Parting Shots

 

 

It's always great to be with friends. Especially friends who we have come to know for years and years. Natalia and Chechi have been friends for 20 years or so and being in Sydney to be with them, for the first time with their daughters Ali and Catalina, was quite special.  Add to that Brian, who was the perfect host and friend, and we could not have been happier!  

We were there for two weeks and always wanted to take a group shot, with no particular success. On the last afternoon together, sitting in their living room, Natalia announced that, really, we needed a couple attempts at a picture together. The camera went around - even Amalia took a few of the ceiling - and shots were taken but none of them with the entire group. Still, enough were good to share so that, when added together, we could give the whole picture. Smles, silly faces, friends in far places. Now that we're back, the pictures, the chats, the memories will have to keep us going until the next time. Thank you for a wonderful trip and for being such wonderful hosts! From the night in the hospital to the afternoons by the barbie (is that how you spell it?) to walks on the beach and nearby parks, it was a great trip.

City Wanderings

 

With a city this nice it would be silly to visit and not actually make a deliberate decision to get 'out and about'. Much of our time there was spent in the 'burbs' but on two occasions we ventured into more central areas, more commonly frequented by tourist types such as ourselves.  

Heading downtown also gave us a chance to reconnect with our ex-KL friends Jim and Jay, who are now living in Singapore but have an apartment in Sydney too. With them our day began with a ferry ride from Parramatta to Circular Quay, strolling along the quay and watching the street side antics of circus types (a woman put herself into a box about a foot cubed before our eyes!) while aboriginal groups played that now-familiar sound of echoing wavy melodies on their didgeridoos. We found some fish and chips and roamed around for some shade, finally finding it at the steps of a building across the way. We sat down to open our packages only to find that our spot had an impressive view of the harbor and the Sydney Opera house. We ate great fish and chips and chatted about our lives.  With the food consumed, Natalia was looking for a park space with shade and Jim and Jay knew just the place.  We took the bus to Hyde Park.  There it was running around, playing chase and 'What time is it Mr. Wolf' and sitting on park benches or watching a man make massive bubbles. After saying goodbye to Jim and Jay, we proceeded to do some shopping and then headed home by train. A great day!

The other day out was the trip to the Zoo. One doesn't need much to enjoy the zoo, despite the masses of people there. The view is just as spectacular as the animals and, between walking and watching and returning by cable car, the girls were ecstatic and exhausted when all was said and done.  We had gone with Brian and Ali as well (giving Chechi some much-needed down time) and each of the girls were given a special present of their choice by Natalia as soon as we were done. Irini and Amalia both chose a white tiger. Ali chose a gorilla. As soon as we pulled out of the parking lot the girls were fast asleep, dreaming of seal shows and koalas, no doubt.

Christmas in Five Dock

 

 

 

 

Yes, it's been a couple weeks and, in the meantime, the new year (Happy New Year!) and Irini's birthday (Happy Birthday Irinoula!) have come and just about gone, but we're desperately trying to catch up in a chronological order, so here goes:

We were honored and very fortunate to have been invited to Brian's family Christmas this year. They live in a part of town called Five Dock. Laurence noted the oddity of the name as they followed Chechi and Brian across highways and single lane roads. But once they walked through the door, the name of the neighborhood didn't matter a bit. In trued Irish-Australian fashion the family was open and friendly, and the event was filled with dancing, laughter, hugs and great food!  Brian's family included other young children - Bridie and Fergus - who fit in very well with our girls as well. Irini and Amalia loved it. Laurence and Natalia loved it. It was the kind of get-together that just brings one's faith in humanity back to equilibrium. What an open and welcoming family!  What a wonderful group of people to share such a special day with. And the true zest for family life was present in everything they did. Our girls were swept away with the excitement and the presence of presents. Each got a couple of goodies and happily showed them off for the rest of the afternoon (beautiful dresses, barbies and make up kits - Laurence was elated, as you can imagine :P).

The goodbye was a heart-felt one. It was with a great sense of appreciation that we got back into the car (lent to us by Brian, did we mention?) and returned to the hotel.  Natalia and Laurence chatted about how this day stood out. This trip was supposed to be about being with friends. But on this day it seemed more about being with family. Just as it should have been. Merry Christmas, everyone.

Nelson Bay

Thankfully the visit to the hospital was soon forgotten as Chechi, Brian, Alicia and Catalina took center stage for us.  The big focus for this trip was to see them and to have some quality family time together. So what better a plan than to spend four days together, sharing a lovely house overlooking the sea, and only about 50 meters from the beach!  A friend of theirs has just such a house in a small town called Nelson Bay, so off we went.

