy for 10 nights/11 days, and left Venice on Wednesday, Sept 19th to return to the U.K. To make traveling easier we only brought what we could fit into a rucksack on our backs. It was nice to get around that way, but it wasn’t as convenient to do laundry as we had hoped. Also, it limited the amount and size of souvenirs we could bring home. We had some ups and downs along the way (cultural differences), but are so glad we had the chance to explore the places we did.

Below is an outline of our trip. The pictures have also been loaded to our Web Album (about 800 of them), but are not yet labeled. Stay tuned for details of the individual cities and photo captions!


Rome : Roma
Dates: Sept 9-12
Lodging: Hotel Italia
Sightseeing:

• City Bus Tour
• Vatican City: St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel
• “Caesar Shuffle”: Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, Mamertime Prison, Capitol Hill, Pantheon

Cinque Terre (Five Villages)
Dates: Sept 12-14
Lodging: Hotel Suisse Bellevue, Monterosso
Sightseeing:

• Cinque Terre Trail hike and coastal boat ride

Florence : Firenze
Dates: Sept 14-17
Lodging: Bellevue Hotel
Sightseeing:

• Science Museum
• Oltrarno Walk
• City Bus Tour, including trip to Fiesole
• Accademia (Michelangelo’s David)
  

Venice : Venezia
OUR FAVORITE CITY
Dates: Sept 17-19
Lodging: Hotel Riva
Sightseeing:

• Correr Museum
• Doge’s Palace
• Gondola Ride
• St. Mark’s Basilica
• Island of Murano
• Cruise Grand Canal
  

Recommendations before any European trip:

• Pick up a good guidebook or two. I highly recommend the Rick Steves collection, as well as his accompanying website, phrase books, planning maps, travel items. While $20-25 might seem a bit high, it is well worth it and will save you much more time, money, and energy if you invest in the right guidebook.
• Consult online websites for reviews on lodging, dining, sightseeing, etc. I highly recommend http://www.tripadvisor.com/ for personal traveler reviews and also suggest checking out the websites of cities, hotels, and attractions of which you are interested. Make reservations for main attractions as far in advance as possible. While it may not be your style to create a detailed itinerary, it is important to know when the attractions are open and what days are best for visiting. Some places require advance reservations.
• Invest in a good digital camera. We have a pretty decent digital camera for general pictures, but we wish we would’ve had a better one for indoors and nighttime photos.

Adventures in Poland

Hello all -- As you know from Amber's posts, I have been spending much time in Poland. I am sure you are wondering what in the world I am doing there. Well, for the past 10 months, I have been leading a project to setup an accounting shared service centre for First Data's European operations in Gdansk (see more below). On October 1st, we passed a huge milestone and onboarded our first wave of 25 employees. What a relief to get to this point. I was in Poland for 3 weeks straight getting the office ready for business, doing anything from assembling desks to configuring network switches. Ok, I know my degree is in Accounting, but that goes out the window when you have 25 employees getting ready to walk through the door and too much stuff to get done. Of course, I wasn't doing this on my own, but had a team of people in Poland working hard to get everything in place. What a team effort it was!! We kicked off their employment with 2 intense weeks of training and now the team is coming to the UK to begin their extended training period before we migrate back to Poland in a couple of months. For me, this means beginning the planning of the next country to migrate and more recruitment to get underway. Oh, yeah, and also more travels to another country. Never a dull moment!! Hopefully, though, I can remain in the UK for some weeks leading up to the end of the year before we migrate the team back to Poland. I am sure Amber and Cheyenne would like to see more of me!

About the Town
The office is located in Gdansk, which is a port town on the northern coast of Poland, and is joined with Sopot and Gydnia to form an area called the Tri-City region. For those of you who enjoy the beaches, you would enjoy Sopot, which is a lovely resort town. The food in Poland is really delicious, and the people are very friendly as well. I stay in a hotel in the Old Town and the buildings there are something else. My hotel is right on a river (see picture above) and so there are large boats outside my window...what a view to wake up to each morning! We are currently staying in a temporary office while our permanent office is under development. It will be ready April of next year. Oh yeah, add real estate developer to that list of odd tasks I have had to perform. The office doesn't outfit itself, so someone has to review the space planning.

