Happy Christmas!

Christmas in London

We've been trying to make the best of the Christmas holiday even though we can't be home with family and friends. We've decorated our little apartment with lights and a small tree, and we've also been out to see some Christmas lights. Of course we had to check out the Christmas Shop at Harrods as soon as they put it up too!

Overall, it's been quiet and very pleasant here the past few days. The weather has been mild in the low 50's, and except for the rain yesterday, it has been clear. Michael is off until after the new year, so he's been enjoying the time to work on some personal projects. We've both been catching up on our reading a little bit. I'm reading The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand and Michael is reading 1984 by George Orwell. We're both enjoying the novels, and we plan to switch as soon as we've finished reading our current selections - although Michael will probably finish 1984 well before I can get through my book. I love Ayn Rand but her books are lengthy, so takes me a while to get through them. I am definately not complaining, though. I loved Atlas Shrugged - all 1000+ pages of it!

Tonight for dinner we made turkey breast, mashed potatoes, Stove Top stuffing (my favorite!), green beans, homemade rolls, and Michael's homemade apple pie. It was fabulous! Well, I assume the pie will be great; we've both been too stuffed to have any of it yet. We did run down the street a little while ago to pick up some vanilla ice cream, though, so now we're all set! You can see some pictures of our Christmas dinner here.

I know I still have things to blog about, and I'm hoping to catch up this week. I just wanted to let you all know that, even though we didn't send out Christmas cards this year, we are still thinking about all of our family and friends this holiday season.

Happy Christmas!

Skipton

Skipton

Michael had to travel to Skipton this week. I decided to join him on his second day and do a little site seeing while he was at work. I didn't end up getting there early enough to do much the first day I arrived. On the second day, I walked into town. I had read about Skipton Castle, and I was anxious to get some pictures. The town was about about a mile and a half from our hotel, which wouldn't have been too bad if I'd been wearing tennis shoes instead of my boots. Oops, didn't really think that one through when I was packing.

Anyway, the town was cute, in the way that small English towns are. The castle was pretty cool. It was a Royalist stronghold during the English Civil War. After a 3-year siege the Royalist finally surrendered. After the surrender the castle roofs were ordered to be removed. The Royalist had constructed elaborate water collection systems on the roof, which helped them to withstand the siege, even when the Parliamentarians cut off the pipeline that brought water from the river into the castle grounds.

I enjoyed the castle and the town. I took some cool pictures - some are signs in the castle that explain a little more about the purpose of some of the rooms.

Sharon in London

Sharon's View of London

I had a great visit with Mom while she was here. I think I walked her legs off, but I think she enjoyed herself. We spread our site seeing out over several days. The first day I took her on a bus tour of the city. We took a day just to visit, and then on Sunday we went to Harrods. I think she was amazed at how much stuff was in that store!

On Monday we went to the Florence Nightingale Museum, then toured Kengsington Palace before having a late lunch at the Orangery. On her last full day in London I took her to Windsor Castle. I think this was one of her favorite sites, and I don't blame her - it really is quite impressive.

On the day she flew back to the States, we took the Underground to the airport, and I feel a little bad that we didn't leave the apartment a bit sooner. I sometimes forget that not everyone is not used to walking as fast as I do in London. I should have planned a little more time for us to get to the station considering we had her luggage with us. So, I'm sorry, Mom, if I rushed you a little on that last walk through our neighborhood - I just wanted to stay in the apartment and visit for as long as possible before you had to leave!

It was great getting to share London with my mom, and I think she enjoyed her trip. The pictures in the album above are those she took with her camera. Enjoy!

Greenwich

Greewich

The day after I went to Kew Gardens, I decided to check out Greenwich. I went to the Royal Observatory to see the Prime Meridian and tour the museum. Afterward I wandered through Greenwich Park, which was beautiful with all the colors of the changing leaves. I even took the time to pick up some chestnuts from the trees in the park - several others were there doing the same. Of course, after taking them home and roasting them in the oven (which made a real mess when some of them exploded) I decided I didn't really like the taste of chestnuts. Oh well...lesson learned.

Kew Gardens

Kew Gardens

Early October was beautiful in London. I love autumn; it is my favorite season. On a nice sunny day, I headed to Kew Gardens so that I could enjoy it while some things were still in bloom. I ended up with some colorful autumn pictures. I also found a few interesting things in the park, including some Henry Moore statues that currently on exhibit at Kew.

I took the free guided tour through the the park, and I really enjoyed learning about the important role that Kew plays in the cataloguing and preservation of many of the world's plant species. It is primarily a scientific institution with large collections of both living and preserved plants.

The living plant collection at Kew is the largest and most comprehensive in the world, containing representatives of more than one in eight of all flowering plant species. Many species in the collection are endangered in their natural habitats, and Kew gardeners and scientists work to conserve these species as threats to their habitats continue. Specimens of endangered plants are cultivated and propagated for distribution to other botanic gardens or, whenever possible, return to their natural habitats. Seeds from more than 3,500 plant species are preserved and stored in the seed bank at Wakehurst Place. Other scientists can use these seeds to study or to reintroduce the plants into their native habitats.

If you are interested in seeing more of Kew Gardens, then you might want to try a virtual tour.

Diana and Michele in London: Show and Tell

Diana in London 2007

Michele in London

I mentioned in an earlier post about our nightly show and tell. I must say that it was my favorite part of each day. Every evening we'd all sit around and relive the day as seen through the eyes of three different people. We laughed hysterically, and when we came upon some ludicrious picture one of us had taken, we laughed so hard we cried. Oh, and Diana was obsessed with planes. She would stop everything to take a picture of a plane. Of course, that's not really a difficulty in London when you're surrounded by four different airports. The really sad thing is that by the end of the week she had Michele and I taking plane pictures for her too! I don't know how else to describe it except to say that it was tons of fun.

So, in the spirit of our show and tell, here are some of the pictures that Diana and Michele took while in London.

Diana and Michele in London: Part 4

WindsorCastle.2007-09-29

On Saturday we took an hour-long train ride to Windsor to visit Windsor Castle. It was a beautiful little town, and the castle and grounds made for some fantastic pictures. We had lunch in a little restaurant close to the castle and then enjoyed a trip down The Long Walk.

We finally headed back to the station to take the train home. We ate dinner and went to bed early since we were getting up at 5am the next day in order for Diana and Michele to catch a taxi and get to the airport in time for their flight.

We had a great week. I think Diana got a kick out of our dual clocks -- which you will see later in some of her pictures. With three of us taking pictures everyday, we wanted to see the shots everyone had gotten during the day. So, each night we all gathered around the monitor and had show and tell. We also had great food all week. I might have gone a little overboard with baking (I think Diana got a picture of all the goodies I made) but I don't remember hearing anyone complaining. Oh, and they were definitely not complaining when they tasted my "soon to be world famous" cinnamon rolls! Overall, it was a blast. I hope they both enjoyed the trip as much as we enjoyed having them here!

Diana and Michele in London: Part 3

London.2007-09-27

On Thursday we spent most of the day in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. We started at Kensington Palace. We all enjoyed the sunken garden just outside the palace, and we found a cool spider web too. We also got to watch a helicopter leave the palace. Then we spent a lot of time touring the inside of the palace, including the Diana: A Princess Remembered Exhibit. After leaving the palace we had lunch at the Orangery, then walked through the Park.

One of Michele's special requests while in London was to see the Peter Pan statue in the park, so we made that our next priority. We found it right next to the Long Water, which afforded some more wildlife pictures of the many water foul that like to hang out there.

We finished the day with a bit of souvenir shopping and then headed for home.

Diana and Michele in London: Part 2

London.2007-09-26

On Wednesday we got up early in order to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. We got a decent spot close to the gate, so we all got some good pictures. The band must have known that Diana was coming because they played an ABBA tribute. It was great!

After the ceremony was over, we grabbed a sandwich. Then we explored St. James's Park. We found some great wildlife and flowers to photograph. The pelicans were cool - I'd never seen one in real life before.

After touring the park, we went back to Buckingham Palace for a tour of the staterooms. Unfortunately, we were not able to take any pictures during that tour, but we did end up with some great shots of the guard ceremony and the park.

