Magic Kingdom

Today was spent at Magic Kingdom. The kids were very excited to get out and have a little freedom after being cooped up on a bus for 24 hours. Everyone had the day to enjoy the park.

Right away we (meaning Mike, Em, and I - Austin was seen for a mere 5 minutes on this trip!) headed for Fantasyland, as that's the part of the park Em remembers from our last trip. She wanted to see Cinderella's castle and make a wish in the wishing well. We couldn't walk through the middle of the castle, since there was a show going on at the time, but we did weave our way up the side to throw some pennies into the wishing well.

We got a speed pass for the Peter Pan's Flight, then stood in line at It's a Small World. The line wasn't too bad - maybe 30 minutes. It was fun to see all the different countries and be able to say which ones we had visited. By the time that ride ends, you're just about out of your mind from the song!

Mike and I talked Em into going in the Haunted Mansion. She was nervous at first, but once we got past the part where the room grows and on the actual ride, she was fine. From there, we explored Tom Sawyer Island - something we hadn't ever done before. That was cool. Just a bunch of nooks and crannies to run around and hide in. Would be a great place to let a group of kids loose for a few hours...

Other places we made it to were the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster, (Em wouldn't ride it! Good thing - that baby flies!), Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (I won high score!), Monster's Inc., Laugh Floor, Minnie's Country House, Swiss Family Treehouse, Tomorrowland Speedway, and Em's least favorite, Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. Quite a few rides considering how many people were in the park. We could've gotten on more if we weren't so cold and tired! Mike and I attempted Space Mountain, but the Speed Pass line closed before we could get a ticket! The roller coasters were out of the question for Em, so that cuts down on a few rides.

After a 2:00 chaperone check-in, the band kids had to meet at 6:45 to get ready for the pre-SpectroMagic parade, which didn't start until 8:30. We staked our claim on Main Street USA and waited for Mike to get back from helping the band kids. We were doing our best to stay warm and keep the energy up after such a long and tiring day. Then it started snowing... Of course this is due to the Magic of Disney, which may be amusing when it's 70 degrees out, but not when you've traveled 23 hours on a bus to escape the snow and cold! The temperature had to be in the 40's, and it was so cold that we broke down and bought a blanket from the vendor walking up and down the street just to make it bearable!

The crowds were gathering and the main street was being cleared to get ready for the parade. How exciting when they started to announce the 3 bands performing, and how disappointing when they announced us as Gates Chill-ee, as in a hot tasty meal made with beans and beef!

The kids did a great job! They sounded and looked great, despite having stood for hours before marching. It was very hard to get pictures, but I did my best. At least I did get one of Austin and his sousaphone with the fancy new Spartan covers.

I can honestly say we sounded the best of the three bands. The last band, from Tulsa, OK hardly played: instead of playing a full song, they opted to play a 20 second refrain, then march to a drum beat for 1 minute before playing different snippet.

The Spectromagic parade started at 9 pm. By then me and Emma were so frozen, that we took cover in a restaurant while Mike helped backstage with the band kids, then met with his wards to watch the fireworks. The plan was for all the kids to be with their chaperone for the fireworks, and then head back to the buses immediately following. Em wasn't feeling well, so we never even looked out at the parade. We did find a good seat for the fireworks, and snuggled up as best as we could. We headed back toward the buses a little early, seeing the finale from the ferry boat on our way back to the main entrance.

It was 11 pm before we got back to the hotel, and boy, were we exhausted!

Florida at Last!

My butt blisters have blisters...

We've made it to Florida and should be making our last food stop before reaching our final destination.

After lunch the plan is to stop at the convention center for a quick rehearsal before checking into the hotel, but we're running a little behind schedule and were told to get our food to eat on the bus.

Em and I don't get to see Mike or Austin on these food stops since the buses split up to make it easier on everyone and I'm really missing the rest of my family....

At this point my McD's egg thingie is sitting in my gut like a rock and I don't feel much like eating Chic-fil-A. I'd much rather get to the hotel and meet the shower and say hi to my toothbrush.

The weather is overcast and cool. Being that this is pretty much the only day to be at the hotel pool, the chances of catching some rays today are about as good as they are in Rochester! Hopefully it will be warm enough tomorrow to wear short sleeves - at least that will up my chances of getting SOME color!

Stop # 2 - Selinsgrove Penn

The buses split up to different restaurants. We (Em and I) ended up at Wendy's, and the others split between McD's and the King. It's 6:22 and we're on the road. Again. Maybe we can go at least 3 hours before stopping again!

On The Road

Arrived at the HS around 11:40 to a whole bunch of chaos. The followers, (as me and Emma will be known as for the next 7 days), were allowed to get on their bus first - that being bus #5.

Of course there was a lot of jockeying for position, and even in the first 3 hours of the trip am glad we have the seats we have. 23 hours with relative strangers is one thing, but to possibly get stuck next to the loud family could be a nervous breakdown in the making.

We had our first pit stop 2.5 hours into the trip at a beautiful post and beam rest stop in Tioga Penn. The weather is misty and foggy, and what little view we could see at the overlook was pretty-but I like fog! Mike and I decided right then that we'd have to make a trip back sometime - the ranger stating that the view is "unbelievable".

Our next stop should be between 6 and 6:30 for dinner. Not sure what town that would be, but at this rate - can see why it will take 23 hours to get there!

Sending this via Mike's blackberry - loving technology! I'll try a picture from the dinner stop!

"I'm with the Band!"

The blog has taken a turn! Although I still intend on adding information and pictures from our previous and very lengthy and exciting European adventure, I'm prepping our massive audience to keep up with our travails in the next few weeks as we conquer... Disney World!

