Best Summer Ever!

I've always said that I'd never live through my children. I want to live my own rich life. Well, this summer I changed my tune.  I made a point to live through Catherine with all my might!  She spent the summer going all over Europe. We were able to join her for a few weeks and see something of Poland and Berlin, which was amazing, but she was there for weeks before she got there and weeks afterward. Jealously didn't exactly kill me, but it was a close thing.

To read the story of her trip click on the links to the right labeled Study Abroad 1, Study Abroad 2, etc.


Enjoy and join me for more virtual travel after the Holidays!!

July 31, New York to HOME!!!

Not much sleep on the airplane. She got to NYC around 8 at night. The global traveler's card came in handy, she zipped through customs in 3 minutes. The expensive bag she checked in didn't zip nearly so nicely, but she got it at last. Got on the subway and took a long ride to her hostel. Well, almost to her hostel. Through out this whole trip, this night was the only night I felt uneasy about her safety. I'm glad I didn't know this. The train that would have taken her all the way to her hostel was out of service, so she had to take the next best thing which didn't drop her off at all close, so there she was all alone in the middle of the night with all of her stuff walking in a sketchy area of Manhattan. A guy started following her just as she got to her hostel. I'm glad I didn't know about this until after the fact when she was safe.

Up at a fairly reasonable hour, American time. She got herself a big bagel from Zuckers--THE place to get a real NYC bagel.

 and went to the library.

She also saw Build a Bear again and spent a little time at Central Park, but wisely went to the airport early. Or tried to. The trains were having serious delays, so she opted for the Airport Express bus. That got her there.  Once there, the plane itself had delays. Not clear what, exactly was broken, but at least something on the inside. A little unnerving to have the plane being openly fixed as one is boarding it. 

But, ok. Safely to Dallas. Where the plane was also delayed. No idea why. The skies were clear. This was unfortunate as the SLC arrival was already due to be sufficiently late at 11:52 p.m. Dave and I went to a late movie and went bleary-eyed to the airport.  Plane indeed late, but not as late as we feared.  Totally breaking with protocol, Catherine was one of the FIRST off the plane! But this was made up for by the baggage taking forever. We didn't get out of the airport till 2:00 a.m. We figured we'd zip right home on empty roads. No. There was a traffic jam on I-15!! We got home at 3:00 a.m, so all of us are out of whack sleep-wise today. But what an adventure! And SO glad to have her home again!!

July 30, Paris Disneyland/Airport

She spent her last morning at Disneyland, riding Dumbo and Peter, crush Animagique and Ratatouille.  For lunch she could have had a Darth Vader Burger with a black bun, but opted for the Jedi burger instead.

Last of all was Phantom Manor to finish.

On the train, a middle age middle eastern guy was pushy about getting her phone number. She finally just gave him our old number from Iowa to get rid of him.

At the airport she was hoping that she wouldn't have to pay 60 Euros to check in her roller bag that is always fine as a carry-in. She didn't. She had to pay 100.  The plane was delayed because of repairs, that were still going on even after she boarded. The plane began to taxi at 12:00 noon our time. I can't wait to hear that she landed in NYC.

July 29, Paris Disneyland

Last full day abroad. Where better to spend it than Disneyland Paris?

She rode Crush Coaster!, then the riverboat, then Pirates--where she heard a piratey edition of "Who's on the Lord's side, who?"

The bet part of the day was between 3:15 and 4:15. On the riverboat she found two tickets that are given to people when their park passes get demagnetized. These are fast passes, but since they didn't scan well, she kept getting more fast passes. She wound up with 2 Big thunder passes, space mtn, star tours, Peter and Buzz. If anyone would use those passes well, she's the one.

 

It's a good thing the trip is almost over. She's down to her last 5 pins.

July 28, Disneyland Paris

Slept in until 10:00. Good girl! I'm worried about her. She looks exhausted and she's not slowing down.