The Language
I have found the key to fitting into any foreign country is to learn at least some of the language. The reception you receive when you greet them in their native language is quite pleasing rather than greeting them in English. With that, I began a daily ritual of learning a new Polish word from one of our Polish employees in exchange for me teaching him an American phrase. Phrases we say in our daily vocabulary just don't always translate over here, so you have to be careful of the odd phrases you use or they won't get the meaning. The Polish lessons started off with me learning very useful greetings and phrases, but as the project went on and got more stressful, I began to learn my range of rather 'not so friendly' words. Comes in handy when the taxi drivers attempt to overcharge you, but wait, that never happens in Europe. NOT!!!!!

Picture of the Old Town

Changing the Guard @ Buckingham Palace

On Friday September 28 I took a train into London to Buckingham Palace. Matt was still in Poland and the 28th was the last day that the Palace would be open for tours this year. Unfortunately it rained the entire day, but I did not let that dampen my mood. Haha! I had watched the weather earlier in the week to see which day would be best and Friday was supposed to be a clear day. That is England weather for you, I guess.

When I first arrived at the Palace I staked out my spot for the Changing the Guard. That ceremony began at 11:30, but I got there around 10:45 to get a good position. It was interesting just watching all of the tourists take in everything...and not listen to the guards when they told them to stay clear of certain areas. It is pretty cool to see the tradition of the ceremony and see the grandeur of it all...and know that they do this every day in the summer and every other day in the off season. Magnificent!

Anyway, once the ceremony was over I went to lunch before my 1:15 tour. Unfortunately I could not take pictures inside the Palace, nor did I get to see any of the Royal Family. It is an awesome place, really like a working museum. I mean, there are so many antiques and historical pieces in the Palace. Most of them are still used but in mint condition. If you ever make it to London this would be a great place to check out. However, if I would have to decide between Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle, I would choose Windsor Castle. Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of Britain's sovereigns since 1837. Windsor Castle is an official residence of The Queen and the largest occupied castle in the world. A Royal home and fortress for over 900 years, the Castle remains a working palace today.

CHANGING THE GUARD

The regular hand-over of guards in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace draws thousands of visitors to watch the soldiers and listen to the music.

Known as Changing the Guard or Guard Mounting, the process involves a new guard exchanging duty with the old guard.

The soldiers are drawn from one of the five regiments of Foot Guards in the British Army: the Scots Guards, the Irish Guards, the Welsh Guards, the Grenadier Guards and the Coldstream Guards.

The handover is accompanied by a Guards band. The music played ranges from traditional military marches to songs from the shows and even familiar pop songs.

When The Queen is in residence, there are four sentries at the front of the building. When she is away there are two.

The Queen's Guard usually consists of Foot Guards in their full-dress uniform of red tunics and bearskins. If they have operational commitments, other infantry units take part instead.

Household Troops have guarded the Sovereign and the Royal Palaces since 1660. Until 1689, the Sovereign lived mainly at the Palace of Whitehall and was guarded there by Household Cavalry.

In 1689, the court moved to St James's Palace, which was guarded by the Foot Guards. When Queen Victoria moved into Buckingham Palace in 1837, the Queen's Guard remained at St James's Palace, with a detachment guarding Buckingham Palace, as it still does today.

Waiting on updates...

I know everyone has been waiting on an update about our Italy trip. It is coming, I promise! It feels a bit overwhelming to try to recap our trip and also the software on my computer seemingly is not transferring all of the photos from my digital camera. I’ll have it finished before October 15, though, because we are going to SC for Matt’s youngest brother’s wedding.

Matt has been in Poland since last Monday and will be there until next Friday. Well, he’ll hopefully come home this weekend to visit his wifey and daughter. So, I’m on my own practically until we leave for South Carolina. Cheyenne is doing well. I think she enjoys me being home all day but doesn’t enjoy the rain. She loved the snow but prefers to stay out of the rain. It was a fairly nice summer and now we are getting into fall, which brings more rain. My volunteer aspirations are going slowly. I’ve got one thing going every other week or so right now. I’m actually thinking of trying to get a part-time job just to pass the time. We don’t need the money, but I need something to do besides my weekly trip into the town centre. The question will be if I do look for one, do I take anything I can get or take something that I can “apply” later when I return to the States. I do want something I'll enjoy, though.