Austin and his tuba, well, sousaphone, technically, will be traveling with the Gates Chili Marching Band to Orlando Florida to march in the Citrus Bowl parade AND to perform in the SpectroMagic Parade, as well as sing in the choir for the Candlelight Processional.

What is a SpectroMagic Parade, you ask? Well, according to the Disney web page:

"The SpectroMagic Parade is a dazzling nighttime procession filled with brilliantly lit Disney Characters and floats at the Magic Kingdom Theme Park." with marching bands.... (I added that part!)

I say, "It's like Las Vegas...on wheels!" with marching bands... (I added that part too.)

I'm having deja vu, as this is the same trip I took in HS! We marched in the Centennial parade- it's all so foggy now. I'll have to dig out the old 1/2 vhs to see what Dad taped. Now if I only had VCR....

But anyway, we are all traveling together; a wonderful test of the traveling spirit to spend 23 hours on a bus that you aren't driving and can't stop if you want it to. The plus side of riding the bus instead of driving your car is that you get to walk up and down the aisle on your way to the bathroom, which after 12 hours with 38 other people can be a good or a bad thing to have on a bus that's not going to stop when you want it to.

Luckily, Emma and I are "followers" so we get to be on the bus that has all the Big People - parents and siblings of band members. Now I can say in all truthfulness, "I'm with the Band!" Mike however is chaperoning, and gets to ride 23 hours on a bus with the kids. Bless his heart!

Paris - Art, Romance, and Architecture

View of the city from atop the Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile

One wing of the Louvre - there are 3, and each take 1 week to visit.














Teddy meets Mona. He smirk's as he quips, "She's much smaller in person."




























Sculpture from the Tomb of Philippe Pot














Even the rooftops are romantic

A view of La Tour Eiffel from the Louvre courtyard

Just inside the Louvre - the space is amazing. A clash of old world through a modern sparkling mass of glass eyes.

The Venus De Milo

Created at some time between 130 and 100 BCE, it is believed to depict Aphrodite (Venus to the Romans) the Greek goddess of love and beauty. It is a marble sculpture, slightly larger than life size at 203 cm (6 ft 8 in) high.

The Teddy De Milo

Manufactured in China at some time between 1993 and 1994 AD to depict a polar bear; a symbol of comfort and coziness to American children. It is 3/4 marble sculpture, with the head being made of faux fur, plastic eyes and nose, with a thread mouth. Slightly smaller than a life size polar bear at 3 feet, 2 inches.

The view from the tippy top of the Eiffel Tower

Ahh, there's no place like HOME!

Reporting to you back at the dining room table once again, we made it home, safe and sound with only a few items lost along the way, no major injuries, and only 3 colds (the only trip I haven't gotten sick on!!) It's so nice to be back on American soil, which we totally take for granted, and even better to be back in my comfortable little bubble that is Gates.

Yesterday was spent unpacking suitcases, getting food, and most importantly, checking out the new Chili Target! Caught up with the Klock's and had a lovely Italian inspired dinner. It's nice to be home.

Today will involve much laundry, mail, catching up on the news, and getting the blog in shape ~ time to get digiscrapping! (better trademark that word!) The details will escape me if I don't get them into the computer. So with that in mind, much like the post card that arrives 2 weeks after you are home from your vacation, I will be going back to previous posts and updating with more info, including probably scans of maps and tickets, adding the days that I missed due to various "blackouts", and of course posting more photos.

If you're still interested in reading about the travels, I invite you to come back and visit, or sign up to get an email message when a new post is added.

We look forward to catching up with all of our friends and family!

The Amazing Race - Finish Line

This is it, the final hours of our Amazing Race, and it was amazing. It really did go by so fast, with a new adventure around every corner, the experience is bound to fly by. I only ever started to get homesick on the last day of the cruise, when I think the routine of the week reminded

me of what I've been missing at home.

The excitement at seeing the Eiffel Tower as the train came into the outskirts of the city brought me back. This last packing of the suitcase feels like we're just on to the next town for the new adventure, but even better because it's home.

You learn many things afer traveling 31 days together. One thing I can say is that this family has tenacity. Travel Boot Camp was the pace of this trip, and after all the bickering between the kids is said and done, they did very well keeping up with a pace that most adults wouldn't dare to attempt. With that being said, a couples only trip is next on the agenda!

Our last and first whole day in Paris was very exciting. We woke up and got out a little later than expected, which is bound to happen and you just have to go with the flow. The day was cloudy and much cooler, thank goodness! We decided to head to the Louvre first. Emma said she was so excited she was going to barf - not really of course, but I took that as the ultimate compliment, considering the source!

Walking through the courtyard to the pyramid entrance was like walking through a kingdom. The buildings are so ornate and commanding.

Of course the first item to see on the agenda: The Mona Lisa! Finding it was easy, trying to see it was not. It was crazy inside the museum! Shuffling shoulder to shoulder to see Mona was nuts. Although you are not supposed to use a flash on your camera, they were going off everywhere. You would've thought it was a Hollywood movie star and we were the paparazzi. After 28 days of traveling and getting over the "personal space invasion", Emma had no problem making her way to the front for her FaceBook picture.

We perused a few more DaVinci paintings, then made our way to the Venus DiMilo, known as the Gummy DiMilo made famous by Homer Simpson when he ate it (thus the connection between real life and art, and that includes for Mike!)

Paris -

The trip is winding down. We made it to the Eiffel Tower for a quick peek, but we're heading back today for the climb, as it was scorching hot yesterday. Today is cool, no sun, but that's alright with all of the walking we're going to be doing today.

We went up the Arc de Triomphe, and the view is stunning!

We all had our first crepe, and they were huge and yummy! Mike had ham and cheese, I had cheese, and the kids both had Nutella and banana. I finished Emma's because it was so big!

A Quick update, while I have the energy...