Diana and Michele in London: Part 1

London.2007-09-24

Diana and Michele came to visit us the last week of September. They arrived Sunday night, and after the cab back to our flat and a short visit about their trip we all headed to bed.

On Monday we took a bus tour of London, which was exciting since Michael and I had not had a chance to do this yet. After the bus tour, we took a river cruise. It was a great way to learn more about the city, the River Thames, and also made for some great photo opportunities. It was a long day, but we all enjoyed ourselves.

Michele wasn't feeling well on Tuesday, so we just hung out around the flat and visited. By the afternoon she was feeling a little better so we decided on a visit to Harrods. They were both impressed, I think. I know that Harrods is "just another department store," but I say that everyone should experience it at least once.

The pictures in this album are from our bus and boat tours. Enjoy!

Tour of the Danube

Budapest 2007-09-02

On Sunday we slept in, and then took a boat tour of the Danube River. Michael had camera duty during the boat tour, and he took some great pictures. After the tour ended we had to collect our things from the hotel and head for the airport. Even though Michael had to work for the first two days, the trip ended up being very fun and relaxing for both of us.

Exploring More of Budapest

2007-09-01.Budapest

After breakfast on Saturday morning we took off down the river in the opposite direction than I had taken the day before. The tour books all said that we should hike, or at least take a tour bus, up Gellért Hill, but after one look at it, we decided we would definitely NOT be hiking up that hill. We thought we could always take a bus later if we wanted to.

So we walked along the river, and then crossed one bridge in order to get a better picture of the church that was built into the side of the mountain. We walked through the park a little ways until we got to the entrance of the cave church and then went in to explore. Outside the entrance to the church there was a beautiful view point. After leaving the church we continued to wander through the park. We came to another great vantage point and took some more pictures.

The next hour or so passed the same way until finally we realized that we had climbed to the very top of the hill we had decided not to climb at all! Once we were at the top we both agreed that it had been worth it. The view was spectacular, and we got a great panorama of the city!

That evening we were both tired by the time we got back to the hotel. We decided to grab dinner in the hotel restaurant and then go to bed early. Unfortunately we weren’t able to go to bed quite as early as we’d hoped. When we got off the elevator to go to our room, the hallway was full of hotel staff with mops, buckets, and towels. Apparently there had been a sprinkler malfunction right in front of our room, so we had to wait a bit before we could go back into our room.

Once we were able to get back into our room we were very happy that the sprinklers had not gone off inside, but we realized that water from the hallway had soaked the carpet in front of the door. The hotel staff realized this as well and tried to offer us a new room, but we were tired, and our stuff wasn’t packed up, so we just decided to stay there. We threw some extra towels onto the floor and just tried to avoid that area. The hotel staff couldn’t understand why we would want to stay – Michael had to spend several minutes on the phone trying to make them understand that we weren’t upset and that we didn’t need another room.

We were finally able to get to bed, but by then we weren’t as tired as we thought. We ended up staying up for hours watching movies on cable. We don’t watch television much, so it was fun for us. It was a fabulous, relaxing day.

Arriving in Budapest

2007-08-31.Budapest

We were able to relax and catch up on laundry the day after we returned from Zurich since it was a bank holiday in London. Then Michael spent the next two days in Lisbon before we left for Budapest on Thursday morning.

It was raining when we arrived at our hotel, so Michael left to go to work, and I just stuck around the hotel that day watching movies and reading. I was worried that it might rain during our whole trip. I worried needlessly, though, as the rest of the weekend was great.

Travel Tip: One thing we realized soon after arriving in Budapest is that, though Hungary is now officially part of the EU, they still use their own currency called the Hungarian Forint. So, unfortunately, the Euro we’d brought with us was useless. Make sure when you’re traveling that you have the right kind of cash – don’t assume anything!

After Michael left for work on Friday, I headed out with the camera. I made my way along the Danube Promenade. The view was great I found a lot of cool things to capture with the camera, such as: The Shoes on the Danube Promenade, a war memorial, Buda Castle, Széchenyi Chain Bridge, and the Hungarian Parliament Building. Then I went to explore Margaret Island before going back to the hotel. I loved watching the music fountain – I could have sat there all day!

Lazy Sunday in Zurich

Zurich - Switzerland

On Sunday morning we slept in, and then took a train to the city after breakfast. We wandered around Zurich – down the river, and up the famous shopping boulevard, Bahnhofstrasse, where we sat on a bench and watched people. It was such a relaxing day.

We finally took the train back to our hotel – the Courtyard Marriot Zurich. It was a great hotel; not far from the city, and only two minutes from the train station. We used points to pay for our two nights there, but it is less expensive than hotels in the city. If we’re in Zurich again, I’m sure we’ll stay there.

We had some time to kill before our flight, so we hung out in the hotel lobby people watching and snacking on pretzels, which we had picked up before we left Zurich.

Eventually we had to leave for the airport. We took the train again – and this time we took it in the right direction!

Travel Tip: If you’re traveling via rail through Europe, then get a Eurail Pass! It was a great experience. It was so easy to get on any train we wanted. It was a very easy way to get around – especially when traveling between countries.

Lake Lucerne and the Swiss Reuss Valley

Lake Luzern - Switzerland

Our wake up call on Saturday morning came at 6am. It was a short night, but the bed was comfortable, and we both rested well. We took breakfast in the hotel, and enjoyed talking with our very chatty waitress, before we took the two minute walk to the nearest train station.

We had stayed the night before planning our day, and trying to figure out which train to take to get to Zurich HB – the main Zurich train depot – where we would catch our train to Lucerne. When we got to the train station, we saw a train with one of the numbers we knew we could take to Zurich, so we hopped on. Once we were moving, though, we realized that we were heading north – away form the city and toward the airport. So, we took a five minute ride to the airport and then had to catch a different train from there to Zurich. At least it was an express train, so the whole detour didn’t cost us more than 15 minutes or so.

The train trip from Zurich to Lucerne was uneventful. Once in Lucerne we had to talk to an agent for the ferry because our reservation vouchers from the London Swiss Travel Center never arrived. The website we had looked at, and the Swiss Travel Center agent I had spoken to weren’t very clear about things. The agent explained that it was too late to make reservations for the William Tell Express train, but we could ride the ferry by just using our rail pass then take any unreserved seat on the train.

The lake cruise was three hours long and was definitely worth it! It was so beautiful, and made for some great photo opps! In Flüelen, our final ferry destination at the south end of Lake Lucernce, we had lunch at a local café. We shared what they called “The Big Plate”. It turned out to be a large wooden platter of local meat, cheese, and veggies. It was fabulous!

Travel Tip: When you’re traveling, don’t be afraid to try to local cuisine. You might be surprised, even if you don’t think you’ll like it.

We had a little time, so we checked out the train schedules. We realized that many of the trains going to Lucarno or Lugano had a panoramic car (panoramowagen in German, which I thought was funny) but the “William Tell Express” had more 1st class cars than the other trains, but it still had just one panoramic car. We had also been under the impression from the website, and the Swiss Travel Center, that there were only two trains each day, but we realized that they had one every hour or so. If it were really busy then it might have been difficult to get a seat on the panoramic car, but we didn’t have nay trouble at all.

The scenery during the train trip was beautiful, but it was difficult to take pictures through the window, so we just sat back and enjoyed the view as we traveled through the Reuss River Valley.

In order to take the train to either Lucarno or Lugano we had to change trains in Bellizona. We were tired, though, after having to get up early, so instead of switching trains just for another 20 minutes or scenery, we decided to catch a train back to Zurich instead. The view was just as spectacular, and we ended up in Zurich an hour earlier than we had originally planned. It was so nice to have a relaxing dinner and have some time to unwind before getting to bed early that night.

Getting to Zurich

We had been standing at the train platform in Füssen for two or three minutes when we heard an announcement over the loud speaker – completely in German – followed by a mass exodus of people from the platform. Michael and I looked at each other in utter confusion. As everyone was rushing away from the platform, we went to the station to get some answers.