I'll try to send out an email once I have the Italy post finished. Otherwise, check back in another week or so!

Dublin Trip: Part 1

**More photos in WEB ALBUM on left**

I'm finally getting around to posting about my Dublin trip that took place last week. I had such a wonderful time and I wasn't sure what I wanted to say about it for a while. I was in Dublin the 27-29 of August to begin family research on a branch of my family. (I'll elaborate in another post.) This was the first trip where I was completely on my own - I traveled on my own, did not meet up with anyone while in town, and didn't attend a convention or workshop. It was great! I only had to worry about myself and my own schedule. You all know how organized I am, but I tried to keep it light this trip. The important thing was that I needed to be cognisant of the opening hours for the records offices.

I stayed at the wonderful Albany House Hotel on Harcourt Street. It is a quaint Georgian building with 25+ rooms. It is within a few minutes walking distance of Grafton Street Shopping, St. Stephen's Green (park), and Stephen's Green Shopping Centre. I highly recommend this should you be in Dublin overnight. Everything in the city centre is within walking distance, which is how I got around most of the time. Some of the other main attractions, like the Zoo and Guinness Brewery, are better left to other modes of transportation. Since I was there on a fact-finding trip I did not allow a lot of time for sightseeing. I did get to see a lot of the city through my daily walking and I also took a Hop-on Hop-off bus tour. Instead of hopping off at the attractions, though, I stayed on for the entire ride just to get a sense of the entire city. It was wonderful! The first evening I ate in a traditional Irish pub, of course, and had Irish Beef & Guiness Stew...yummmm! I'm saving the Guinness tour for when Matt can join me.

One funny thing that happened is that I ran into two couples on the bus tour that were on the plane with me from London. I recognized them on the bus and chatted with them for a while before they got off. I found out that they would also be on the flight with me heading back. However, before the return trip I ran into them again in town. What a small world!

Dublin Trip: Part 2 (Family Research)

A bit of history. My mother's paternal grandparents immigrated from Ireland and my grandfather was a first generation Irish-American. That is very fascinating to me. I've always been interested in my family history, but more recently have become even more interested. Part of it is because I am in Europe and am closer to my roots, partly because I have access to some of the resources over here that I might not have ever had, and another part is because I know so little about my family past my parents' generation. I want to start my research now so that I can find out as much as I can for myself, for my older living relatives, for my children and for generations after me. As far as I know, I am Irish and German but don't ask me the percentage of my ancestry. My father's family is German from what I can gather (Schoming is a German surname). My mother's family is Irish and German. Her father's side is Irish as previously mentioned and we believe her mother's side is Irish & German. Since I have more information about her father's family, albeit very little, I have decided to start my research there. It has been difficult over the years to gather any information as my father died when I was two, his parents shortly after that, my mother's father died before I was born and her mother died when I was 11 years old. I have no other contact with my father's family and very little with my mother's family outside of her siblings and their families. As far as we know, there are no surviving family documents for either family other than civil records I might be able to obtain.

Dublin is the research mecca for Irish ancestry. How fortunate I was to be able to start my research there. From the General Register Office (civil records of births, marriages, and deaths) I found my great-grandfather's birth record (1885) and from that I found his parents' names and the town & county in which they lived (Clifden, Co. Galway), as well as the original spelling of their surname. How exciting! I also found one of his older brother's birth records (1866), which I thought would turn out to be his father's. One very interesting fact about him was that we share the same birthday - November 24! From there I took a trip to the National Library of Ireland to search through microfilm of Church/Parish records (for baptisms and marriages). I was unsucceful during that attempt as the records were very blurry and in some cases rather illegible. I found out later that they were also not necessarily in chronological order. So, I potentially overlooked relevant information. After that, I went to the National Archives of Ireland which house census records among other things. Unfortunately, they did not have census records before 1901, long story. However, from the 1901 and 1911 census records I found out a little bit more about my family at that time. The census shows who was living in the house at that time and what their "recorded" ages were. These ages weren't necessarily accurate, for a number of reasons, but it did list out some other childrens' names. All in all, I found out that there were 8 children born to my great-greatgrandparents between 1864 and 1890. I still need to find records of their marriage as well as the births, marriages, deaths, of their children. From there I can work my way up to present day. Unfortunately, it will be very difficult to work further back than 1864 as civil records are not available before then. So, I have even more reason to return to Dublin before we return to the States. I would eventually like to visit the area where my family came from. You never know who I might run into there!