Sunday, August 16, 2009 – Milan to Paris

** Posting this quick snippet from the window of our hotel in Paris, getting free WiFi off of one of the apartments. I hope to post more later, including some pictures, but now we're off for the hunt...Crepes! **

It’s the last hour of a 7 hour train ride to Paris, and I finally got up enough energy to do some writing. I’m anticipating a quick update to the blog today, if I’m lucky. What usually happens is that by the time I find the internet, I have time to upload anything, or I’ve had no energy to document the previous day’s escapades. I have, however, been able to keep up with the archiving of the photos, (even though I haven’t been able to post any!) probably because I’m taking less and less pictures as the trip wears on – my patience and level of tolerance for the heat being the cause. Observations and random thoughts are about all I can manage at this point.

Things that I wish I’d packed:

Talcum powder – that small bottle I hemmed and hawed over would’ve fit perfectly in my purse for a quick pick me up and to cut down on the stick-factor. There’s only so much that a make-up towelette can do for you – it may eliminate the stench, but it does nothing for the stick-factor.

More shorts – I only packed one pair of real shorts, meaning the legs fall at mid thigh. I did bring 3 pair of Bermuda shorts, but it was waaaay to hot to wear them. Trying to buy shorts over here is like trying to make a snowman in Jamaica – it ain’t happenin’. Even if the stores were OPEN, all the clothing is LONG! Do they even need boots in Italy? Maybe if you’re going skiing…in the winter! What gives?

Which leads me to the list of things I’m going to do when I get home, just BECAUSE I CAN:

Drive my car! - This mass transit thing is over-rated and getting OLD.

Drive my car…to the MALL! - I’m giddy at the thought of a collection of stores all in one place, and open past 6 pm! And I’m even going to go all the way to the ‘fancy’ mall….BECAUSE I CAN!

Milan was crazy hot, and it didn’t help that we stayed at Hotel Hades – in the only room without air conditioning. The hotel Demo is right by the train station – a great thing when you’re leaving on a train at 6:40 the next day. NOT a great thing when you need sleep, and as you may have seen a movie or two, not the best type of people hang outside the train station past dark. When the kids start singing Aerosmith's "Duuuude looks like a lay-day!" then you know it's a dicey spot...

Tunisia - North Africa

Tuesday, August 11, 2009 – Tunisia, North Africa Today was probably one of the most amazing days we’ve had on this trip yet, as we had Ali as our personal chauffeur for the day. Mike had booked Ali online, who came highly recommended via travelers on Trip Advisor.com. He picked us up right outside the port terminal, and started his tour with the ancient city of Carthage, with the modern day city of Carthage being built right on top of the original Roman ruins. During the 15 minute trip to the first site, a coliseum built by the Romans in…a long time ago BC, he gave us a quick history lesson on the establishment of the Phoenicians, the pillage and take over by the Vandals (of Viking origin, which is the origin for the word vandalism), and the eventual domination by the Romans until modern times when the French took over. Cathedral built to replace the body of King Louis ?? when the French took over in ?? Hasn’t been used as a Cathedral for 20 years, but is still used today for theater shows.

Roman baths - ruins Shopping street – local money is dineri, but will take Euros. Typically you can offer then ¼ the price they give you for an item. Very aggressive and touchy if you try to walk away from a price offer. Carthage is white buildings with blue shutters and iron railings – illegal to use any other color

Day Two – Marseille, France

Today we got up and off the ship by 11. The shuttle bus took us the 7 km to the Vieux-Port for 10 E each. After a little wandering, we found the tourist information center and asked what are the best things to see in 2 hours, and by the way, where are the closest WC – Water Closets (bathrooms!). Off we went to check out City Hall, the Cathedrale De La Neouvelle Major, and Vielle Charite. City Hall had the bathrooms, but also a very interesting exhibit on a famous aviator and author whose name escapes me now. The exhibit was small, with a few displays of items such as the gloves he wore while flying, and pieces of wrecked airplanes, but the most interesting part of the exhibit was learning about this aviator/author’s adventures and the true story of how he and a friend survived 4 days in the dessert after his planed crashed during a long distance record attempt. The story is so compelling, that I decided I’m going to have to read his book, The Wind, The Sand and the Stars. Winding our way up the streets and trying to follow the signs for the Cathedral, we found instead the Vielle Charite, a series of buildings originally built as an orphanage and hospital for the poor, designed by architect Pierre Puget. (Can you tell I’m reading the tourist brochure now…?). The many doorway arches three stories high reminded me of a smaller and refurbished Coliseum.

In our continued search for the Cathedral, we happened upon an adorable soap shop. It was filled with lovely hand made soaps, some cut in big cubes of 3x3 inches, and stamped with the percentage of ….not sure, fat? We bought one on a rope in the shape of a fish for our “Cape Cod” bathroom. Searching for the Cathedral still, we came across a tiny grocery store where Mike purchased limes, a 1.5 liter diet Coke, a few cans of tonic water, and two Monster drinks for the kids. The fresh fruits and veggie were set up outside, and the inside was absolutely packed to the ceiling with other food stuffs (and not good smells, I might add). STILL searching for the Cathedral but figuring we were closer because we could hear the bells ringing noon, I found the internet café, and for a measly .50 E per 15 min, me and the kids hopped onto the net; I had some blogging to catch up with, while they played some app on Face Book. It didn’t take them long to figure out the keyboard, as it’s not a QWERTY. Luckily for me, I had lappy and just plugged in the Ethernet cable – although the browser still came up in French. Oui! In our last attempt at finding the Cathedral, as it was really heating up outside and breakfast was wearing off, we finally found it. How we didn’t find it sooner escapes me, as we passed it on our bus ride in. It’s a ginormous building, striped with dark and light colored stone, the huge front doors painted red with black ornate hinges. The foundation stone was laid by Napoleon Bonaparte himself in 1852 – thusly why it’s considered and called “The New Major Cathedral”. The inside was gorgeous, with 3 different domes, stained glass, inlaid tile flooring and marble galore. You can’t help but be awed by the presence of such a building, regardless of your religious background. We caught the bus back to the ship in time for the lunch buffet and for some hanging in the sun. Laura would be so ashamed to hear that Austin and Mike tried but lost in the very first round the foosball tournament (see Laura, you and Amanda really did need to be here!). However, later on in the day, Austin won first place in Wii bowling, while Mike placed third. Way to go team Baxendell!