We decided to divide and conquer; we stood in different lines, not know which one was moving faster. The attendant inside the station spoke very good English, and I found out from him that the train was not coming. Instead, we would have to take a replacement bus to another station 20 minutes away. I grabbed Michael, and we ran to the bus. Unfortunately, it had taken us so long to figure out what was happening that the bus was completely full. Michael and I tried to squeeze on, but he ended up on the wrong side of the partition – standing right next to the driver.

About that time the driver came onto the bus and said something in German. While Michael and I are still giving each other that clueless look, the man in front of me spoke in German, and then made gestures until I finally realized that he wanted us to move so he could get off the bus. In order to let him off, we both had to get off as well. As we got off we realized that other people were getting off as well. The man from the bus realized we were American and began to speak to us in English (thank goodness, or we might still be standing in that parking lot!). He translated what the bus driver had said – another bus was coming, because there wasn’t enough room on the first bus.

Travel Tip: It’s a good idea to know even a few words in the local language when you’re vacationing in a foreign country. It makes it much easier to get to the right place if you know some basic words for train, plane, airport, bus, north, south, etc. Knowing the words for some of your favorite (of least favorite) foods might mean being able to order something in a restaurant that you’ll actually enjoy eating. Of course, if you don’t know much about the language, then it’s a good idea to stick to the popular tourist locations – you’ll be more likely to find someone who speaks English, and restaurants with English menus.

So we got on the next bus. It was still crowded, but it was better than the first. There was also a large group of Americans traveling together – with one very annoying woman as their self-appointed leader. She was trying to corral everyone and kept announcing (yelling would be more accurate), “We’re going to be on this bus for two hours! Everyone find a seat!” I turned to Michael, who was sitting behind me, and told him that she was mistaken. The station attendant told me that the bus was only taking us to another station up the track – about 20 minutes away. She heard me explaining this and then felt the need to yell this information to the rest of the bus.

Once we were on our way our driver was speaking on a two-way radio, when several other passengers started chuckling at something he said. The nice man from the previous bus was sitting in front of me and was nice enough to translate again. Apparently the other driver didn’t take the right route out of town, and when he told our driver that we was running behind, our driver responded very helpfully by saying, “Well, drive faster!”

As we neared our final destination by bus, our driver took a wrong turn and had to turn around. Just so you know, when you’re on a bus and the driver proceeds to make a K-turn on a highway overpass, it’s a good time to worry. Just as he got us straightened out I heard honking and a collective gasp at the back of the bus. I turned in my seat just in time to see a semi truck that had to pull into the other lane – driving side by side with the bus – in order not to rear-end us. It’s a good thing no there was no traffic from the other direction, so that could have been a catastrophe!

A few minutes later we finally made it to the train. Whew! What a relief! Of course once we were one the train we had to figure out where we were so that we knew when to switch trains. We didn’t know exactly how far up the track we had gone, and we were hoping that we hadn’t already missed our connection. Michael used his cell to look up the rail map on the internet so that we could figure out where to change.

We made it to the right station, and made our connection without any difficulty. The rest of the trip was uneventful – thankfully. We chatted, snacked on our pretzels, and laughed about the bus ride! We arrived at the main train depot in Zurich, and grabbed a quick dinner before finding a taxi to take us to the hotel.

It was a long, but interesting day, but we both enjoyed ourselves. At least the next day was supposed to be a relaxing day, but with our luck you never know…

Füssen, Germany

Fussen - Germany

Oh my goodness! I can not believe that it has been over a month since I blogged! Everyone has probably lost interest by now - except you Steve! Hopefully I’ll get this posted in time for you to have something to read this morning! Thank you all for being patient. It has been one thing after another lately. I barely get a chance to get home and wade through the pictures before there is something else to do. I know that I won’t get caught up before we fly to New York on Friday for Ernie and Jen’s wedding, but I will try to get as much done as possible.

So, without further adieu, the rest of the story…

On Friday morning, our second day in Germany, we slept in and had breakfast in the hotel. It was a fabulous breakfast – great meatballs, homemade yogurt (the cappuccino flavor was my favorite) and cereal, and pretzels! Yum!

We spent the rest of the morning wandering around Füssen, a beautiful, picturesque little town. I used to think that the brightly colored old world “village” scene that you see in pictures or Hummel-like figurines was just a fictitious pseudo world – surely there wasn’t really a place like that – but I was wrong. Walking around in Füssen was like stepping into the pages of a child’s story book.

When we started to get hungry for lunch I wanted to eat pretzels. Michael tried to suggest a sausage stand we saw across the sidewalk. I was disappointed because I’m not a big sausage or bratwurst person (even though everything I’d eaten like that in Germany had been fabulous). So we walked all around the shopping/restaurant area until we finally ended up where we’d started. I was very hungry and getting a little cranky at this point, so I said that we should eat at the sausage place – the same one Michael had suggested in the first place. It’s probably a good time to mention how patient my husband is with me! I’m sure at that point he was ready to throttle me, but instead he bought me a bratwurst, which turned out to be fabulous!

Travel Tip: When you’re in Germany eat pretzels and sausage (and meatballs, bratwurst, etc). They truly know how to make those things taste phenomenal!

After lunch, we sat in a sidewalk café and had ice cream and coffee. Then, we decided to grab a couple of fresh pretzels from a bakery around the corner so that we could have a snack on the train to Zurich. We collected our luggage from the hotel and made our way to the train station. I was sorry to have to leave that wonderful little town, but we had to catch the train to Zurich. It was a great, relaxing day – at least up to this point. The rest of the day was a little crazy, but that’s another story…

Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle - Germany

We flew to Munich last Thursday. We got our Eurail tickets validated and then grabbed a quick lunch of bratwurst and Polish sausage at the train station. Mmmm...they were really yummy.

After lunch we found the train we needed to catch to Fussen. Well, we thought we'd found it anyway. After we started looking at the Eurail schedule book we received with our tickets, we realized that there was a different train that we could take and get there an hour earlier than we were planning. The only problem was that the train was leaving in about 5 minutes and we had no idea what platform it was on. We made a split-second decision to try to make it, and then ran from the train we were on. We glanced at the board as we ran through the station, found our train info, and realized that the platform we needed was on the other side of the station. We made it just in time! Whew! The train wasn't as nice as the one we'd gotten off of, but at least it was direct to Fussen with no changes, and we'd get in a little earlier.

On the train, we were looking at the route we would take the next day on our way to Switzerland. As we looked at the map, we noticed that the most direct route to Zurich took us through Austria. That seemed like a small problem since our Eurail pass was only good in Germany and Switzerland. We checked with the attentant at the station in Fussen and we were able to buy two first class point-to-point tickets to get us through Austria for only €11.50 each. That was much cheaper than it would have been to add Austria to our Eurail pass.

Travel Tip: When you're traveling through Europe via train, make sure that your tickets or Eurail pass is valid for every country that you will be traveling through on your journey. It you're just cutting through a small part of a country, it might be less expensive to get point-to-point supplements instead of adding additional countries to your rail pass.

Since we had arrived in Fussen earlier than we'd planned, we decided to see the Neuschwanstein Castle that day. We checked in to the Hotel Sonne, which was very nice, then took a taxi to the next little town where we could buy the tickets for the castle tour. The castle was really cool. I've been dying to see it in person ever since Billy and Nicole brought us the 3-D puzzle from their honeymoon!

We got some great pictures of the castle and surrounding area, but we weren't allowed to take pictures of the interior. After the tour, we walked a little further up the hill and over to the bridge I had photographed from the castle windows. The view of the castle from the bridge was absolutely amazing!

We walked back down the hill, and just as we were approaching the town, it started to pour. We waited on the porch of a nice hotel, and one of the hotel staff called a cab to take us back to Fussen.

We ate dinner in the hotel that night, and then relaxed in our room for a bit before going to bed. It was a great day, even though we'd been up a long time. I think you'll agree that it was worth it once you see some of the pictures!

What's next?

We saw Wicked yesterday! It was fabulous! We both loved it. The music was sensational, and the actors were phenomenal! We both loved it. We bought the soundtrack as soon as the performance was over. We highly recommend it!