This will be a project that will last several years I'm sure, as I have other branches of my family to research...as well as the Biviano family! I would like my future children to know what they can about Matt's family tree too!

K9 Capers Fun Day

On our way to the park today we saw signs for 'K9 Capers'. Curiosity got the better of us and we followed them to another park in the country. Turns out it was a fair for dogs! There were competitions, displays, vendor booths, and an agility course that Cheyenne could just not pass up. She was in puppy agility as a youngster but sadly we did not continue her training. All proceeds go directly to Gemini Kennels for the care of neglected and ill-treated dogs.

The pictures below are from the event. Matt wasn't as quick with the shutter as I was, so during my course with Cheyenne it looks like I'm doing the obstacles instead of her! I wanted to enter her into the Prettiest Female competition, since she just so happened to get groomed yesterday, but we left before it began. She is also showing off her new car harness, which she is still getting used to.

Hallo, Familie und Freunde!

Guten Tag! Ich bin Frau Biviano. Ich heiße Amber. Ich arbeite nicht. Mein Mann heißt Matt und er arbeitet bei First Data Corporation. Wir haben ein Haus in England, aber wir sind von Kolorado im USA. Wir wohnen in England bis 2009. Wir haben keine kinder aber wir haben einen Hund. Sie heißt Cheyenne.

I am trying out my German. We've learned a lot more than this, but I wanted to give you an introduction. Let's see if you can figure out what I'm saying without looking at the English version below. I'll try to write in German every once in a while for practice and for kicks!


Hello, Family and Friends!
Good day! I am Mrs. Biviano. I am called Amber. I do not work. My Mister (husband) is called Matt and he works for First Data Corporation. We have a house in England, but we are from Colorado in the USA. We live in England until 2009. We have no children but we have a dog. She is called Cheyenne.

Nothing Much New

Well, there hasn't been much happening since I returned from South Carolina. But, we are looking forward to travels and visitors each month until the end of the year. Matt has traveled for work the last couple of weeks - Germany, Poland, and Austria - but has nothing "fun" to report on as it was all business. We've been taking German language lessons for over a month now. We'll continue to do so through next year, I believe. The company is paying for language lessons and we thought German (Deutsch) might be the best for us to learn as it would benefit Matt professionally while here. German can be a bit confusing at times, but is definitely fun! I can't wait to really use it.

So, let's see...as far as traveling in the future:
• Late August – I hope to make a mini trip to Dublin, Ireland to conduct genealogy research on my mother’s family.
• September 9-19 – Our trip through Italy!!!!
• Early October – Matt will be in Gdansk, Poland the first two weeks and we are thinking that I should join him for a few days over the first weekend.
• Week of October 20 – We will be in South Carolina for Matt’s youngest brother’s wedding (Peter Biviano to Kelley Shirley).
• Late November – My Mom, and possibly my Aunt, are planning a visit during the week of Thanksgiving (and my birthday) for their first trip to England/Europe.
• Early December – Matt is scheduled to be in Vienna, Austria at this time and I would like to make another long-weekend visit.
• Christmas – We are planning to spend the holiday in Paris, France!

Together, Matt and I have traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland and parts of England. His business travel has taken him to Ireland, Germany, Poland, Austria with other countries in the future. I hope to travel to each of those places at least once while he is there.

This is such a great opportunity for us and the right time in our lives. We will definitely take advantage of all that we can while in Europe! And remember...there is always a room waiting for any of you that get the travel bug!

Family Dinner at Bridget's New Home

First Picture: Table 1 - Dad, Mom, Brian, Bridget, Uncle David
Second Picture: From L to R - Brian, Maggie, Bridget, Gregg

While in town for my high school reunion, I was able to attend a Biviano Family dinner at Bridget's new home. It was fantastic to have everyone there...well, minus Matt and Sarah! At the lake last year all of the siblings were there, but not the significant others. This time they were there, including a new addition (Tony's new girlfriend). Even Uncle David was in town and joined us. It was great to have that time with family. Bridget and Dad remodeled this house and it was a wonderful little place for her first home. The full album can be viewed using the link on the left. Click on the pictures here for larger view.