Sunday - Marsaille France

The view from our veranda as we pulled out of port last night was so amazing! To sit and have quiet time with Mike while sipping Limoncello was the moment I've been waiting for!

Found an internet cafe today at a reasonable price, so trying to furiously update. Good thing I brought the lappy! That's the extent of this quick update now.

Today we got off the ship for supplies, internet, and to see a couple of sights real quick. We'll head back to the ship for some time in the sun and pool.

Posting as many pics as possible, much more interesting than any story anyway!

It's Sunday and most shops are closed, but we managed to find a soap shop that was open. Wonderful!

Tomorrow it's off to Barcelona! Looking forward to visiting Gaudi's houses.

Saturday, August 8 - Genoa and start of cruise

Day 1 – Embarkation in Genoa In order to stick with our original one-carry-on-each plan, we planning to dump some of the old cold-weather clothes in our trek to warmer climes. Having already gathered so many treasures, I suggested that maybe we should purchasing a little suitcase for the last leg of the trip, to avoid the cram factor (we had already pulled out the duffle bag that I packed for that…) As luck would have it, Austin and I spotted a cast-away suitcase on our last night in Vernazza. It was a huge, black and red monstrosity, with chrome (yes chrome!) piping. After Mike and I scoped it out again, he dragged it back home in the cover of the night. However, it must not have been dark enough, since as he was dragging it away, a woman approached him speaking only Italian and giving him the impression she thought he was stealing someone’s luggage. He had to demonstrate to her how it was broken before she would leave him alone. Upon closer inspection, we could see it was severely disabled - with one wheel worn to the plastic and the retracting handle decapitated; thus the reason it was left for dead next to a restaurant garbage bin in the first place. But being ever resourceful, a little bit cheap, and even more desperate, Mike was able to bend the wheel rod back into place, and replace the broken wheel with one of the surviving 5. As far as the two handle poles poking out the top, the luggage strap I insisited on purchasing at the Pound Store worked perfectly to cinch it into place. Viola! I was giddy at the thought of the purchases I could now make, what with all the room we’ll have! Saying goodbye to Vernazza with our new find and hoping no one decided to claim it back, we sheepishly dragged The Monster up the road to the train station and hopped on the 11:30 train to SL, transferring to Genoa Principale. You can get glimpses of the famous Portofino from the train, and we saw our first rain since arriving in Italy. The MSC ship dock is right off the train station, and we rolled right up with all of our bags, plopped them on the check in trolley, then headed inside for customs and boarding. It couldn’t have been any easier! It was certainly the easiest embarkation we’ve ever encountered. The ship we’re on is the MSC Splendida, and it is splendid, indeeda. Our cruise is only the 5th sailing of the ship. It is HUGE, and decorated beautifully - not all corny cruise style. After taking care of some business, such as our seating and the trace of smoke smell in our room, we made off to the lunch buffet. After stuffing ourselves, we headed back to the room to change for the pool. Our luggage was waiting, and I couldn’t help but open The Monster to see if my Limoncello made it through…yea! And so did Mike’s Gin. Now if we had only had time to purchase some pop before checking in today, we’d be all set! (pop even costs extra).

Saturday, August 1 – day trip to Stirling Castle

“Slept in” a bit today, making our way out of Marietta’s at 11:30. After a short 40 minute train ride, we wound our way up the cobbled roads to the castle, and had a very Olde World feeling to it – stucco buildings, cast iron fences, walled driveways and the occasional painted sign hanging over a doorways to announce the contents. It’s a picture takers heaven, and it’s a good thing the road is steep because it gave me many opportunities to stop (with Emma!) and take a snap. Stirling Castle is so far my most favorite of the castles we’ve visited. There are so many different nooks and crannies, peaks and walls for which to frame a panoramic of Stirling City below. The hills seem to go on forever and you can see the rain moving across the land, allowing you to predict just how long you have until you need to pull out your umbrella.

There is a lot of history at the castle, and the debate among some Scottish is that Stirling Castle, and not Edinburgh Castle, holds the true heart of Scotland. William Wallace, of Braveheart fame, fought and won the battle of Stirling; I’m going to watch Braveheart as soon as I get home! The Palace buildings are currently under restoration, so we couldn’t go inside, but the outside had amazing statues that at one time were painted with bright colors and gold paint, carved during the reign of Charles the 4 (or 5th, not sure…anyway they’re REALLY old!) The castle has only been under restoration for the past 40 years, which sounds like a long time but is merely a second in the history of the castle. There is a current exhibition showing the weaving of tapestries that will eventually hang in the Palace when completed. It is a fascinating and amazing undertaking – each tapestry, made as a replica of the ones that hung in the Palace, will take 4 years to complete. WOW! There is a series of 6 tapestries, with 4 finished tapestries currently hanging in the Great Hall, awaiting their new home when the Palace restoration is complete. We watched the weavers on the giant loom, and the tapestry is actually made from left to right, on its side, and not top to bottom or bottom to top like I'd assumed.