We're off to bed early tonight because Michael has to get up at 4:30 in the morning to go to Brussels. On Thursday morning we're flying to Munich, Germany then taking the train to Fussen. We're planning to spend a couple of days in Germany seeing Neuschwanstein Castle and the surrounding area before taking the train to Zurich, Switzerland. We'll take a couple more days there, enjoying a scenic boat and train tour through Switzerland. We'll be back late Sunday night and be able to relax on Monday since it's a holiday here. Then Michael's off to Lisbon, Portugal for 2 days. He'll be home for one night and then it's off to Budapest, Hungary. I actually get to with him on that trip. He'll be working on Thursday and Friday and then we'll stay the rest of the weekend.

There is a lot happening over the next two weeks. I'll get the pictures and the blogs up as soon as I can. I hope you're looking forward to it as much as I am!

Little Venice

Little Venice

The first weekend in August Michael and I spent the afternoon in Little Venice. Little Venice is close to Paddington Station and is formed by the junction of the Regent's Canal and the Grand Union Canal. It is a very quaint area of London, and we enjoyed a leisurely stroll up and down the canals.

Travel Tip: If you're looking for a quite place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the City, then take the time to explore Little Venice. There are several waterside cafes where you could grab lunch or afternoon tea.

Regents Park

Regent's Park

A couple of weeks ago I spent the afternoon in Regents Park. I walked all along the park and up Pimrose Hill. The park is beautiful, and the view from Pimrose Hill was great. There are a lot of quiet, scenic places in the park. There's also a rose garden with some of the most unique roses I've ever seen.

Rachell and Jeff in London

Chell and Jeff in London

I caught up on our Rome excursions and Kara’s trip, but I still haven’t talked about Rachell and Jeff’s visit. So, before I tell you about the other things we’ve been up to lately, I should tell you about their week in London.

Chell and Jeff arrived on the same day Kara left. They were both exhausted, but excited to be in London. I helped Kara to the train station with her luggage while they relaxed at the apartment and talked to Michael. In the afternoon, Jeff decided to take a nap. We took it easy that day. We went for a brief walk to the little grocery store around the corner, but otherwise, we just hung out around the apartment for the day.

On Sunday they took a city bus tour and a river cruise, which enabled them to see a lot of the city without wearing themselves out. On Monday we saw the Changing of the Guard ceremony at the Horse Guard’s Parade before exploring the nearby Winston Churchill Museum and War Rooms. After lunch at the museum we walked around Westminster taking in the sites, including Big Ben and Parliament, on our way to the London Eye.

On Tuesday we spent the morning at Madame Tussaud’s, then checked out the Beatles Store. We had lunch at a little sandwich shop. Jeff wasn’t sure what he wanted, so the waitress took him up to the counter to just point to what he wanted (maybe they should just have picture menus, huh Jeff?). After lunch we went to Abbey Road. For those of you who are Beatles fans, I’m sure that’s all I need to say! We ordered pizza for dinner from our favorite Italian restaurant. Chell has decided that she loves Carbonara pizza!

By the time we’d finished our Beatles walk, Chell and I were getting a little tired, so we headed for home. Jeff decided to visit the Imperial War Museum, so we left him with my city map, my cell phone, and 70 pence.

Travel Tip: Many of you are probably wondering about the pocket change. You see, many public toilets in London require money in order to enter. If you don’t have any change when you need to go then you’re just out of luck, unless you’re brave like a lot of people in Europe who just find a secluded corner somewhere to relieve themselves.

On Wednesday we explored Kensington Gardens, toured Kensington Palace, and then had lunch at The Orangery. Chell really loved the flower garden at Kensington Palace. In the afternoon we took the tube to Piccadilly Circus then walked to the Lyric Theater where the two of them were seeing Cabaret. Michael and I joined them for dinner after the show. We went to the Golden Oven for Indian Food, which they both discovered they liked!

On Thursday morning I took them to Harrods. If you’re in London you have to go at least once just to say you’ve been there! We went to the Emporium after that for a little last minute souvenir shopping. We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting at the apartment before they had to leave. They were spending their last night at a hotel near the airport so they wouldn’t have to get up quite so early in the morning. When we called for a taxi to take them to the hotel we assumed that it would take 10 or 15 minutes for a taxi. Well, after I spent an hour on hold with the first company we decided to call a different company. I spent about 5 minutes on hold with them and decided to try another one – hoping to speak to a real person and not a computer. I finally got through and the taxi showed up about 10 minutes later.

We had a great visit, and took some more pictures, of course. I’ve probably forgotten something, so when they read this maybe Rachell and Jeff can add their thoughts and comments about the trip too.

Rubbing Elbows with the Stars

Rubbing Elbows with the Stars

After resting for a day after our trip to Rome, we decided we were up for a star studded extravaganza. We spent several hours rubbing elbows with the stars at Madame Tussauds. Then we were off to King's Cross to check out Platform 9 3/4 - Harry Potter's portal from London to the Hogwart's Express.

Exploring London with Kara

Exploring London with Kara

On Wednesday, July 4th, Kara and I explored London. We watched the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace then walked through St. James Park. We watched politicians debate a bill in the Parliment building and enjoyed seeing Westminster Abbey and Big Ben before heading home.

I finally got through the pictures, and got them up on the web. I hope you enjoy!

Roman Holiday: Day 4 - Piazza del Popolo & Villa Borghese

Roman Holiday: Day 4

On Sunday morning we slept in a bit and then checked out of the hotel after breakfast. We took a leisurely stroll through the Piazza del Popolo, which was just around the corner from our hotel, and then walked up the hill toward the Villa Borghese gardens.

It was a large beautiful park. We enjoyed the scenery – and a lively debate on the virtues and shortcomings of public school vs. home schooling. Kara is a school teacher, and Michael and I are considering home education if we ever have children. Needless to say it was a very interesting discussion.

After leaving the park, we went through a fabulous little museum that contained the notes and sketches of Leonardo Da Vinci and had interactive replicas of his ideas for pulleys, motors, etc. on display. This exhibit will be traveling through the U.S. this year as well.

When we left the museum we decided to get gelato once more before leaving Rome. We sat on the steps of the Santa Maria dei Miracoli and enjoyed watching all the people in the piazza.

Travel Tip: Eat Gelato! There is a reason that no matter where you are in Rome you see a Gelateria on every corner and everyone walking by you with a cone in their hands. It’s heavenly!

We finished our gelato and then wandered around a bit before returning to the hotel to collect our bags and catch our ride to the airport. The hotel call a taxi for us. Well, it wasn’t a traditional taxi – it was a beautiful town car with leather seats. It was a fabulous, relaxing ride, and our driver spoke English very well. We enjoyed talking with him about his upcoming trip to the U.S.

We arrived at the airport and grabbed a bite to eat after checking in. By the way, don’t judge the food in Rome by anything you get at the airport. It was edible, barely, but that’s about all I can say about it.

We boarded our flight and then we were delayed for an hour because we didn’t have clearance to fly over a certain area of our flight plan. They finally got it straightened out and we left the historic, elegant city behind as we traveled back to London.

We were all exhausted by the time we got home. We hiked up the stairs, dropped our bags, and immediately got ready for bed. Michael took Monday off, so we all lazed around the next day.

Overall it was a fabulous vacation. Busy, and exhausting, but we saw and learned so much. I’m so happy to have had the experience, and I’m also thrilled that Kara was able to share it with us. I hope that it will be a trip that none of us will easily forget.

Roman Holiday: Day 3 - Ancient Rome

Roman Holiday: Ancient Rome

After leaving the Colosseum we walked toward the Roman Forum. The area is still being excavated, but there is a great deal to see. It’s so hard to believe that, around 2000 years ago, the people of Rome lived in the middle of a thriving city, with huge buildings.

Augustus Ceasar (known as Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus) was the first and one of the most important of the Roman Emperors. During his reign he built many of the buildings in what is now ancient Rome. He marked the beginning of a long period of stability which became known as the Pax Romana, which means Roman peace. The Romans welcomed this time of peace in the Roman Empire. There had been a number of conflicts within Rome and within its territories; the Roman people were ready for a time of peace.

Many Romans lived in large cities and at the heart of each city was a forum. A forum was a large open area, used as a market and a public meeting place. Because the only wealthy people had cooking areas in their homes, most people went to the forum to eat their meals. People could buy cooked food from stands in the forum. Temples for worshipping gods and the current emperor were also built in the forum.

