London Baby!

What a whirlwind trip!! The morning started in Paris. Our kids and Todd were leaving the hotel at 4:45 am. We said our goodbyes the night before and were ready to do Europe on our own. We got up early in the morning so we could make one more stop. Nicole really wanted to see Jim Morrison's grave, so we ventured over there. It was so nice to be on our own instead of traveling in a herd!

Our train left Paris at 1:00. We had to maneuver the metro with our suitcases. I have definitely decided that next time I will down size considerably. It would be worth it to wash more to not lug so much stuff around when on my own. When we were checking into the train station we had to travel through a passport check for Paris. They stamped our passports, we walked two steps and got to the England passport check. It was pretty funny. The guy helping me was hysterical. When he saw that I was only going to be in London for one day the following conversation ensued.
Him: "Are you flying home tonight?"

Me: "no"
Him: "Tomorrow?"
Me: "tomorrow we are taking the train to Brussels."
Him: (irritation beginning to show) "Brussels is only an hour from here by train."
Me: "I know, but we want to see Olympic Park."
Him: (heavy sigh and eye rolling)

That interaction while hysterical, should have been an indication of how crazy it was over there and how irritated the locals are by the whole thing. The underground is expected to see 1 million extra travelers per day. And starting Wednesday morning there are designated Olympic lanes which are used by official Olympic traffic only. Major traffic is expected in the area for the local drivers.

Once we got to the hotel we wasted no time. We figured out how to take the Underground and headed to Olympic Park. We weren't sure what we would be able to see without a ticket to get into the area. What I didn't expect was the mass amount of people streaming into the area. It turns out that they were having a dress rehearsal of the Opening Ceremonies and people were able to get tickets to come and see it. It was NUTS there, including a break down of one of the Underground lines that caused a ton of delays for the people going home after the show. I'm making predictions now. Commuting to and from the Games will be a HUGE topic of conversation during the Games and it won't be good.

The good news for us was that even though we couldn't get close to Park we could go up to the third floor of a store with a good view of the area and a souvenir shop. I might have spent more in that store than I did in the first two weeks!! I was giddy with the excitement of it all. The Olympics have always been important to me. I can't wait to watch the games on tv and know that I was there!!

This morning we got up early to catch an open top tour bus. I never thought I would be one of those tourists, but it was the only way for us to see the sights in the short amount of time we had. It was pretty fun.

By noon we were off to the Eurostar train under the English Channel again. The timing of our trip was really perfect. We got out just in time!!!

Oh, and did I mention the the Tour de France ended in Paris the day we were there? We didn't see the lead riders, but saw some of the entourage and all the streets blocked off. Quite a trip!!

Touring Paris

Today we started our morning with a guided bus tour of the city. Our local guide was very good and quite funny. The weather this morning was AMAZING! Gorgeous blues skies with puffy white clouds. Some of the highlights of the tour were the Notre Dame, which we will be visiting tomorrow, and the Eiffel Tower. At one stop we had time to get coffee and we went Parisian style, one small shot of coffee. It was very tasty!

The morning tour was immediately followed by a drive to Versailles. I really came into this tour with very little background information about the things we were seeing. Versailles was one that I didn't really know what to expect. It was pretty amazing. I couldn't believe how big it was. The palace tour itself was with our same local guide. It was pretty packed in there, but I could appreciate everything all the same. We had just over an hour to explore the gardens. I think you could spend days there and not see it all. We did see some pretty cool things.

Paris!!

Getting to Paris was almost the first catastrophe of the trip. We were suppose to board a bus at 5:30 to get to a 7:30 train that was 1 1/2 hours away. A little tight for my taste, made all the worse by three of our boys being late to get on the bus because they failed to wake up. Each blamed someone else, because someone was suppose to wake them up. GRRRRR!!

At 7:20 we were still driving the streets of Bern where we were to catch the train. At 7:26 we pulled up in front of the train station. We madly pulled suitcases off the bus, literally ran down a couple flights of stairs and jumped onto the train with seconds to spare. I am not sure what the contingency plan would have been, but am glad we didn't have to find out.

The first day in Paris was pretty awesome. Every image I had of Paris was confirmed. It looks and feels exactly as I imagined it would. We are staying outside of Paris at a holiday inn that caters to people headed to euro Disney. It is the most American hotel we have stayed in, and some of the amenities are quite welcome. Like a full sized shower. Although we are not in the best part of town, judging by the guy guarding the door when we got back at night.

The group took the above ground subway into the city. We gathered in front of the Opera house with all the other tourist groups. Side-note: I am pretty ready to be done with traveling in a pack. We had a couple hours before dinner and Nicole, who has been here twice before wanted to go see the Arc de Triumph. Our bus will drive us by it today, but she has never gotten out to see it. The tour director said it would be a 40 minute walk each way, but we were up for it. The kids followed as well. It was definitely a hike, but we got to walk up champs élysées and the size of the arc really surprised me. It was awesome!!

Dinner was these flat bread pizzas. It was really good and we had worked up quite the appetite.

After dinner the group decided to head back to the hotel. Nicole really wanted to get a glass from the Hard Rock so we decided to venture out on our own. We did a really good job of navigating and finding our way. It was so nice to be on our own, away from the children. I am really looking forward to the next leg of our trip.

Switzerland, gorgeous as ever

I have now been to Switzerland twice, and I would definitely like to spend more time there. We got lucky with great weather. It is amazing how much the weather can impact your impression of a place. And since we are only in each city for a little over a day it really makes a difference.

Our hotel was in a suburb outside of Lucerne. It was a really nice rural area. There was a field where some of the group had quite the soccer game going on the first evening we got there. The kids have started to intermingle with the other schools.