Friday, July 31 - Urquhart Castle day trip

**I'm dreadfully behind on getting info and pictures posted. It takes a bit to get the pictures downloaded, organized and resized for uploading - then there's that wrangling the lappy away from the kids...oh yeah, and being so tired by the end of the day that I don't have the energy...!**

We were up at 5:30 for the 7:06 train from Queen’s station to Inverness, arriving at 10:30. The weather was clear and beautiful, and dare I say, even a little warm! I packed breakfast, lunch AND snacks, just to cut down on the Hunting and Gathering for half a day - many thanks to our very gracious host, Marietta, lending us her soft-sided cooler.

From there it's a short drive to Urquhart castle. Our brand new black Ford Focus was ready and waiting at the rental place when we arrived, thanks to Mike’s pre-booking the night before. During our walk-around the car to note any previous damage before we took it out on the road, the poor chap checking us out was saying they’ve had an increase in the number of accidents with the cars in the last two weeks (I won’t tell you what nationality, but it wasn’t Americans – I had to ask!). Once I told him we had already been driving in Ireland, he laughed and said he wasn’t worried anymore. NO kidding.

The way out of Inverness is easy, when you have a GPS. “Thank you baby Jesus!” that I insisted we get one before our trip, as I don’t know how we would’ve navigated the insane amount of roundabouts, not to mention back roads, without it. Unless you already know where you’re going, there is no way that your average driver would have enough time to actually read the signs to know which spoke of the wheel to exit, if British Jill wasn’t telling you to “Enter the roundabout and take the second exit to A82”.

Of course we all know that Mike is not your average driver, which is not a bad thing, except that he doesn’t like to backtrack and so cut off two different people going through some of the roundabouts today, once even eliciting a honk – unheard of! I just grip and close my eyes. Twice we also did a Griswald - that’s when you ride around the entire roundabout to get back where you started, just so that you can try taking the right exit without crashing, or worse, causing someone to honk.

The ride to Urquhart Castle is a rather short one, on a wider road, so less teeth gnashing on my part (a good thing, since my nubs would be down to gums…) The road takes you along the gentle shores of Loch Ness, sprinkled with pull-outs to steal a view of the castle from a distance as you approach.

The castle is a ruin, which is lovely in the sense that you get to climb in and amongst certain places that you wouldn't be able to were it not. The views from each vantage point are all spectacular! There could never be one perfect picture here.

After leaving the castle, we decided to find the Highlands Winery. The GPS would tell us right where we need to go, and when we headed up the first 45 degree hill, I thought twice about it! We found it and it was lovely - they give you a little aperitif glass and you help yourself! They made wines with local fruits and flowers, like elderberry, sloe berry, ginger and the like. I loved the ginger wine! I wish there were a way I could get it home. It was so yummy!

Deciding to squeeze in one more place into our day, we headed for Fort George. See next post for info and hopefully pictures!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Our weather has cooperated more in Scotland than anyplace, and other than a short burst of rain this morning (thankfully I snagged two of Marietta’s umbrellas) the day was cool, but dry.

We got on the hop on tour at stop #7, right at George’s square, where we had left off yesterday. We took the bus out to stop #13, the tall ship. There was hardly anyone there. It’s only 1 of 4 left in operation in the world. It’s been around the world 4 times. The kids had a “mouse hunt” game while on board, to which they got a piece of white chocolate at the end if they had the right number of mice.

Next stop: #16 – Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum Your typical museum with stuffed animals and rocks, but with art also. There was a Salvador Dali (Christ on the cross) and a VanGoh, among others. I was most impressed with the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, his wife Margaret MacDonald, and her sister Frances MacDonalds' work, which instantly reminded me of Frank Lloyd Wright’s work – art nouveau. They predate Wright by a little, but the work is beautiful, and I like it just a touch better.

Transport Museum – you don’t get to climb on any, but you can see all types of old cars, trams, and trolleys. Got chased out of there just before closing time.

Headed back towards home – Mike was tired and not feeling great – his back is hurting – so he took the kids back to Marietta’s to find out about golfing and I went over to the info center (gifts). Mike had made a wonderful dinner of chicken and bacon flavored tortellini, beef and white wine tortellini with a tomato sauce, backed spiced chicken breast, and green peas. It was heaven! Marietta had a work dinner, so wasn’t there to enjoy it. She didn’t get home until very late – almost 10, but we were able to spend some time chatting and she gave us many wonderful suggestions on what to do for our day trips.

Scotland - Glasgow day one

Wednesday, July 29
Slept in – we crashed big time, and we welcomed the slower pace. Austin is either fighting a cold, or allergies.

Marietta is very close to George Square, so we made our way to the tourist information center and found out some information on trains and passes and such. We decided to do the hop on hop off tour, which was only 22 pounds for the family, and you could use it for two days. All of the state owned museums are free in Glasgow, so you can hop on and off and spend some time in each of the museums. Since it was already 3pm and everything closes at 5, we decided to at least stop at the oldest house in Glasgow for a self tour. There is a cathedral across the street, but we didn’t go in it.

With time for one more stop, we made our way out to the People’s Palace, which is really just a museum on Scottish life. It has a nice botanical green house, and to be in the warm temperature was enough to lift anyone’s spirits! They chased us out of there at 4:45, so we took the bus back to Marietta’s, stopping at Tesco for supplies – food! Mike made pizza for the kids for dinner.

In the apartment, we could hear a bag piper coming from somewhere, so Mike and I went out to investigate (the kids wanted to hang and watch tv and be on the computer), and we found him playing for guests arriving at the BBC Hall which is right next to Marietta’s building. That was pretty cool to see, and I was bummed that the kids weren’t with us to see it – especially Emma because she wanted to see if there was a place you could try bagpipes.

I took an HD video of it, but of course it’s the one time I didn’t have either of the other cameras with me. All the guests (it looked like a conference of some sort) were walking up and having their picture taken next to him. He was wearing blue Tartan. Mike and I continued for a short walk around to get oriented, mostly on the way to the Central station to get information about trains to Inverness. They don’t have those schedules there, go figure.