At Disney again today. Today the rides were working, but it was super crowded. Maybe the Tour de France people were there? It isn't a holiday. But she saw Elsa, and went to the Frozen sing-a-long in French.  It was a chilly day (really) and Elsa was making it snow.

She also continued her quest to find a watch for Dave. Here's the winning watch--but it's sold out everywhere.

She ran (literally) into Jack Sparrow. And while she was waiting in the Pirates line, the whole line sang Happy Birthday to a lady turning 90.


The best part of the day---for me, was when she skyped me during my lunch. It just felt so good to chat with her.


The park continued busy. Even the ice-cream had a 20 minute wait.

Apparently, Europeans are a whole lot less line-oriented in America and will cut in line freely. Agree with Catherine, little kids running to the front to get a better view is one thing. Adults running to join them is quite another.


She rode Big Thunder and Peter Pan too. Overall, it sounds as though it was a mellow day. She says the park is small enough that she feels that she has really seen it, so instead of going headlong into battle with the crowds, she stepped back, took pictures with her fancy camera, explored the shops (not nearly the variety of stuff as in America), and didn't worry too much.

July 27, Disneyland Paris

Back at Disney today. It wasn't the park's day. Everything breaking down and big lines because of it. I tried to brag to Catherine that my friend had brought me a brie cheese puff. She replied that she had goat cheese and a sun-dried tomato on a baguette. You just can't beat the French when it comes to food.

Being my daughter, naturally she rode everything anyway.

Ratittoule
RC racers twice
Back to drawing class--goofy this time (upload phone pic)
The train
Hanging out with Merida

Some pin trading
phantom manor

Happily for Catherine, there is an Earl of Sandwich here. She says she "may" have eaten here every day.

Annd---stuff is still breaking down.
But buying a baymax pin eased a lot of grief.
Snow White
Story book canal boats
Texting me to buy her a Chef Duffy--me saying, "no."
Then it was time for ribs.
Oh no! Rib restaurant only open for lunch!
Phew---back up restaurant found.
Park open till midnight, but she left around 10 to be able to get back to the hostel before the trains shut down.

July 26, Paris

Catherine took a break from Disney to play at the Louvre today. She's become an expert traveler. There was a huge line at the Louvre--over an hour wait, so she just went to the other entrance (by the lions) and walked right in. She spent time with the Italian Renaissance paintings. Then went to see if Francois the hippo was back from his trip to Madrid. Not yet. So she bought one for herself.

She had some plans for visiting the Shakespeare book shop, but it was wet and cold. So she took a nap and then got up to see the Tour de France ride by. One the first attempt she only got a picture of the crowd, but on the second attempt she managed to get some bikes.

July 25, Disneyland Paris

One nice thing about all places Disney--you spend a lot of time standing in line, which means you can text your parents what you're doing.

Catherine meant to get up early and go to a magic morning, but her body had other plans. Then, the direct train has gone off line for repairs, which means she now has to take three trains to get there. She is nothing, if not determined. It sounds as though she had loads of fun.

Rock 'n roller coaster

A cars ride
Disney Jr. in French---she said is was fantastic. She should know, having seen the American version literally a thousand times.

Armageddon special effects show.
Magic of Disney Animation.

Darn Good Tigger I think!

Crush's coaster---Totally righteous Dude!
Aladdin's carpets
Slinkys Coaster
A drawing class
Tower of Terror

Somewhere along the line there was a shrieking four year old.
Ratatouille

Speculation as to whether this building, which is part of the entrance is actually the Disneyland hotel? Naturally, we checked the prices of this hotel before she left. After reviving from our faint--she booked a hostel.

Saw a baby duck. And did some souvenir shopping with an eye towards getting us something. Good idea.

Thought she was going on Swiss Family Robinson Tree house, but ended up on Pirate Island.
Long line for Peter. naturally.

To end the day, she drew on her skills as a former cast member and got from the train station to a prime firework viewing spot 10 minutes before the show.