Public entertainment was another important aspect of city life. Amphitheaters, such as the Colosseum, and circuses (long race tracks), were built to hold public sporting events. A circus was used for chariot racing. Ttwo or four teams (riders, chariots, and horses) would compete by racing seven times around a long, narrow track which had turning points at each end. Each chariot was pulled on average by four horses that ran side by side. This was a very dangerous sport--men and horses were often killed when chariots crashed. The teams were named after colors; there were the reds, whites, blues, and greens. The people in Ancient Rome supported their favorite charioteers just as we cheer our favorite sports team today.

Many Romans also enjoyed going to public bathhouses. Public bathhouses were places were people went to not only wash their bodies, but to also exercise and socialize. Instead of soap, Romans used olive oil to clean their skin. They rubbed the oil onto their bodies and scraped the oil and the dirt off with a curved metal tool called a strigil (STREE-gil). Some people did this three times a day! I suppose they needed to bathe that frequently after walking up and down all those hills in the middle of summer. Whew! That would have to be hot! The bathhouses had many different rooms with hot or warm water baths, cold water baths, and swimming pools for exercise and entertainment.

The Romans had developed structures called aqueducts to bring water from rivers and lakes into Roman cities. An aqueduct is a channel for carrying water on a bridge across a valley or underground in pipes. It was extremely important to provide a supply of water to the towns, not just for drinking, but to provide water for bathhouses.

We finished exploring the ruins and decided to find a place for lunch. By this time we didn’t care where. We had finished all of our water and any energy from our morning meal was long gone. We stopped at the first place we came to. Definitely not our best meal in Rome, but it was food (and water and Coca-Cola – which probably cost more than our food) so we were happy.

Travel Tip: Drink lots of water! You’ll know that it’s warm, but you don’t really think about how much you’re sweating. You can get dehydrated in a hurry if you’re not careful. It might also be a good idea to carry a small snack with you – a granola bar or piece of fruit would be great. You never know how long you might be out, have to wait in line, or search for a restaurant.

After lunch we felt revived and set off for the Monument of Victor Emmanuel II. This monument has two large fountains on either side of the grand stair case, and also houses the tomb of an unknown soldier complete with eternal flame. Kara took a few minutes to cool her heels in the fountain. We even convinced her to get more than her feet a little wet, although I think she was a little surprised at how cool the water really was!

On our way back to the Metro, we passed the through Trajan’s Forum, which was the last of the great imperial forums of Rome, and Trajan’s Market, much of which is still part of a major archeological excavation. It was quite a sight. I found it interesting to look at different areas and try to imagine what took place there.

We took the Metro to the Spanish Steps. Unfortunately there aren’t any great pictures of this since the front exterior of the building is currently being renovated. I did take get a few great pictures of one of the bell towers, and of Kara with her feet in the fountain again. She was actually waiting on us when we found her there. It’s probably a good thing we came when we did too! Just after she finished putting her shoes on a policeman came over and shouted at everyone around the fountain to move and take their feet out! Oops! I guess they need signs – or maybe we should learn to read Italian?

We stopped for gelato, which was way good, then had a leisurely walk back to the hotel. We napped for a couple of hours and then had dinner close to the hotel. We loved our waitress. She was very nice, gave us just enough attention and spoke English well. We tipped her handsomely when we finished our meal.

It was a good thing that the hotel was just a few steps away. I don’t think any of us were up for walking any more. After three days we were all getting tired. Even after a nap before dinner, all I could think of was a warm bath and a nice bed! And it was heaven. I will tell you that if you’re having trouble sleeping, try walking around Rome – about 10 miles or so a day – for three days in a row. I assure you that it will do the trick!

Roman Holiday: Day 3 - The Colosseum

Coloseum

On Saturday morning, after eating breakfast and purchasing our Metro tickets, we went to the Colosseum. It was early in the day, so the line wasn’t very long when we got there. I found a great spot in line – most people were standing in a single file line and there were 5 tills open, so I went with several other people to stand in a shorter line. After they were sure that I wasn’t going to be attacked by other tourist for “cutting” in line, Michael and Kara joined me.

Travel Tip: At the time of this writing, the Colosseum does not accept any payment other than cash, so make sure that you have enough on hand to cover your entrance fee (€11 when we were there). When you’re like us and depend mostly on credit cards while on vacation, it can really put a dent in your pocket book if you haven’t brought enough cash along for your trip. You might be able to use credit to purchase your tickets online, or purchase the Rome Pass which includes the Colosseum.

Once inside, we all enjoyed the vast sight before us! We took tons of pictures, but they don’t even begin to show what it was like to really be there. In ancient Roman times, the Colosseum housed gladiator fights. These were flights where men would against another gladiator or an animal. Gladiators were usually slaves who were owned by masters or criminals. The contests lasted until one gladiator was killed or badly wounded; the wounded man threw away his weapons and begged for mercy from the crowd and the emperor.

The crowd would shout out its verdict, but the final decision was left up to the emperor. If the gladiator had fought well, the emperor could spare his life by giving the "thumbs-up" sign; if the gladiator had not fought well, the emperor would give the thumbs-down sign and the winner would kill the losing gladiator. If the gladiator won, he would sometimes win his freedom.

We took our time exploring – and listening to some of the other tourists’ impressions. There was a group of 3 or 4 American high school students standing around us at one particular lookout point. We were cracking up by the time they left, and then they became the brunt of our jokes for the remainder of our trip. This might sounds cruel of us, but after you read their conversation, I think you’ll understand.

First Girl: “Wow, this is so…epic!”
Guy: “Yeah, it’s really tight, you know?”
Second Girl: “It’s just so dope, man!”

Now do you understand?!? It was hilarious! I must be getting old. I thought of all the words we used in school and how cool we thought we were way back when. Believe it or not, Mom and Dad, I shook my head and laughed. How funny you must have thought we were!

Roman Holiday: Day 2 - Exploring Rome

Roman Holiday: Day 2 - Exploring Rome

After leaving the Sistine Chapel we began making our way back to the hotel. We stopped at a local pizzeria for a fabulous lunch. As we were sitting down at the table the couple next to us began giggling at something we had said or done. Oh well, we were obviously tourist – what do you expect? The pizza was great. I even ate the bruschetta with tomatoes! It was fabulous!

After a brief rest at the hotel we headed back toward the river. Kara – who loves water – had suggested a river cruise. So, we signed up and set out. It wasn’t really one of Kara’s better ideas! We gave her grief about it for the rest of our trip, but she knows we love her! The walls along the Tiber River are built so high that when you’re on the river there is really nothing to see. Well, nothing except graffiti and more homeless people than you can imagine. I think the most interesting and unusual (at least to us) thing we saw was the advertisement for gay dolls that we saw at the boat pier. I had to take a picture! Homosexuality is definitely more widely accepted in Europe than in the U.S.

Once the tour was finished (and most of us had taken a short nap) we wandered through the streets of Rome. We came to the Piazza Navona and as soon as we emerged from the alley into the piazza it took my breath away! There were artists everywhere! I could have stayed there all day looking at paintings and watching people.

Michael and I had already decided that we wanted to buy a painting to remind us of our trip. We looked for some time for that extra special something and we finally found the perfect one. Well, two actually, but they were small and will look great framed to match! We also bought two paintings while we were in Paris. I hope Michele is planning to be very busy framing all of these for us once we get back!

After great shopping, pictures, and people watching we finally left the piazza. On our way toward the Trevi Fountain, we stopped at the Pantheon. Michael and I were a little disappointed that even this ancient building has been taken over by the church. The Pantheon is located in the Piazza della Rotunda. It was built around 25 B.C. as a Roman temple. Pantheon is a Greek word which means, “to honor all Gods”. Much of the building was destroyed by fire in 80 A.D. and had to be rebuilt.

The interior of the building was interesting. It contains the tombs of several Italian Kings. It was built so that the distance from the floor to the top of the dome is exactly equal to the diameter of the room. There is a large round hole in the ceiling which was meant to allow natural light into the room. The building was turned over to the Pope in 609 who turned it into the Chiesa di Santa Maria ad Martyres. They still hold masses here on special occasions.