Once there the girls were delighted to find not only a beach, but also a small playground, all within a short walking distance from the house!  Yeay!  Given that Catalina is only three months old, it was difficult for us to work out logstics that worked with everyone's schedule, so flexiblity was in order. This meant, primarily, that adults had to take turns in taking the older girls to play. Brian, for example, took the girls to see if they could build fairy nests. They did a wonderful job collecting flowers and leaves to put together, but the fairies didn't come at that time. Brian explained that that's because they normaly come out after dark, when we're sleeping. It seemed logical to the rest of the gang, including Laurence, and so they left the newly-made nest for the fairies to enjoy later on. 

Time at the beach was a bit different than their summer experiences. Australia in summer is generally warmer than Greece and its water is colder and waivier, meaning that Irini and Amalia were luke-warm to the idea of going in. Ali, on the other hand, never missed a chance to jump in the water!  Outside the water, however, was a different matter. Castles were built. Holes were dug. Ali (at first) and Amalia (later) were excited to be covered in sand. 

Our lives there were slow, filled with concerns about children being injured (steps!) and meals being made. In there somewhere there were also opportunities to go Christmas shopping for those last few gifts and a visit or two to the local fish and chips place, no? :-)

Welcome to Australia

To an unsuspecting visitor to this site, the pictures above might be quite positive. Irini meeting Santa Claus and Amalia scarfing down some seedless grapes. How cute!  Truth be told, Irini did divulge to Santa, on this occasion, that she wanted a baby doll for Christmas. She was delighted to talk to him and he was friendly as can be with just a hint of Australian accent. The unsuspecting blog visitor would think that the focus of this blog post was just that, but not. As Irini sat in the foyer of the hospital, her sister was under general anesthesia and getting stitches placed above her eye. She and her mother had spent the night in the hospital the night before after she had been playing on the hotel bed. The hotel bed was new to her, but seemed like the perfect place to jump on and around her sister. Then she discovered that jumping on top of her sister was even more fun. As daddy and mommy did their final preparations to get to bed for their first night in Sydney, she decided that just one more jump would be great. She took off, flew over her sister's back, and her head slammed directly onto the corner of a rather high bed frame, splitting her forehead. Laurence rushed over to turn her around, only to find a forehead with a good deal of blood gushing out his younger daughter's forehead. The cut was deep and she was crying (thankfully she didn't lose consciousness) and 'oh so close' to the end of the first day in Sydney, after passing the time with our friends Chechi and Brian, and their lovely daughters Alicia and Catalina. Seeing them had been wonderful after a long night flight, and despite arriving somewhat jet-lagged and definitely tired, it was nice to be there!  Ah, Australia in the summer. 

What is missing from the pictures are the moment - the hours really - of our rushing to the front desk to find out where the nearest hospital was. Brian coming to show us the way and our hearts racing as Amalia cried (a good sign). By the time we got the hospital is was around 9:30 pm. There were a number of people there and we waited for the triage to check her out. That began a process of mostly waiting, which went back and forth between frustration and impatience, all the while checking to make sure that Amalia was okay. She was. Laurence and Irini returned to the hotel after midnight to get some sleep while Natalia stayed with Amalia to be seen by a doctor. There were number 21 on the list. By 4:50 am they asked them into the consultation room. No one arrived until 5:15 and at that point it was obvious that not only everyone was tired (including the nurses and doctors at the end of their shift) but also the doctor at hand was not the one we wanted doing stitches on Amalia. Natalia asked to see a plastic surgeon and that took another 3 hours or so. Finally, after a visit to radiology for some head x-rays, and several complete and total tantrums from an injured, scared, jet-lagged and increasingly impatient Amalia, it was decided that giving her general anesthesia was the way to go. Laurence and Natalia gulped. 

An hour or so later Laurence walked her into the theater, where a very friendly anesthesiologist explained everything, including what to expect, to Laurence. Amalia, having spent the last of her energy on the floor just moments earlier trying desperately to pull off the tag on her leg, was now completely exhausted. They put some laughing gas on her but it didn't change a thing. By the time she was unconscious Laurence lifted her to the table. She was limp. His tears streaked his face and he began to sob, trying the best he could to be inconspicuous. The woman who walked him out was very helpful and supportive. 

Outside Irini and Natalia waited.  They would all go downstairs and wait about an hour before entering from the other side. That is when the pictures of Irini were taken. By now it was 11:30 am and even Santa was awake and doing the rounds. It would be another half hour before the doctor would appear to say that everything went well.  An hour and a half later Amalia finally woke up (which got Natalia very worried - we were told it would take just 10 minutes). She then proceeded to have just one more tantrum for a goodbye. They had told us to expect anything, from vomiting to hunger to tantrums but she was the only child on the floor. 

Slowly, she started to eat. First it was the popsicle they had given her. Then it was the grapes, which eventually she happily shared with another little boy who was coming out of his surgery. Walking out into the Sydney sunshine was like getting another chance to say hello to Australia. Putting the emotional roller coaster behind us, we got in the car and drove to Chechi and Brian's place. Vacation had begun, at last.