Batesburg-Leesville High School Class of 1997 Reunion

Me, Jesse Johnson, Melissa Maroney McVey


On the dance floor!


Allison Ray Hall & Tiffany Furtick Fallaw, Event Planners


Becca (my BFF - 16+ yrs) and her man Sean

I recently returned to South Carolina to attend my high school reunion. (10-16 July) I have been looking forward to my 10-year reunion for a couple of years now, even though the planning only began at the beginning of this year. Honestly, I didn't enjoy my high school years that much so for quite a while after graduation I didn't want to have anything to do with my small town. I kept in touch with a handful of friends and that was enough for me. Once we moved to Colorado I started to look back on my life and realized that high school, and Batesburg-Leesville for that matter, were just a small part of my life. Many years have passed and we are all [hopefully] better, more mature people. I wanted to see my former classmates and were genuinely interested in what they had been up to the last 10 years. Whether or not I would be disappointed in the event, I knew that I would regret not attending. Even though we are living in England now, I was fortunate enough to make the trip back to South Carolina for this special time.

Tiffany and Allison did a wonderful job of planning the event. Sadly, there were numerous people from our class not in attendance but that didn't stop us from having a great time! It was nice to reminisce with everyone and catch up on the years. I can't wait for the next one!

Tour de France - Le Grand Depart - Stage 1: London to Canterbury

Before the race began


The Race Leaders in Tenterden


The rest of the pack approaches


*See the rest of our pictures in the Web Album on the left!

Matt and I took advantage of the opportunity to see a leg of the first stage of the Tour de France on Sunday. We drove to Tenterden for a nice quiet spot to watch the riders. We got into town around 11:00am, bought some things for lunch later, and found a nice shaded spot to set our picnic mat down and wait for the race to come by. At around 12:30pm the Caravan started to come through. The Caravan is made up of 200 sponsors, vendors, and race partners that come through a city ahead of the riders to hand out free stuff. Sadly, they stopped right in the town centre but since we were about a mile out of the centre we only saw them zooming by at about 50 mph. Matt did get hit by a flying body-wash bottle, that a person chucked out at him at a high speed. LOL! At around 2:25pm the first five leaders came through and within minutes the mass of other riders sped past. It was only over in a matter of minutes and then everyone packed up to drive home. We didn't have to deal with a lot of traffic to and from the town and had a peaceful picnic out in the beautiful weather. It may not have been the huge celebration one would imagine but it was our chance to be a part of the Tour. I know that in London/Greenwich and Canterbury there was much more excitement as those towns were the start and finish of the first stage.


Notes about the Tour:

*Stage 1 of the Tour was 126-mile route from Greenwich to Canterbury
*There are 189 riders in 21 teams
*There are 20 stages of the Tour to be completed in 22 days (includes two days of rest)
*The Tour started in 1903 by L'Auto newpapers - keen to use cycling as an event to boost its circulation by staging a race around France
*The Tour de France is the world's most watched sporting event
*In the early years of the Tour the race comprised of just six stages - but the riders were expected to ride through the night, with no breaks for sleep.

Royal Air Force Museum London

In order to avoid another boring weekend, Matt and I decided to visit the Royal Air Force Museum in London. It is difficult for us to get out and do things b/c everything is so expensive here, but thankfully the RAF Museum is free (something we need to take more advantage of in the states too). After spending two hours at the site we realized that we would not finish touring everything that day and would need to return. There is just so much to see and read. We stayed for another hour and a half and then headed home, looking forward to our next visit. Matt just loved looking at all of the aircraft and learning about the history of flight. Unfortunately most of the pictures didn't turn out quite as well as we'd hoped, but good enough for a memento of the day. (Now maybe he will buy me the fancy digital camera. Hehe.) See our photos in the Web Album on the left.