Glad she's safely at her hostel--there would be at least a small walk between any train or bus station and her day didn't end till about 1:00 a.m.

July 24, Disneyland Paris

What a way to end a spectacular trip--with some days in the most magical of all places. Her hostel is nicer than the one in Scotland as well. Basic. But with the French idea of a basic breakfast. Other hostel breakfasts are white bread one can toast, strawberry jam and cornflakes. Hard boiled eggs if you are lucky.  In France, 4 kinds of bread including baguette, lemon cake, fruit, fruit cocktail, 3 kinds of jam, honey cheese and cornflakes.

Her hostel is very centrally located so the train to Disneyland takes about an hour. But she gets to walk past the Arc d'triumph to get to the station.

In Paris, Phantom Manor is a much darker ride than the Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder is faster, but the Indiana Jones ride is just a roller coaster around the temple of doom.

 In Small World, Ariel is NOT wearing seashells (not a problem, they're all children).  Space Mountain is the best by far. The ride goes upside down and through an asteroid field. The graphics are amazing and you can't see the coaster track at all.

 In Star Tours, it was the old ride. The Droid spoke French while everyone else spoke English.

They don't sell ear hats!! Just headbands.

Food prices, as in America are distinctly non-magical.  And the nutella bread is no longer Mickey Shaped but the pizza is.

Since we had the day off today we had a good long Skype session and she took us on a tour of Alice's Curious Labyrinth.

Then she walked us all around the park, and through some of the shops. The castle looks amazing with waterfalls. It wasn't crazy crowded, and we could hear the happy Disney music all around. I'm glad Disneyland is one of her favorite places too. 

July 22, Scotland

I think Catherine must be dead tired. She said the best thing about the day was 5 guys burgers.

But she took a bus tour and saw Mackintosh house, which seems to be part of the Hunterian art gallery, which in turn is part of the university? I'm getting a little tired myself. The house seems to be a modern architechtral wonder, full of natural light.

(I hope she got some good pictures, because it's impossible to pull anything off of the internet. It must all be copyrighted.)

Then she spent the remainder of the evening waiting forever at the bus station because everything else was closed.

Not sure when she got a hold of this rootbeer, but she says she didn't realize how much she missed it until she had some. Funny how the body works, we're not big rootbeer drinkers, but I felt the same way about peanut butter when we lived in Japan.

Also not sure when she saw the bagpipers, but hey, it's Scotland.

July 21, Scotland

I love my girl. I didn't actually complain about the lack of details in the daily summaries that she sends me..I merely pointed out that she should not major in English, and that if she had written Harry Potter the whole series would have only been 1 paragraph long. I got the following in response.

Today I started with a .4 mile walk to the hop on hop off bus station by the Glasgow cathedral.

I woke up too late for breakfast, but had a pack of 4 belvita breakfast biscuits (flavor oat) to munch along the way.

It started to drizzle so I opened my useless umbrealls which proceeded to turn inside out at the slightest hint of a breeze. I waited for a 4.672 minutes for the bus to arrive. I got on and was led through a delightful tour of Glasgow before disembarking at the riverside museum of transportation.

There I had the pleasure of viewing a multitude of trains, trolleys, bicycles, boats and other things throughout time. I also explored the "tall ship" an actual ship that now serves as a museum. The rooms were remarkably preserved with informative information plaques at every turn. There were also little stuffed rats throughout. The deck was kept meticulously clean by providing the children an opportunity to swab the deck.

I enjoyed a sausage bap and hot chocolate at the cafe before heading to my next destination. Passing the "armadillo" or cultural centre I arrived at the Kelvingrove museum. There I was a witness to a mangerie of taxidermy, a bounty of plein air, and an organ recital.

At the cafe I enjoyed afternoon tea--a delightful affair with citrus tea, ham, salmon and cheese sandwiches, a scone with clotted creamand jam, a cream tart, cream puff and blueberry shortbread square.