The Piazza della Rotunda where the Pantheon is located is a lively place filled with bars, cafes, and restaurants. We saw a lot of street vendors selling their wares. Of course they disappeared in less than 30 seconds when their lookout spotted a police officer. I’ve never seen people move so fast in my life!

Next we saw the Trevi Fountain. It is the most famous and romantic fountain in all of Rome. It was beautiful. There were so many people around that it was difficult to take a great picture because I had to stand so close, but I still think you’ll get the idea that it was lovely! We found a human statue near the fountain that was quite good – Kara tossed a little money his way and was rewarded with a great photo opportunity!

We stopped at a charming outdoor restaurant for dinner on our way back to the hotel. It was my favorite meal during our trip. I don’t even remember the name of it. I only know that it was at the end of the long open area called the Piazza del Parlamento. It’s a little off the main road and made for a peaceful, relaxing dinner.

Travel Tip: If you think you like American coffee, then do not under any circumstances order coffee while in Rome. You will be sadly disappointed to be given the equivalent of mud to drink. You’re much better off to ask for a latte or even espresso. Be willing to try it! The espresso I had after dinner was flavorful and smooth – not bitter at all.

After dinner we continued our leisurely walk back to the hotel. After a full and busy day, we decided to sleep a little later the next day before meeting for breakfast. We knew that we would need our rest before tackling the Colosseum and ancient Rome on Saturday.

Back on Track

So, just in case any of you are wondering, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth -or even been washed away by all the flooding in Britain! I've just been really lazy! I loved have Kara and Rachell and Jeff here, but I think I was a little worn out after three weeks of sightseeing everday. So, I spent last week catching up on laundry, housework, errands, sorting through three weeks work of pictures, and talking to Mom, Dad, Billy, and Nicole on the phone. Of course I was also wrapped up in the book I was reading - I'm sure many of you can relate to that! Well, I finally finished Altas Shrugged - a fabulous if long book - and I'd love to discuss it with anyone who is interested! Perhaps I'll post a review on one of my other blogs.

But first, for those of you who are still waiting patienly for the next installment of Roman Holiday - Norman style, I will dispense with the excuses and get on with the show!

Roman Holiday: Day 2 – The Sistine Chapel

Vatican Museum

We were up early on Friday morning so that we could get to the Sistine Chapel before the crowd. After breakfast we went to the Metro Station and bought a daily ticket for each of us. We didn’t attempt to figure out the bus system in the short period of time we had, but the Metro saved us a lot of time.

Travel Tip: Ride the Metro! It is so inexpensive to get a day pass that is good for the local Rome transportation system including the Metro and buses. You’ll save yourself so much time and, most importantly, energy!

Our early start apparently wasn’t early enough, unfortunately. By the time we arrived to the Vatican City, the line for the museum and Sistine Chapel stretched from the entrance on the north wall, around the northeast corner and down the east side of the city. We were about to lose hope when we heard the phrase “two hour wait” – and it was still an hour before the museum opened. We had seen several tour company guides advertising tour groups. Michael and I aren’t usually much on tours, so we had ignored them for the most part. It was Kara who decided to approach them and get more info. That was the most brilliant decision ever (and preemptively made up for the major error in her judgment that I’ll get to later)!

She discovered that for a little more money we could join the tour group that was forming and skip the entire line. We had a lot to see and do while we were in Rome, so the thought of saving three hours of our day made the extra bit of money seem more than reasonable.

We enjoyed the tour, well, for the most part anyway. About 10 minutes into the 3-hour tour, Kara’s headset stopped working. Michael was good enough to give his headset to her so that she could hear what the guide was saying. I think Michael enjoyed the tour better without listening to the guide anyway. Kara and I shared funny or interesting tidbits with him as we went along.

We saw several interesting things in the museum before arriving at the Sistine Chapel. One of the most interesting things was the painting on the ceiling that was made to look like carving or molding.

We learned a lot about Michelangelo and the hidden meanings in his paintings. I don’t even know where to begin! He was fascinated by the human form. At an early age he was allowed to assist in the dissection of male human corpses. He was not allowed to dissect females. Many experts believe this to be the reason that many of Michelangelo’s female sculptures had feminine faces, but masculine bodies.

He (nor anyone else) was allowed to dissect the heart or the brain – where the soul was believed to reside. It is interesting, then, that in the Creation of Adam painting in the Sistine Chapel, The cloud around God is the very image of the brain, and also a human heart turned on its side.

This image is also very controversial for many other reasons. One glaring oddity is the woman wrapped up in the left arm of God. Many scholars claim that it is Eve – mainly because it would be scandalous to think that God was with a beautiful woman in heaven!

It seems that Michelangelo was pretty much ordered by the Pope to paint the Sistine Chapel. Apparently he and the Pope didn’t really get along, and fought frequently. Michelangelo was quite a cheeky fellow, and so exacted his revenge on the Pope through subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) means via his paintings. After one fight, Michelangelo was especially angry. He painted a blatant naked ass on the robe of an angel flying away from God. The Pope was furious! He fired Michelangelo and ordered the entire work to be destroyed. So, the removal of the paintings began. Then, one day shortly after Michelangelo had left, the Pope walked into the Chapel that was now free of the scaffolding and painter’s cloths. He realized immediately upon seeing the masterpiece on the ceiling that he had made a terrible mistake. He stopped the removal of the painting at once. He begged Michelangelo to return and finish. It took the Pope several years to convince him to return. Michelangelo repaired the portion of the ceiling that had been scraped away, but the section was weakened. This section fell during a bombing of Rome and is still missing today.

I’ve barely scratched the surface of the interesting facts we learned, but I won’t bore you. If you're interested, I’m sure that you’ll follow the links above, or do your own research. The rest of Friday was fabulous as well, but it’s getting late, so I’ll have to save it for another blog.

Roman Holiday: Day 1 - The Vatican City

Roman Holiday: Part 1

We left for our trip to Rome early last Thursday morning. Out taxi arrived promptly at 5am, and we lugged all of our baggage down three flights of stairs. The flight was uneventful and we arrived in Rome about 10:30. We took a cab to the hotel. The driver was certainly aggressive. The traffic was horrible and in order to make any progress at all he would create lanes between other cars where no lane really existed. I think Kara was a little scared for a while, but we finally arrived without a scratch.

The hotel was nice. Most of the staff spoke English, so we had no trouble communicating. The location was fabulous – pretty much right in the middle of everything we wanted to see. It was also right across the street from a Gelateria (Ice Cream Shop). Yay! Easy access to ice cream!

After lunch at the hotel we headed for the Vatican City, hoping to see the Sistine Chapel. When we arrived, we stood in a long line just to get through security. We kept seeing signs that said no tank tops, but when we looked at everyone else in line, we thought they just must not be enforcing that rule. That was the hope anyway, as Kara was wearing a sleeveless shirt. Just before we ascended the stairs to enter St. Peter’s Basilica two guards stopped us and told us that Kara couldn’t enter. We looked at the people entering ahead of us, and all these women had whipped scarves and wraps out of their bags to cover their shoulders

We tried to figure out what to do. We weren’t going to go in without Kara. Then I remembered that I had a small towel in my bag – wrapped around the extra lens for protection on the plane. I took it out, but it was much too small to cover her shoulders. I wasn’t having any success trying to rip it, so Kara used the corner of a credit card to start a tear and Michael finished ripping it apart. We took each half and tucked it under her shirt to cover her shoulders. Success! The guards told us we could enter. They even smiled at our ingenuity. They weren’t so happy when I tried to take a picture of Kara in that get up. I think they felt we were making fun of the church, but we just thought she looked funny in her makeshift sleeves.

Travel Tip: If you’re planning to visit any part of the Vatican City while in Rome, make sure that you have something to cover your shoulders and knees. Many vendors sell wraps and scarves, and also paper pants for anyone wearing shorts.

We entered the Basilica and walked toward the line for the Cupola. We couldn’t find any signs directing us to the Sistine Chapel. While we waited in line to go up into the Cupola we chatted with a very nice American couple that had been to Rome before. We learned that we had to enter the Vatican City a different way to get to the Sistine Chapel, but it closed at 3pm. We were too late for that day, but we decided to stay and finish exploring the Basilica.