On the way back, Mike found a fish and chip hole in the wall (literally) and we had our first authentic fish and chips – it was good! By the time we got back to the apartment, Marietta was home form work – turns out we missed her by one minute when we left! Just hung out that night with Marietta, making plans and letting the kids call home (she has free international calling and invited us to use it – I talked to Mary, Emma to Brynna and Erika).

The sun sets so late here, it was 10:30 and literally still light out, which makes it even harder to get the kids and ourselves to bed. Marietta’s flat is on the top (4th ) floor, and has great views and wonderful late day sun. The space is amazing! Many picture taking opportunities up there.

Scotland - Glasgow

Scotland – Glasgow arrived Tuesday July 28, 2009: 10 pm
Marietta is the finest and most gracious of hostesses! She made the 30-40 minute trek outside Glasgow to pick us up at Prestwick airport, and we got to help her break in new brand new Lexus - hope we didn't get muddy!

She had all sorts of breakfast food for us in the morning – juice, bagels, eggs, cream cheeses. Her flat is unbelievable, with 2 lofts, 2 full baths, ½ bath, washer dryer, and a view to kill for – including a terrace. The kitchen is open, with these cabinets made from some knotty wood; the doors being all scrolly in shape, with scribbly handles. She has this amazing stove, an AGA, that stays on all the time. It has these ovens that you don’t control the temperature – I love it! The top has two “burners” with lids. One side is for boiling, the other side is for sautéing. Tea towels dry on the handle in no time – I’d love to have this stove at home and just stand by it to warm myself up on those cold days.

Ireland - The Burren

Sunday - July 26

* Posting from a laundrette in Dublin - (We finally found one!) - check back later for pictures*

* I have posted some pictures for now that I borrowed from the internet, but will place my own later when I get back to the hotel*

We left the wind whipped Cliffs of Moher, following the hairpin turns down to the next little town - very little! The Stonecutters restaurant and pub was our oasis for lunch this day, an adorable yellow cottage holding strong against the winds near the edge of the ocean. The wind was really blowing, and the waves broke so far out from shore that the whitecaps rolled in for at least 300 feet. I'd say it was a surfers dream, except I don't surf! But I thought of Julie and Doug and wondered if they might like to give it a try. Hopefully I took a decent picture of it and can post it when I get to a place where I can reach my pictures.

Lunch was finally the closest to pub cuisine since our meal in Kilkenny. I had lightly pan fried fish cakes on a bed of mixed greens, Austin had seafood chowder (not as good as our night in Kilkenny at Fields' pub), Emma had a panini (ok, not so ~Irish~) and Mike had Guinness beef stew - amazing! The restaurant uses only Irish beef, so you can't get more authentic than that, right? We were stuffed, but topped it off with a traditional bread and butter pudding, complete with warm custard - YUM! I also had my first cider - a Bulmer's pear. Loved it. Regular cider comes back to haunt me, but this stuff was good! I had another one today... (Monday).

With our bellies full, we wound our way to the Burren, an area of Ireland that is of vast wild and rock. The formations are amazing and very different from anywhere else in Ireland. Nestled in the nooks and crannies of the rock are darling little plants of all kinds, with delicate flowers of yellow, white, and purlple to name a few. It's the most amazing rock garden you will ever see!

Stopping along the route, we saw the Poulnabrone Portal Tomb ruin, the most recognizable dolmen ruin outside of the druid Stonehenge, and it's actually much older, by a couple of thousand years.

Thinking back to the first time I saw this amazing man-made formation, me and the same girls who piled out of the tin can car at the Cliffs of Moher, pulled up to the side of the road and walked out over the rocks and right up to the dolmen, without even knowing it's significance. We weren't even looking for it, we just happened to see it and think it looked pretty cool. I do remember thinking at the time that anyone could come along in this vast empty, quiet place and do something to ruin this unique formation. Now it is only protected by a small rope which rings the tomb with the signs that request no entry. There is now a parking area and a designated historical park, complete with kiosks that explain the history and formation of the area, and the significance of the tomb. I found it all extrememly interesting. The kids of course, just enjoyed jumping across the rocks and crevices.

We beat it out of there just as we saw the rain coming (at least we can see it coming!) .

Of course we saw the stray castle and church in various states of crumble, with cows grazing among the ruins like it's no big deal.

Ireland - Sunday July 26

We arrived in the town of Ennis on Saturday, and will be leaving on Monday for the trip back to Dublin. (That's for my bro, Scott!)

Today we visited the Cliffs of Moher - spectacular of course. My how it's changed since I was here 20 years ago. It was just a gang of girls piling out of a car and walking up to the edge. Not any more. There is a whole visitor center and all sorts of steps and railings, which although likely necessary, takes away from the awesome feeling that you've just discovered where the edge of the world really is.

All the railings do help with the agrophobia, I will admit. I've been having anxiety over this day for a while. Mike likes to tease me with that, getting close to the edges of things and even pretending to fall, when he's really jumping to a lower ledge that you can't see from your vantage point. Being anxious about it was reasonable, under the cirucumstances!

All was well until 3 members of team Baxendell decided to go beyond the designated area. Eventually I joined them, figuring this was my Travel-Dare Pit Stop Challenge! Thankfully I wasn't there for Mike scootching up to the edge on his belly and hanging the camera over the edge for a couple of shots. But they weren't expecting to see me over the barrier at all, and so I got a little video of them as they walked back from the edge. Travel Dare completed, as far as I'm concerned!

Yup, that's really THE edge... 725 feet above the crashing waves...

Observations...

Ok, before I forget, here are some observations about our time in the United Kingdom - in no particular order!