The Royal Air Force Museum London is Britain's only national museum dedicated fully to aviation. From a total collection of well over two hundred aircraft, over a hundred full-size aircraft (including the legendary Spitfire and Lancaster Bomber) from all over the world as well as artefacts, aviation memoribilia, fine art and photographs are displayed under cover on the historic site of the original London Aerodrome.

Also this weekend we decided to take in a movie. This is our second one since being in the U.K. and we still aren't used to the sticker shock - a movie ticket cost 7.00 GBP per person, which is 14.00 USD! Unfortunately there are no matinee discounts. We keep saying that we have to stop thinking about prices in US terms or we will never do anything. Matt wanted to see the new Ocean's 13 movie. It was funny, intriguing and suspenseful, as expected. At the moment you think you have it figured out, something happens to prove you wrong. We highly recommend this movie.

Our First Visitors!

*More pictures of these adventures can be found using the "WEB ALBUM" link on the left side of this page.*

Picture 1: Marie & Bob @ Southend-on-Sea

Picture 2: Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (Merchant of Venice performance)

Picture 3: Amber & Matt (Us) @ Stonehenge

Picture 4: Roman Bath in Bath, England

Picture 5: Amber & Quinn with Darth Vader

Okay, our guests have been gone for a week now so I shouldn't have any more excuses of why I haven't updated our blog lately. I was waiting until the end of their visit so that I could update everyone on all that we did. It was very exciting to have Matt's cousins (Marie, husband Bob, and son Quinn) be our first guests. We haven't seen them in a long time, but knew that they were very adventurous so we would have an exciting time. They are perfect guests in that they don't expect much from their hosts. They kept themselves busy each day heading into London, made their own meals, etc. What was exciting for us was hearing their daily stories and also being able to join them on a few excursions, not to mention tasting all of the new beer and cookies they brough home!

I could write a short book about all of the things we did while they were here, but I'll try to save you most of that. The highlights for me were a play at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the Star Wars Exhibition (how lucky we were that it was happening this year), and the trips out to Bath and Stonehenge. Most of you probably didn't know that I was a Star Wars fan, but I am very intrigued by the story of all the characters in the saga - not so much the light saber fights and flying vehicles. However, I'm not a big sci-fi fan in general just of SW. (Matt doesn't share the love, though.) Anyway, I could talk days about all of that. The Star Wars Exhibition is in town until September and the first-ever Star Wars Celebration Europe will be held in London in mid-July to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the release of Star Wars. Unfortunately that coincides with my high school reunion. Wish I could be in two places at once! The play we went to see in the Globe was Merchant of Venice, one of Shakespeare's comedies. It was great! One of the surprising things that coincided with their visit was a Monster Truck Show! Can you believe it? Granted, we are living in a small town (not central London) and it was held at a local farm, but still very interesting. Of course we had to go and check it out. It wasn't the best/biggest we've been to but entertaining enough to say we did it. Haha! Please check out our web albums for more pictures of from our visit. Stay tuned for my next update...

Ugh! Computers!

So, this past weekend Matt and I went to Wimbledon and to the British Museum which were both great trips. I took lots of wonderful pictures that I was hoping to share with everyone soon. Well, I went to import the photos from my digital camera and that is where it went downhill. I got a new laptop before moving out here and it came with new software. I am not familiar with Roxio but have been using it for my media stuff since it is the "default" software for that stuff. At some point in the process I thought it was importing something incorrectly and hit cancel. Instead of basically stopping everything in its tracks and allowing you to start over, it deleted my photos from my camera's memory card and from the import folder!!! There was some other weird stuff about what few pictures it did actually transfer but that is too complicated to explain. It is late here and I am just so aggravated with it that my thoughts are running together. I just can't believe I lost all of those pictures!!! I'm sure you've all experienced something similar, where the computer does something "wrong" and it ruined something for you. (Insert curse words here!)

Good night everyone!

Southend-on-Sea

The past two weekends we spent at the shore. Yes, we are very close to the beach - about a 25 minute drive or train ride. Southend-on-sea is a seaside resort and is located on the north side of the Thames Estuary. (The Thames Estuary is a large estuary where the River Thames flows into the North Sea. The estuary is one of the largest inlets on the coast of Great Britain.)