Our full day in Switzerland was a full and long one. In the morning we had a walking tour of the area. We saw a really cool monument of a lion carved into the side of a huge rock. It was erected to honor the Swiss guard. It was really awesome. After that we had a little walking tour of the city. It really is pretty small.

After a bit of free time out group boarded a boat to Mt Pilatus. I love being on the water and the boat gave some great views. We took a cog wheel train to the top of the mountain which was 7,000 ft elevation. It was pretty awesome. Some clouds had rolled in so the view wasn't as clear as I would have liked, but we found out later that it often gets completely socked in up there, so we were actually really lucky. The ride down was on gondolas, also very cool.

We had some free time before dinner so Todd, Nicole and I went to a little pub with two guys who were also in the tour. Chris and Josh work for EF and were checking out the tour. We had a lot of fun with them. This would be our last night with them because we were headed to Paris and they were going to Turkey. It was an awesome addition to the tour to get to meet these guys.

The evening dinner was a Swiss folklore experience. Let me tell you, these people can make music out of anything. Some examples...a broom, a saw, some wooden spoons. It was pretty funny. We got to have some fondue that was pretty good though.

First night in Munich

The first night in Munich

The drive from Prague to Munich was long. It rained most of the morning on the drive. It seemed we couldn't quite escape the rain. We stopped for lunch in Nuremberg. It was a cute little town much more typical of what I expect of European cities. We wandered the open air farmers market and got to try a couple of fruits I had never seen before. One was a small red fruit, much smaller than grapes, but in bunches like that. They were incredibly sour. The other one we tried was the size of a large grape. It was green and the skin was slightly see through with veins similar to a watermelon. The inside was similar to a kiwi, but was also very sour. Needless to say we didn't try any.

I have found that the food I like best in Germany is street food. We wandered the town for a little bit to see if we could find a restaurant we liked, but ended up at a street vendor for the most delicious bratwurst. The flavor and texture were amazing. The time spent visiting with Nicole and Todd has been very nice. Again I find that the common experiences and conversation really make a trip like this even more meaningful. I have laughed so much on this trip.

Arrival in Munich was interesting. We were staying in a suburb that was very rural but very pretty. This hotel left a lot to be desired, including wifi and an elevator. Not to worry, we were only about 4 floors up. Good thing I have been lifting weights. Lugging suitcases up those stairs was an adventure.

That evening we took the bus into Munich to eat. By this time I am getting pretty sick of pork and potatoes. Luckily the street food is good. This meal was very interesting as the potatoes were in the form of some sort of dumpling shaped like a big snow ball. We decided a good name for them would be jellied potatoes. Some people liked them, but not many.

After dinner we took about a 40 minute walk into the city center. It was a very typical square. There was a big church surrounded by shops. We walked to the famous Haufbraus house, a huge beer hall. It was loud, hot and smoky inside. You sit at communal tables and can order beers by the liter. We didn't stay there because our group was too large, but we did go to another biergarten. We have been trying lots of different kinds beer. I am still partial the darker beers, but the weiss beers are very flavorful.

We stayed in Munjch until about 10:30 and took the train out to our hotel. It was about a 40 minute ride. One thing that is very different about this trip than Italy is the amount of public transportation we have taken. I really like it though. I could definitely live in a city with public transportation. I enjoy the interactions with others that you don't get when stuck in your own car.

The reason you come

Yesterday was one of those days, the reason I want to travel. The weather in the morning was amazing. The views of the city were beautiful. Despite the mid afternoon rain the energy of the day was great. For the first time on the trip Nicole and I ventured off on our own. That is everything I love about being in a new place. We took the subway back from the hotel to the city to meet the group for dinner. We came up from the subway in a different spot that we expected, but we were able to figure out where we were going.

After dinner we had some more time to wander around with our kids. I really like this group. They are having a lot of fun together and are good kids. I impressed by all these kids who are traveling at such an early age. I didn't have the courage to do what they are doing at their age. It is a life affirming experience and I envy that they are having it so early.

Once we were back for the evening Todd, Nicole and I hung out with two guys who are also on the tour. They are employees of EF who are enjoying the trip as well. We had a really good time. We played a little foos ball and spent time sharing stories and getting to know each other. When I went on the tour in Italy I was surprised at how much I enjoyed getting to know other people on the tour. Last night was a similar experience. It is interesting to come to Europe to get to know people from the USA, but it is a most welcome side effect of this experience.

As I write this I am finding the words falling flat for what the experience really was. All in all, yesterday I was filled with that peaceful happiness that makes this all worth while!

Prague

Last night we went into the city of Prague. We couldn't have asked for a better evening. The weather was amazing. We walked from our hotel to the city which was about 20 minutes away. Our large group of tourist trekking through this part of town brought some stares. It was pretty amusing.

Todd lived in Prague during college, so it has felt like we have our own insider tour guide. Our Burbank group stopped to use the ATM. The locals really appreciated our 12 person line to get money.

We got to the city center just before sunset. The Astronomical clock has a tower that you can go up. The timing was amazing. We got to watch the sunset over Prague from high above the city. It really is a beautiful place. I love the red roof tops and crazy lay out. I also love how old it feels. Berlin was so modern in comparison. This town really has the feel you expect from a European city. The history is palpable.

After the sunset we spent some more time wandering the city. We went to a square that was filled with lights. It reminded me of Vegas on a smaller scale. The energy of the city was great. It felt comfortable, although Todd kept reminding us to be on guard for pick pockets.

Our group of 12 took the subway back to the hotel. It was good Todd was with us because it would have been difficult to figure out which tickets to buy for the train. It was easy to figure out where we were going, but the ticket buying was a process was interesting.

Today we are headed on a bus tour of the city and then to see a castle. We are doing a lunch boat tour on the river which has locks. Think mini panama canal. We will spend the evening in the city center again and then pack up for the next stop.