• All of the outlets have on and off buttons - this is not specific to hotels either. If you plug in something, like your TV, then you still have to turn the outlet on. I'm confident that there are zero deaths by electrocution in the UK each year. Even the outlets in the bathrooms will only fit the plugs that come on the end of an electric razor. Forget trying to dry or curl your hair in the bathroom - not going to happen.

• Speaking of electric, in hotels you have to keep your room key card in a slot by the door in order to make the outlets and lights even work in the first place. If you take the key card out, the lights will go out after so many minutes. On the outset this seems like a good idea - not only do you save electricity if you're not using it, you don't usually misplace your room card! After a while, it gets annoying when combined with the observation above.

• NOTHING is open on Sunday, except the pubs and restaurants. Oh, and the Churches.

• Hotels do not have ice buckets, and if you ask for one, it's because they think you want to chill your bottle of wine. If you want ice, you have to go to the hotel bar and ask for it. Most hotels do not have ice machines, and if they do, it's by the cup, not the bucket.
  

• The bathtubs are much higher, or maybe it's that they're deeper. Either way, it's quite a step up to get in.

• The bathroom trash container is the same little silver bin in all the hotels, and they're a pain because you have to step on the little pedal to open them. Convenient! But annoying because they are so small and light that when the top opens, it springs back a little too far and ca-changs into the wall. Did I mention it's' metal? Silly, I know... I've started taking the plastic liner out and just using that.

• There aren't McDonalds and Starbucks on every corner - refreshing! There seem to be more Burger King's than Micky D's.
  

• Pubs stop serving food after 6pm. Restaurants are not as plentiful as pubs. Did I mention there aren't McDonalds on every corner? Sometimes you can find the occasional fast food joint open late in areas that accommodate the pub crowds (aka: drunks) when they let out - like KFC in Camden. When you're hungry, you'll eat anything...

• Shops close at 6. If you want to do any shopping for local trinkets, do it before 6pm. Some "bigger cities" might keep their shops open until 8, depending on how much foot traffic is around. Needless to say, it's been tricky to get any fun shopping done, since we're always looking for food first!

• There are no laundraumats in Ireland, except in the big cities like Limerick and Dublin. If you have clothes you need cleaned, you take them to a dry cleaning and laundry shop, where you drop off your stuff, they wash it, and the you pick it up....the next day. They close at 8 pm, and they're not open on Sunday's. Today is Sunday and we're doing our first load of laundry in the hotel bathtub. Thank goodness this hotel has heated towel racks!

• And speaking of electric and heated things, the hotels have these really weird pants press contraptions. They work great for drying the clothes you just washed in the tub! The only problem is, in order to cut down on the number of electrocutions in the UK (wink, wink), they are set on a timer of 15 minutes, and that is only after you figure out how to: turn on the power at the outlet, turn on the presser, then turn on the timer. If you can get past those 3 things and still get electrocuted, then you must want to die.

• They have these great hot pots in hotel rooms to make tea or coffee with - I wish I could get these at home. They plug into a base that automatically starts the pot heating - superfast and super hot - you'll have a boil in the matter of 1 minute (not that you want boiling water for your tea or coffee). At home you can get something similar, but it would never get this hot this fast. It's surprising to me, what with all the electrical safety measures in place over here, that the heat on the pots aren't "regulated" (a word used quite often on the news).

Blarney Castle

Blarney Castle - Friday

Started raining as soon as we arrived, and poured (luckily) just before we started up to the castle, so we were able to stay (relatively) dry at the gift shop.

It's a harrowing climb to the top - the stairs spiral and get smaller the higher you get. The only railing is a thick rope running the length of the spiral from top to bottom. There are many cubbies and small rooms you have to weave in and out of before you make it to the top portion, and the "inside" of the castle is hollow - meaning there are no floors in the center. Once you get to the top, there is nothing but the outside castle wall on the one side of you, and a sheer drop down 3 stories on the other side. With all the cubbies and rooms, it'd be a great place to play hide and seek!

I've read there can be up to an hour wait to "kiss" the Blarney Stone, but luckily (again!) for us, there were no crowds and we more or less just walked right up to the kissing spot. Emma started to get anxious, but not because you have to lie prone and bend backwards 4 stories high with your head through a gap between the floor and the wall of the castle to reach the stone with your lips, but because she was afraid of... getting swine flu!

I finally persuaded her that she wouldn't get sick, after all, is anyone in line coughing or sneezing? And so she joined the rest of us with getting the "gift of the gab". I have to admit it was scary, both leaning back like that and the thought of catching swine flu, but we didn't drive all the way there to chicken out at the last minute! (check out that gap! There may be bars down there, and some guy holding on to you, but everything in your brain is telling you that this is not right!)

Ireland - It's Green Because It's Raining!

(Internet is ever elusive and very slow when I can get it, so words will most likely make it to the blog before pictures do - check back and hopefully there'll be something pretty to look at)

Two trains, a ferry ride, a rental car and 12 hours later, we finally arrived at our first destination in Ireland - Kilkenny. I think my teeth are worn down to nubs however, as riding on the left side of the road with Mike driving is infinitely worse than when he's driving on the right side! But we made it in one piece. All joking aside, Mike is doing a great job driving. As tiring as it is for me to grip the seat cushion, it's that much more exhausting to be the driver!

Kilkenny is an adorable town with it's own castle. Our hotel was right across the river from the castle, which was closed by the time we made it to town, and not open before we left today!

After checking in, the first thing we did was look for food. As a matter of fact, think all we do is either look for food, buy food, think about food, and eat food. By the time we find the food, we're so hungry that everything tastes great and we've stuffed ourselves silly. Two hours later, we're looking for food again - snacks, water, ice cream - food in any form. I'm going to rename our trip The Baxendell's Amazing Hunting and Gathering Tour.