SUNNY DAY OUT

On Sunday, March 20 we drove down to spend a leisurely afternoon on the boardwalk. We passed lots of pubs, small casinos, ice cream stands, and other seaside vendors. The Southend Pier is one of the longest pleasure piers in the world, but we decided against the 1.34 mile walk as you had to pay to enter onto it. We're told that people sunbathe here in the summer, but that is hard to imagine as the beach area is rather rocky. On this day the tide was in, the sun was out, and it was a great day all around. There is a small amusement park, Adventure Island, an aquarium, a performance theatre, miniature golf, and a short walk away is the High Street lined with shops. Matt's company will have a party at Adventure Island in late June and I'm looking forward to the rides!

SOUTHEND AIR SHOW

Over the holiday weekend, there was an Air Show in Southend. One of Matt's coworkers invited us down to meet her and her family on Sunday for the show. Unfortunately the weather was not as lovely as it had been the previous weekend. It rained all day and was rather cold. The tide was out as well, so instead of crashing waves we saw beached boats. Aside from that, the Air Show was fabulous. Although, I do think the schedule was cut back a bit due to the weather. The highlight for us was the Red Arrows (Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team).

It's Our Anniversary!

Picture 1: Our Engagement Picture - Don't we look so young?!
Picture 2: Day after our engagement (July 2000)


Today is our sixth wedding anniversary! (And, May 16th marks nine years altogether!) So much has happened during that time and what a wild ride it has been. There are definitely many more years full of adventures to come.

We started the day off with some yard work - not my favorite thing to do. We finally bought a new lawnmower and cleared the forest we had growing in the backyard. Cheyenne would disappear out there. After a mid-afternoon nap we freshened up and went out for dinner. We went to a nice Italian place one town over. It was nice to get out of the house and focus on ourselves for a bit. Following dinner we decided to see what was playing at the local movie theatre. We decided on a British film called This Is England. It was set in England in 1983 and gives a lot of insight into the country during that time (fall out of the Falkland's war). Finally we are settling in for the evening around midnight. Matt can get Nascar (FOX) on his laptop through a tv web service, which should be starting soon. While it can mean for some odd hours to enjoy the race, Matt is just excited that he doesn't have to go without it for two years.


P.S. Happy Mother's Day weekend to all of you "Mums" out there!

Night Out on the Town

Matt and I took a train into London last night to meet up with several of his colleagues. An Account Rep was in town and treated us all to a fantastic evening. We started the evening with cocktails at On Anon Bars & Club in Piccadilly Circus. Then walked over to Beni Hana (yes, we have those in the states) for dinner. Boy, Brits sure do love their dirty humor. Anyway, then we ended the evening with after-dinner drinks at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in Soho. Jane Monheit, from the states, was the jazz vocalist. This was mine and Matt's first experience in a jazz club. Usually, I'm not a fan of jazz (more a blues fan) but it was a delightful performance. At midnight we left the group to head home. Everyone else was staying downtown for the evening (sharing rooms or staying on business), but we had Cheyenne at home and didn't feel it was necessary to dish out the extra expense for a room.

It would have been nice to have a room downtown, though. We could've been to sleep within an hour of leaving. Unfortunately we had a bit of trouble getting home. We took a cab to the rail station and missed one of the trains by minutes. We didn't think we'd catch that one anyway. So, we waited for the 12:50 train. Once we left the station that is where the trouble began. Ten minutes into the ride we stopped abrubtly between stations because there was a train in the station ahead that was having some issues. I'm not exactly sure what the problem was, but our train was stationary for 50 minutes! At 1:50am we started the rest of the journey. Finally, around 2:30 we arrived at our final station. There we shared a cab with two other "blokes" back to Noak Bridge. (One of the guys actually knew someone named Mike Hunt - say that three times fast - and the whole taxi cracked up laughing when he mentioned it.) I think we were sleeping by 3am. What an evening!

Our boxes arrived yesterday so once we get unpacked and organized this week I can finally begin to settle in...just in time for our first guests to arrive at the beginning of June.