We purchased tickets and rode the elevator up to the Cupola. After seeing the beautiful view at the base of the Cupola, we decided to climb the remaining 320 stairs to the top. That’s really a lot more stairs than you think. It might have been better except the walls were sloped in, so you had to angle you body away from the walls. It was awkward to say the least. We finally made it to the top. I was worried about Kara because she’d had to stop to rest before reaching the top, but she finally made it after resting and a very nice person offering her some water. The view from the top was beautiful. We had a great bird’s eye view of Rome. It was breathtaking!

After taking a lot of pictures, we decided to call it a day. We left the Vatican City and walked along the Tiber River back toward our hotel. Along the way we came across the most unusual statue. It was a female figure wearing a beautiful dress. She was completely surrounded by a red transparent box. It was quite a striking blend of simplicity, drama, and elegance. The building turned out to be the Valentino Fashion Museum. It was closed for the day, but we enjoyed seeing the beautiful dresses in the windows as we walked by.

We took a brief rest at the hotel before heading out for dinner. We ended up in this nice little restaurant – Italian food of course.

Travel Tip: If you’re not fluent, or at least semi-fluent, in the native language, don’t try to order dinner in anything except English!

While we were eating, a group of seven Americans were seated not far from us. We believe that the younger couple – probably in their early 20’s – was either engaged or at least very close because this girl had been invited along on a family vacation. Apparently she had been learning Italian and felt this more fully qualified her to order dinner for everyone. The waiter came and she began, having to ask one of the family members who did know some Italian how to say different word. Needless to say, she completely butchered the language – more than half of what she said to the Waiter was in English. When she finally realized that the waiter spoke English, she was a little embarrassed, but still seemed pleased with her self. It was hilarious!

On the way back to the hotel, a flower vendor tried to sell us flowers. Of course, first he says he’ll give them to you, and then once you take them he follows you around begging for “just a few coins.”

Travel Tip: Guys, when a flower vendor approaches your wife or girlfriend and you’re playing the romantic – buy the flowers from him before he offers so that you can give your girl a rose. Otherwise he’ll shove it into her hand telling her how beautiful she is and then follow you around begging for money. If you don’t cough up, he’ll take his flowers back. This is a very frequent occurrence so ladies, you need to learn to just tuck your hands away and not take the offered flower every time because otherwise you’ll end up with a hundred of them, a shrinking pocket book, and not even a vase to put them in!

After dinner we walked back to the hotel and crashed for the night. We had only been at it for a half day and we were exhausted. We knew that we would need more sleep before tackling the Sistine Chapel and other sites we wanted to see on Friday. I can't wait to tell you all about it tomorrow!

Roman Holiday

We made it back safely from Rome. I’m sure that everyone is anxious to hear all about our trip, so I wanted to get some information up on the blog. There are so many things that I want to talk about! I’m not going to write everything in one blog – that way you don’t have to wait weeks for me to finish it all. Kara is here until Saturday afternoon, and Rachell and Jeff arrive that same day, so as you can imagine, I’ll be quite busy over the next couple of weeks. I’ll just write when I can and give it to you in smaller installments. I’ll do the pictures that way too. We took over 1700 pictures over the 4 days we spent in Rome, so there is a lot of work ahead of me just to find the best ones for the web album!

When Kara was making plans to come over, she mentioned that she would like to visit a place other than London while she was in Europe. She mentioned southern Europe or the Mediterranean, so we decided on Rome. Michael took 2 days off work so we could have a long weekend to see everything we wanted to see.

Travel tip: Wear tennis shoes! We averaged 10 – 15 miles each day while in Rome. My feet are still sore!

Without keeping you in suspense for too long, I will tell you that we had a great, if exhausting, time. We all enjoyed some things more than others, but overall it was a great vacation. I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

Kara's Here!

Kara Exploring London

Kara got in on Sunday and after a day or so of adjusting to the new time she has been out on the town. Yesterday we were in Wimbledon, Hyde Park, Piccadilly Circus, and Trafalgar Square. At the Marble Arch, Kara got a kick out of all the pigeons - and all of the bird proofing material all over the arch.

After a busy day of exploring (and some new pictures) we headed for home. While dinner was cooking it started to rain...and then it started to hail. It hailed really hard for about 5 minutes. I snapped a few funny pictures from our apartment window. After dinner it was still sprinkling, but the sun had also come out. We glanced out the window and saw a huge rainbow across the sky. The pictures do not even do it justice, but I hope you enjoy them.

Today we saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, then Big Ben and Parliment. We even went inside the Parliament Building and watched them debate a new bill. I have more pictures from today, but I won't be able to get them up until we get back from Rome on Sunday night.

We're off to bed soon. The taxi will be here at 5am to take us to the airport for our flight. I'm sure after 4 days in Rome I will have a lot of exciting things to write about!

Optimism vs Murphy's Law - Part 2

Scotland Road Trip

Warning: This is a long blog! Make sure you have time to read!

Our plan for the weekend was to relax. We didn’t make hotel reservations, and we didn’t have a specific itinerary for most things – just general times of day that we’d like to be at our next destination. This turned out to be good in some ways, and not so good in others.

On Thursday afternoon I called to book a taxi for 9:00am Friday morning. We book taxis all the time since Michael travels so frequently and we’ve never had any problems. The taxi company called at 9:00 on Friday and we thought they were calling to tell us the driver was downstairs. No, they were calling to say that they hadn’t found a driver for us yet and then asked if we still wanted them to dispatch someone. What?!? Yes, we still need to get somewhere, please send a taxi. He finally showed up about 30 minutes late – it’s a good thing we didn’t have a flight to catch. We should have known when the taxi was late that the tone for our weekend was being set, but we just blew it off. We were excited to get on the road.

We instructed the driver to take us to the Hertz location at London Heathrow. We got to the Hertz location, but then we couldn’t figure out how to actually get inside. We drove around in circles for a while, stopped and asked for directions – which were vague at best. I say we, but actually our driver was the one asking for instructions. He even turned the meter off because he felt bad about driving in circles. But, alas, we finally arrived.

Once we arrived at Hertz we were expecting our name to be on the board so that we could just get our car and leave (with Hertz #1 Club Gold you can do that). Of course it wasn’t there, so we had to wait inside. When we got to the counter and gave the woman our info, it really didn’t take very long. When she mentioned the extra insurance, we almost said no, but something in the back of my mind was saying – just in case. We decided to purchase the insurance; it really wasn’t that much extra.

Then, we were on the road – headed for Stonehenge! It didn’t take Michael long to get the hang of driving on the left side of the road. Before we took our trip we were warned by some of the locals that driving in England is not like driving in the US. As we were leaving London – driving on the motorway – I remember thinking, “This isn’t so bad, what were those people talking about?”

We turned off the motorway onto a smaller highway, and then the traffic started to back up a little. By then, though, we were almost there and it still didn’t seem like a bad trip. We made it to Stonehenge without any problems; then it started to rain. It was just a light rain, and it did stop long enough for me to take some pictures.

After Stonehenge we headed back to the road that would lead us north toward the Lake District. We stopped at Pizza Hut for lunch! I love it: Stonehenge and Pizza Hut! We’ve become so spoiled by our American conveniences – it’s a good thing they have them everywhere!

After lunch we were on the road. We drove through this little village where all of the buildings had thatched roofs. We even saw new thatch being applied to one building. I wasn’t able to take any pictures because the roads were narrow, and there was no place to pull over. We continued to drive and drive and drive – oh my, those roads were narrow. And so much traffic! We needed to get our minds off the stress of driving, or rather sitting still in traffic. We finally whipped out the Logitech Stereo so that we could listen to the iPod.

After driving all day – about 12 hours or so – we finally reached Windermere. We hadn’t made reservations so we had to try a couple of places before we found a bed for the night. We ended up at Craig Manor Hotel. It was a nice place with a comfy bed and a pretty view.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and got a few pictures of the view before we hit the road. We stopped at several viewpoints on our way through town. It reminded both of us of our trip to Alaska – mountains, lake, etc – except that Alaska was warmer. That’s not normal of course, there just happen to be a warm front in Alaska while we were on our honeymoon cruise.

