Home Sweet Home

We are home, Wednesday at 6:21pm about 24 hours after we should have been home.  Still missing one bag, Rachel's, they think it probably went to SD instead of LA, so we are hoping to get that too in  next 24 hours

Despite the last 30 hours the trip was wonderful. We still recommend Insight tours. (Our tour director is also an actor in film and tv.) 

This is the final post for this trip... ; ) 

Back to Reality

We are on the way back to Heathrow this morning for round 2.  It is 6:30 am London time.  We takeoff on British airways at 9:40 flight 279 to Los Angeles. Then we are driving down to San Diego. We land in LA at 1:00 after an 11 hour flight.  Gonna be a long day. 

Last night they put us and 120 other stranded passengers at the Sofitel at Gatwick airport. Fed us a nice dinner and gave us overnight bags with some amenities and a T-shirt.  You know how we love to camp.  Well this was kinda like camping in a nice hotel !  

Stuck in the UK

Plane was late out of Rome. Stuck in London overnight with no bags... Wasted day...

Rome Day 2

First coin means that you are coming back to Roma, second coin means that your feet will not smell for a week...

 Old folks get to play too!

Parking, Roma style!

We found this boat out in the street, and took a picture!

 The Panthenon is pretty incredible.

 Pictures cannot possibly do it justice.

If your car gets a boo boo, you just have the car doctor sew stitches for it.

And apparently, Rachel is not the only person out there that drives by braille...

Sarah drinking from the local water fountain. Hopefully she will not end up with the colly-wobbles.

Mom is taking a brief rest in front of the fountain...

Rome Day 1

We started the day with an orientation tour

Then onto the catacombs 

Next we went up some cool steps ...

...onto the Palintine  and  Forum

Then onto the coliseum 

Back to the room to rest up...

Evening is a trip to the Trevi Fountain and dinner right next to the coliseum 

We had a great day...we are tired 

Travel to Rome

We checked out of the hotel, and onto the airport to fly to Roma.  Apparently there was an accident at either Paris or Rome, ( plane landed with no wheels) so our flight was behind schedule.  We landed in Rome about 2 hours late.  

The weather is warm, but overcast. 

We had a language lesson on the bus, so we can try to communicate with the locals.  Starting with Dean Martin singing "That's Amore"

After checking into the hotel we went to a little Italian restaurant.  

We are getting some sleep tonight.  Tomorrow is a busy day! 

Paris Day 2

Another busy day on our own exploring Paris.  It started by sleeping in then straight to lunch at a local bistro. We nicknamed it ratatouille for the rat we saw running up the wall. Food was good, service was a little rude.

We took the Metro (subway) to the Louvre. 

we had a Starbucks on the way.  

and then on to the lock bridge, where we looked for our lock from last year. 

Bought some artwork at a street vendor.

The rest of the pictures will be uploaded later.  

we spent time getting to know the Metro here (Subway). Took it everywhere today.  Sometimes a bit hot, but an easy way to get around.  

We went back to the hotel to see if we could get reservations for dinner anywhere.  Our tour guide made them for us at a wonderful restaurant In Montmartre near the to Sacre Cour.   Great outside French restaurant.  We took the funicular up the hill.   Such a great view of the city.  

We went back to the Eiffel Tower to see it light up at 11:00.  Spectacular. 

Then back on the Metro  at midnight.  We saw a fight, a real knock down. Looked like two groups of boys fighting over who knows whats. One guy got beat up pretty bad.  

Then we had Late night drinks, before packing up for our next leg....we leave tomorrow morning for Rome.  

Paris Day 1

We had a fun day on our own, no tour bus.  

We started with an interesting taxi ride to the Eiffel Tower.  Our driver had driven a taxi here for 44 years and clearly loves paris, just not all the crazy motorcycle riders.  Pretty much everyone drives like a maniac here. For the most part there are no markers between lanes. After all, what would be the point? They would not use them.

The Eiffel Tower was great fun. Got some great pictures. It is huge.

We had a fromage filled hotdog and a crepe, both of which were recommended by one of Rachel's friends.

Next we walked to the Arch de Triomphe and sat and watched the traffic for awhile.  Interesting circle.  They have an accident there every 12 minutes, but we saw an accident within our first 6 minutes. Both parties just drove away. 

Then we walked down the Champs de Élysées.  Stopping once at a steetside cafe for a coffee.  We also stopped at Laduree for a maccaroon. 

Next we decided to try the Metro to get back to our hotel.  It was so easy. I wish we had that in San Diego.   

After some lunch, dad and the girls went to the small shopping area across from out hotel to get some gifts

We are got dressed up to go to Nouvelle Eve, a Paris cabaret like the Moulin Rouge. (our tour guide likes it better. And he was right about the can can being better there) 

Back in the hotel for some Spades (card game) then to bed.  

Travel to Paris

Today we rode the Eurostar to Paris.  2.5 hours (30 minutes under the English Channel). Top speed under test has been clocked at over 200 miles per hour.

We did a little "orientation" tour around Paris, then we checked into our hotel.  Turns out Iron Maiden is in our hotel, and there are a bunch of groupies hanging outside.  

We found a cute little restaurant on the rue st. Germaine.   Our waiter is helping us with our French, and we are helping him with his English.  When I accidentally answered back "gracias" he started in with Spanish.  Turns out he speaks German too.  

At night we took a cruise down the Seine, and then another look around the city "Illuminated" 

We are tired! 

London Day 2

Another beautiful day in London. Today we did a 12 hour tour out of London.  Windsor castle ( the queen is back at Westminister Abbey today for a party),  Stonehenge, and Bath.  We are on a time machine tour  900, 5000, 2000 years back in time.  

We have a very funny tour guide from Scotland (he does not have a kilt on), who gave us a really great history lesson throughout the day.  I know more about the kings and queens of England than I ever learned in school.. 

Windsor castle was beautiful.  The surrounding town was quaint. We learned a lot about the monarch. We visited the chapel (where all the kings and queens have been buried), the staterooms and saw the huge dollhouse.   

We grabbed takeout lunch, then back in the bus.  We drove through the english countryside passing Ascot (which opens in two weeks). The countryside was very green. In one place we passed an area that was carpeted in yellow. (Read pollen. Pretty sure if we had been out of the bus we would all be sneezing) In the forested areas we could see lots of little blue flowers under the trees.  

Stonehenge 2000 bc. Headstone was put into position, then the rest of the stones were put in place over the years after that. The stones came from 250 miles away.  Is it a church, hospital?  Were they a way to measure time or were the aliens playing dominoes?.  Why did the stones end up in this field?  It is a mystery, but very beautiful. 

Bath was another old city with some great architecture.  We visited the Roman baths and walked around the cobblestone streets.  I had a lovely time shopping with the queen. 

London - Day One, part two