A Little English Humor

An Irishman applies for a job, but the foreman won't employ him until he passes a little maths test. "Here's your first question, the foreman said. "Without using numbers represent the number 9." "Without numbers?" the Irishman says, "Dat is easy." and proceeds to draw three trees. "What's this?" the boss asks. "Haven't you got a brain? Tree and tree and tree makes nine," says the Irishman. "Fair enough," says the boss. "Here's your second question. Apply the same rules using the number 99, this time." The Irishman stares into space for a while, then picks up the picture that he has just drawn and makes a smudge on each tree, "Dere you go." The boss scratches his head and asks, "How on earth do you get that to represent 99?"... ...."Each of da trees is dirty now. So, it's dirty tree, and dirty tree, and dirty tree. Dat equals 99." The boss starts getting worried that he's actually going to have to give the Irishman the job, so he says, "All right, final question: same rules again, but represent the number 100." The Irishman stares into space for a while, then picks up the picture again and makes a little mark at the base of each tree and says, "Dere you go. One hundred." The boss looks at the illustration and bursts out: "You must be nuts if you think that represents a hundred!" Whereby the Irishman leans forward and points >> to the marks at the base of each tree, saying: "A little dog came along and crapped by each tree. So now you've got dirty tree and a turd, dirty tree and a turd, and dirty tree and a turd, dat makes one hundred.... So, when do I be starting the job?!"

Today is the first day of the next chapter in our lives! We arrived in England earlier this morning and Cheyenne soon followed. Our personal items should arrive by the end of next week. Let me tell you (as if I haven't enough already) it has been a long (6 months) and frustrating process, but one that brings great opportunities. We are looking forward to learning a new culture, travelling throughout Europe, and taking advantage of this time in our lives. It is going to be a big adjustment, but we are trying to go into it as aware as possible and with an open mind. In the end we'll be able to say this was a great experience.

We ask that friends and family keep in touch with what is happening in your lives while we are gone. We'll be missing out on a lot of those experiences with you, so we want to hear from you as often as possible. We'll try to keep this site regularly updated as well. We'll keep a Denver phone number with Vonage, so let us know if you would like that number.

Cheers!

Scotland

England has a four-day weekend in celebration of the Easter holiday - Good Friday through Easter Monday. So, in our usual fashion we decided to take a last-minute road trip to Scotland. We left on Thursday, since we weren't sleeping in our house after the boiler broke anyway. The first evening we stayed in Cambridge, England. We stopped in York for a quick walkabout and that evening we stayed in Berwick-upon-Tweed, just outside of Scotland. The final two evenings (Saturday & Sunday) we stayed in Edinburgh, Scotland at a wonderful bed & breakfast. While in Edinburgh we saw a number of the tourist attractions including Edinburgh Castle, Palace of Holyrood, and the Royal Yacht Britannia. There were still a number of things we didn't get to visit, like Edinburgh Zoo where they have the only koalas in the U.K. I told Matt he would have to take me back to see them! (Most of you know what a koala fanatic I am.)

We knew that London was pretty costly but had heard how cheap it was to travel around Europe. We haven't been to mainland Europe yet but plan to take many trips in the next two years. Unfortunately, it wasn't as "cheap" as we may have hoped to visit Scotland. We can get away with most of our weekend trips in the states rather inexpensively with little planning. Not so in the U.K. It didn't help that we traveled on Easter weekend, but holidays didn't deter us in the past. Anyway, everything was expensive - gas, meals, lodging, tourist attractions. Remember too, the british pound is basically twice the dollar. So, if a meal is $10 in the U.S. it would roughly be 10 GBP in the U.K. which is about $20 USD. There aren't a lot of chain hotels, so you have to search out vacancies in all of the old hotels and b&bs. While that isn't too bad, the cost can be more than expected, especially if breakfast isn't included. I love the history and character of the buildings, just wish it didn't take such a chunk out of our budget. I really enjoyed our stay at a B&B in Edinburgh, though.

Since I don't expect to work in England, we had always planned for me to be the travel planner. I love doing that kind of stuff and am definitely looking forward to it. However, the trip to Scotland was very last-minute and we thought we'd be okay. We learned our lesson. Initially I'll have lots to keep me busy with getting to know whats around our new town but also trying to visit as many new countries as we can. I might look for a volunteer opportunity or something for my downtime. Otherwise, I guess I'll just have to go shopping! (Just kidding, really!)

We are really looking forward to hosting visitors, so make sure your passport and funds are all in order. The guest room awaits you!