Time and Distance

(posted by Elizma)

Today I had a realisation of one of the many effects of time and distance.

When you move far away from people you care about you intially engage in regular communication. This can be through e-mails, texts (SMSs), telephone calls or any other of the various means available. But after a undetermined period of time passes, the time that elapse between each effort grows longer and longer, until one day all that remains is a smile on the lips when something you hear or see reminds you of them.

We become not only lazy to communicate, but our lives evolve and grow away from each other and before we know it, months pass by without any contact. This does not in any way diminish the times you spent together or the love you still have for each other.

And then sad things happen them. They experience loss or suffer hard times and you want to reach out to them with all you have. And you realise that over time and distance, a kind of 'incapability' developed to touch these people in the words and ways you used to. You wish you could revert back to the times they turned to you when they needed support. But these times have long gone and they have built new structures and friendships they rely on.

And it makes you feel helpless. You can only pray for them and hope that the few words you have to offer convey your feelings - be it at a different level. And you pray that they know, that in your heart, nothing has changed...

Goodbyes

(posted by Elizma)

Tonight it was with great sadness that we said goodbye to our previous house. Even though we moved out almost two months ago, it wasn't a reality that we would never walk into it again as we frequently went over to collect our post while the sale was being processed.

Tonight we went over for the last time as the new owners will move in this weekend. Why is it then that we are grieving for an empty house? Maybe because it was the first house we called our own.

But when I glanced around the living room, I did not see the empty floors and walls. I saw the great times we shared with each other as well as the times we shared with friends and family.

And suddenly I felt entitled to grieve - it wasn't our house, it was our home...

House Woes (cont.)

(posted by Elizma)

We've been quiet, I know, but not much happenend that last two weeks. I thought I'd show you a few pictures of our entrance hall which is in the process of being fixed. (If you don't know about the woes, read the blog a little further down.)

As you can see there are no floors so it's all fun and games dodging holes. Tomorrow they will be treating the wood for bugs and stuff so once it's done, we won't be able to come into the house for 8 hours. Depending on what time of the day they do it, we might have to sleep over somewhere else. Not sure where yet. We're hoping it will be done early in the morning.

New York - Day 4

(posted by Elizma)

Our last day was spent strolling around the city.

We had breakfast at Norma's- where the queue can be up to an hour-and-a-half, but well worth it. (Just look at the website and you'll know why we say so.)
We also went for a carriage ride through Central Park (which isn't all it's cracked up to be - the carriage ride that is, but I'm glad we did it.) We also had cocktails at the Boathouse in Central Park. Now there's a place I will definitely go back to.



That night we had pizza in New York's mos famous pizzeria Grimaldi's at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. It's more famous amongst the locals and we did not find it touristy at all. Afterwards we strolled over the Brooklyn Bridge which again gave us our last magnificent views over Manhattan.

I've only mentioned the highlights so far, but we did a lot of other things as well - obviously! Like strolling up 5th Avenue, visiting Macy's and the Apple Store as well as Wall Street. We'll post more photo's in an album shortly.

New York will definitely see us again...

New York - Day 3

(posted by Elizma)

Sunday was my thirtieth birthday - and what a place to celebrate.

We had brunch in the Rockefeller Centre and then toured Brooklyn on the bus. We also went by Ground Zero.


That evening we had supper in the most gorgeous steakhouse called Quality Meat.

We ended the day by going up the Empire State Building to look at the magic display of lights. All very romantic!

New York - Day 2

(posted by Elizma)

On Saturday we went to see the Statue of Libery and Ellis Island. The ferry across offered the most spectacular views over Manhattan.



But nothing could prepare me for the views from the helicopter. Yes, Leon treated me to a flight for my birthday. I sat in the front and had great views on all sides.


We spent the rest of the afternoon on the hop-on-hop-off bus, which was a great way to see the city.

New York - Day 1

(posted by Elizma)

New York was absolutely fantastic! Both Leon and I think London is a prettier city, but New York is much nicer all round. It's so easy to get around and just so much to see and do. It also has a totally different atmosphere from London.

We were upgraded at our hotel to a corner room on the 40th floor with amaizing views over the Hudson River and Empire State Building. We spent the first day scouting and just getting to know our way around. Our hotel was on Times Square and very conveniently located. We could ask not for anything better.


The view from our room.


Times Square