We continued driving north on the A592, stopping periodically when the view struck us – and there was actually room to pull over. We stopped at the top of a large hill and took several pictures of the valley below. There was a small inn and restaurant there as well, but we didn’t go in. We took in the view for a while and then hit the road again.

We continued north – now driving down the hill. The roads were so narrow and very curvy. After a couple of miles we heard a loud noise – sounded like the front passenger tire. So, we pulled over and got out to look. Sure enough, the front passenger tire was completely flat and coming off the rim. My initial thought was, “Well, this will slow us down a little, but it won’t take me longer than 30 minutes or so to get this tire changed. We’ll be back on the road in no time.” As I’m feeling all smug – thinking how proud Dad is going to be when I tell him I changed this tire – I glance back at the car and realize that the rear passenger tire is flat too. Well shit! There goes my “back on the road in no time” idea. With only one spare, there’s no way we can take care of this by ourselves.

So, Michael takes out his cell phone to call the Hertz Emergency Assistance number. Unfortunately we’re down in the valley, so there is absolutely no cell reception at all. We packed up the camera and some water, locked up the car, and started the long hike back up the hill. As we topped the hill (finally) and approached the inn/restaurant we got a cell signal. Michael spent several minutes on the phone with AA trying to explain where we were and what the problem was.

We later realized that part of the confusion was that Michael was explaining that we had two flat “tires” but the women on the phone didn’t understand right away. Then once she did, she asked what size the “tyres” (pronounced like we say “tears” – as in crying) were. He was eventually able to make her understand that we didn’t know the size of the “tyres” and that since we couldn’t get any cell reception at the bottom of the hill he wasn’t going to just trot back down the hill 2 miles to the car, check on the tires, and then come back up the hill to call her. She had to track down and tow truck, and called us back after about 15 minutes to let us know that it would be another 60 to 90 minutes before they were able to get to us.

We took advantage of the opportunity to have lunch and use the restroom at the Kirkstone Pass Inn. Once we were finished we started back down the hill toward our car. Since we had time, I was opportunistic and took several pictures on our way. The tow truck finally arrived; it was about 2 hours after we spoke to AA. The driver told us that he was taking us to Kendal to have our tires repaired. Ok, all is well. We’ll get the tires fixed and then get back on the road in a few hours.

Once we arrived at the tire shop and they had unloaded the car, the tire people tell us that they can’t fix the car because the front shock also needs to be repaired so it will have to be sent to a different garage because they were not equipped to handle it. The tow truck driving patiently waits while we try to call AA again and find out what to do.

By this time it is 4:30 pm and the tire shop closes at 5:00pm. The manager told us that the car could stay inside the garage and someone could pick it up the next day if that worked better. Well, not for us, but we decided it would work out ok if we could catch a train the rest of the way to Edinburgh. We waited and waited for the AA people to return our call, but they never did, so the tow driver had to leave on another call.

The tire shop was closing down, and we hadn't heard from AA about whether we could just it there. So, they pushed the car out onto the street and we had to get our stuff from the lobby before they locked up. We finally heard from AA that another tow would be there to pick up the car at 7:00 pm – well that didn’t work for us if we were going to try to catch the last train out of town at 7:20pm. We had vague instructions from the tire guys about how to get to the train station, but really had no idea how long it would take us to get there while carrying all of our stuff. We spoke to several different people at AA and at Hertz before we had any success.

Finally AA told us that they could get a tow truck to pick us up by 6:30 and he would drive the car to Edinburgh, so we could ride with him. Well, we had had enough of broken cars, and tow trucks. We wanted to spare what was left of the day and try to actually relax. So, we spent several more minutes on the phone trying to find out if we were required to go with the car, or if we could just sign it over to AA and then take the train. As soon as they gave us the ok, I headed for the train station to buy our tickets while Michael sat with the car.

It took me about 5 or 6 minutes to get there with no luggage and it turned out to be nothing more than a boarded up building and a platform. There was a sign that said, “Buy your ticket from the conductor”. So, I walked back to the car to tell Michael that all we had to do was get there before the last train left and we’d be fine.

I arrived at the car about the same time that the new tow truck did. I unloaded all of our stuff from the car then Michael helped the driver get the car up on the platform. We signed the paperwork – after Michael hurried the guy along a little. He seemed a little disappointed that we weren’t going to be riding with him. We tried to gently explain that we just wanted to relax a little and we thought the train would be enjoyable after the long day we’d had. We also kept thinking – there is no way that he can make it to Edinburgh before Hertz closes at 10:00pm, so we’ll be stuck at the airport with no car.

We left him there strapping the car down and headed for the train station. We got there in plenty of time for the last train, and I even got a few more pictures while we waited at the train station. We got on the train and then had to switch at the next platform 5 minutes down the track. We never had to buy a ticket for that short little ride. We did buy tickets to Edinburgh at the next station, though. Then we had to wait for about an hour for it to arrive. Thankfully I had prepared for our road trip by packing some goodies, so at least we had water, some cheese, homemade ciabatta, and banana bread to snack on while we waited.

The trip on a Virgin train to Edinburgh was so nice. We both enjoyed the relaxing trip, the beautiful scenery and the fact that no one else was in our car! It was so quiet! We talked about our plans for the next day, and we recapped the day a little – both proud that we hadn’t let it get us down or ruin our vacation.

As the train approached the station in Edinburgh we realized, a little belatedly, that the city was much larger that we had expected. However, we were still hopeful that, since the train station was in the middle of the city, we wouldn’t have any trouble finding a room in one of the many hotels close by.

We left the train station and approached the first hotel. They had a vacancy, but wanted to charge us £510 for one night (about $1020 USD)! Needless to say, we left and went to the next hotel, but when we got there we were told there were no rooms available. So, we walked a little further and found the same to be true at the next hotel. About this time we were starting to panic. Then one of the workers at the hotel we were about to leave offered to call the other hotels to inquire about vacancies, so that we didn’t have to keep walking all over town. She called eight different hotels before she finally found a vacant room for the night. She even called a cab for and let us wait in the lobby until it arrived.

The hotel with a vacancy turned out to be a Hilton - The Caledonian Hotel - and the man at the desk was so nice, and very helpful. We ended up in a beautiful room with the biggest bed you’ve ever seen! And it was much more affordable that £510. We both had a fabulous night sleep. The next morning we had a fabulous buffet breakfast that was included in our room rate – even better!

We checked out after breakfast and left our bags with the concierge before heading for Edinburgh Castle. It was really amazing – it sits way up on the hill in the center of town. I took some cool pictures as we walked up the hill toward the castle. While Michael stood in line for tickets, I took some more pictures and also chatted with the soldiers standing guard outside the gates. They were hilarious and had some great stories to tell. They had been on duty since 6pm the night before, but they were still a lot of fun even 15 hours later!

We spent several hours exploring the castle and taking pictures before walking back to the hotel. We picked up our backs and then took a taxi to the airport. After checking in, we found the Hertz desk and returned the NeverLost GPS they had given us for the car. As we’re signing paper work and turning in our accident report the man at the desk is calling around trying to actually locate the car. He said that the car never made it to Edinburgh, but was possibly taken to Glasgow because they were open later. We didn’t think a whole lot about it, except to be thankful that we took the train instead of riding with the tow truck driver.

The plane to London was little more than a puddle jumper, but at least it didn’t have propellers! The ride was a little bumpy, but relatively short. We took a cab home and then unpacked and started laundry. It was early evening by the time we got home, so we were able to relax and enjoy the evening at home together. We laughed about the car crisis, and then laughed some more when we talked about some of the great pictures that we never would have been able to take if we hadn’t been stuck walking on that road back to our car in the middle of nowhere! I guess things always work out.

Well, most things anyway. Last week on Wednesday evening a garage call us to tell us they had our car. Michael explained that the car belonged to Hertz, not to us. She seemed a little confused and said that she didn’t know what she was supposed to do with it then. We weren’t really much help. Michael asked where the car was and she told him that it was in a garage in Kendal – that was the same town they picked it up in!!! So, apparently it never even left!?! I guess it was a really good thing that we took the train!

I’ve probably left something out. If so, then I’ll just have to add it later. Enjoy the pictures and thanks for being patient since it took me over a week to get this post up.