Then I walked to the artistic shop of snappy snaps to develop the film I so lovingly exposed. on my earlier ventures. Whilst I waited, I visited the reputable establishment of higher learning that is Glasgow university.

I saw the non-denominational chapel and the famous cloisters that inspired the design of hogwarts in the films.

I also viewed the huntairan museum and saw the bones of dire wolves, ancient roman runes and the deformed body parts of humans long passed.

After receiving my film, I ventured to find Voltaire and Rousseau books. A small shop down an alley that was full of tomes in all shapes and sizes stacked high on the walls and all over the floor leaving only narrow walkways for patrons.

I then departed for the bus station to take me to the city centre. There I found a cafe of Hard Rock,

and had a beautiful glass filled to the brim with brownies, hot fudge and frozen cream. I ended my day with a stroll along the streets back to my inn.

July 20, Scotland

Okay, I'm not even going to try to make sense of this day. She had to leave at 5:00 a.m. to get to Scotland, so maybe she's tired, or maybe the haggis was bad, but today's texts have a sort of psychedelic quality to them. Here we go....

Got upgraded to a private room! Oops, nope. Hostel guy messed up.  So she found a tsum tsum purse.

Did well at the ATM--English option broken, but she fine in German. Then found a book on how to knit your own Andy Murray, and offered to get us some tinned Haggis.

She sent this picture. Tribbles? Tribbles in a brewery? Then we get this text.

"You know the candy jelly babies? I got you guys some jelly-atrics." Terrific. Thanks love.

Her room still smells weird. She ate some haggis and it was ok.

She bought a very pretty necklace.

I asked for a summary of her day. I got "Waiting and Walking."

Now she's sharing a room with three very loud spanish speakers. I only hope that she gets some sleep and that tomorrow will make more sense.

July 19, Dublin

Sunday today. Church was an extra long walk for her since Google sent her the wrong direction first. But she made it. Lunch afterwards was at a cute diner. Then she found the Disney store (naturally).

The attended evensong at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

I guess church and food go together. After evensong, she treated herself to a special hot chocolate. She figured it must be really special because they were taking so long. Ooops. They had forgotten her. But they gave her a chocolate heart to make up for the wait.

Next she took advantage of Animal body worlds that was in town. Note: Reindeer fetuses look like fully grown chihuahuas.

Tomorrow she has to leave at 5:10 a.m. for Scotland. So fortified with chocolate, she tackled the packing. She expects dinner will be pizza and is hoping for an early night.

July 18, Dublin

Gotta love days that begin with castles. This is still in use as a government building.

Next was a good pancake breakfast and a visit to St. Patricks Cathedral. I asked if St. Patrick was everywhere? Catherine said surprisingly, not really.  She did go into St. Patricks, but only saw the outside of Christ's church, as it was expensive to go inside.

She went to a library put together by a famous American collector and then went to the must see Leprechan Museum. Her verdict, was that it was cute, but not really worth 10 euros. However, it's not really possible to go to Ireland and NOT go to the leprechan museum. 

Dublin has a sort of a China town kind of an area. So she treated herself to an accupressure massage. The massuse told her that her left side was so tight that she really needed accupuncture. This is why I trust my girl---accupressure, yes. Accupuncture from a stranger in a random place? No.  

Every town has a bridge. 

Dublin closes down early. Catherine thinks it's because all the tourists are expected to go pub crawling and all the locals go home. Everything is shut down by 7:00 and the mall closes around 8.  She skyped us while at the mall and we had lots of fun talking with her and looking at some of the stuff.  So, she just goes back to her hostel and reads and rests (a very good idea). This hostel is quite nice. Centrally located, and although her bed wasn't ready for her when she arrived at 6 a.m., they let her leave her stuff, and told her to help herself to breakfast and use all the facilities. There are 16 people in the room, with bunks stacked 3 deep. She's on the top this time, but whenever she or anyone else moves, the whole bed shakes. 

She sent us this picture of her first time ever Mars bar. How has she never had a Mars bar? I have failed her.