The problem with finding food is that although pubs may be open, they don't serve food after 6pm if they're not also a restaurant. Naturally, this is a problem when you're hunting and gathering at 8pm! What we think of as grocery store, they call Supermarkets, and are only in the bigger cities. Adding to the thrill of the hunt, most of the little shops that sell snacks close at 6pm, which makes for lots more hunting than gathering. Hopefully this will benefit my waistline in the long run!

We had an awesome dinner at a restaurant/pub called Fields. Mike had his first Guinness, complete with shamrock foam. I had an amazing seafood chowder, and Emma had Hobo Hash - in case you're wondering, Hobo Hash is basically homefries with sausage, canadian bacon, cheddar cheese, topped with a fried egg, and very yummy!

The B's Have Landed

We made it to London! and with our last 12 hours in this town I finally found free internet to blog with - although we've been able to update our status and make comments via FaceBook, I have been desperate for some real internet. So where do we finally find it - not at Starbucks, but at the game arcade, of all places!

We were staying in Camden Lock until today, when we moved hotels because we added a day way back when and couldn't get the same hotel for another night. Camden is a very unusual and eclectic place - I call it Punk Bohemian, in that most everyone has one or more combinations of the following: hair with two or more colors, black leather clothing with studs, fishnets of some kind, and copious piercings. Needless to say, I would've loved this place in high school, and can appreciate it now, but most of the peeps seem to be under the influence of something at all times. But the people are really harmless, and the place has an overall carnival feel (I mean that in a horrified curiosity kind of way...)

So here is our adventure so far, working backwards from today - feel free to scroll past the drivel and just look at the pictures!


Wednesday July 22 - The London Eye and Madame Tussuad's:
It's just after 2 pm our time and we just got off the London Eye. They call it a flight, and it's pretty cool. The ride is sweet! - Smooth and roomy! Nice views of Parliament and Big Ben (which is really just the bell inside the tower), and Westminster Abbey, among many other sites.

This morning we went to Madame Tussuad's Wax Museum, which was a lot of fun despite the crowds which seem to be clueless as to any sort of order or manners. Pretty much par for the course here in London - since everyone seems to be from out of town. The figures are just placed about in different rooms based on themes, and people just wander willy nilly up to one to have their picture taken. Imagine this though with hundreds of people... Most of the celebs look really good and realistic, like Samuel Jackson, Tom Cruise, the Queen... Nicole Kidman's is really amazing, and Jim Carrey was picking Emma's nose. I got to whisper my phone number to George Clooney...we'll see if he calls or not!

Tuesday - Windsor Castle
Missed the 7:45 am alarm, so got a late start to Windsor. The weather was drizzling on and off, starting as soon we got off the train and to the castle. They give you an audio tour, in which you enter the stop number you're at and it gives you all sorts of good info. Prince Charles even welcomed us to the castle - via audio, that is!

It is gorgeous there and the castle is at the top of a hill of row shops. St. George's Cathedral is just stunning (no pictures allowed) and the Queen's parents are buried in a small chapel off the knave there. King Henry VIII is also there, and surprisingly, not in any fancy burial vault of any kind.

Saw a changing of the guard at a guard shack, and although it wasn't all the pomp and circumstance of the guard changing at Buckingham Palace, it was still interesting and amazing to watch the precision of this seemingly ordinary military maneuver.


Monday Buckingham Palace Changing of the Guard and Tower Bridge -
Our first full day! Operating on fumes ... and only 3 hours sleep in 36 hours...
First off; the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. We procured our place at the front of the golden gates early enough to get front row, only to be smashed like mushy peas (mashed green peas - yummy!) against the fence when the crowds started to build. Poor Emma was really smashed, but she held on long enough to get a good view.

The military band played, and that was quite a sight to see the changing of the guard band. Once they were in their general place in front of the gates, they were put to company rest and ordered to get their music stands, which happened to be directly in front of us. It was quite funny when the soldiers approached the gate to gather the stands, and the crowd gasped with oooo's and ahhhs! How the soldiers must feel like they're in the zoo at times - being the gorillas that break out of their normal behavior to beat on the glass and startle the masses. They must secretly roll their eyes at us.

The lead tuba player walked up to the conductor and told him the song to perform, at which time the tuba player walked the inside of the horseshoe formation to tell each musician which song to prepare for. Of course it featured the low brass section, and I'd like to think they chose it especially for Austin! The band sounded AMAZING, and with only one flutist (a woman!) I was amazed at how well I could hear her playing above all the brass. It was quite a spectacle, indeed!

We booked it right to the Tower of London and went on the Beefeater's tour - that was pretty cool. So much historic death and mayhem, I'm surprised the walls don't bleed!

The Yoeman Warders are all retired military service men, and had to have served at least 15 years in one the Queens forces and be of a certain rank; our guide having served 18 in the army (and not looking old enough!).

Get this for perks: you get to live in the Tower with your family, and when you retire, the Queen buys you a house in the country! The yoeman's only have to conduct a tour once or twice a month; the rest of the time they have security service elsewhere - either in the Tower or "Wherever else the Queen deems our service."

Every day a secret password is issued to the guard workers and they can get into the Tower any time up until midnight. Good luck trying to leave the Tower after midnight if you don't have the password... Like our guide said, it's the safest place in Britain to raise your 16 year old daughter!

Toured the Tower Bridge (that's the FAN-cy one that most people call the London Bridge) - you go in one tower, walk up a ton of stairs, cross over the pedestrian bridge on top, and walk down the other tower. The bridge opened up for a tall-masted sailboat while we were up there. Couldn't see much of that, but we got to see it lift again to let the sailboat back out when we back down to street level and looking for the Tube stop.

Found dinner someplace (don't ask me where because I can't remember!) but it wasn't pub food; as we have yet to have any authentic pub grub yet! Boo!