Go, Go, Go

We’ll that’s exactly why I should never PLAN to do the blog. We are checked in and waiting for our flight home to Toronto and for the first time I am sitting down in a week with wifi access. I’ll skip most of the details and go straight to pictures. The narrative essentially goes like this; woke up early to ride Velocicoaster, screamed extensively, explored Hogsmeade…

Not sure why the photos posted here…

 

cast spells, drank ButterBeer, rode the Hogwarts Express to Diagon Alley, ate ice cream, bought stuff, filled up our refillable soda cup for the 4th time already that day, rode more rides, began to sweat to death - checked watches - it’s 10:30. Lord help us. Looked for indoor, air conditioned rides. Survive until noon. Drag our sweaty, exhausted bodies (past the pop refill station of course) and out of the park to the hotel pool. Swim for 20 minutes till the pool closes due to rain. Siesta and watch shows in the AC bliss of our room. Head back to the parks around 5 and do the whole thing in reverse, except do Hagrids motor bike Adventure instead of Velocicoaster. Repeat daily. Fun, right?!

Amazingly, it actually was a very chill feeling trip, for a theme park vacation. No planning required, or possible for that matter, since the weather affected what was open so much. We took one “chill day” off where we didn’t go into the parks, and one and a half days at the fantastic water park, which was a real highlight of the trip too. Everybody was happy, despite the heat, and Brendan, who has no interest in roller coasters was quite content to hang out with his phone and our unlimited refill drink cup while we rode the crazy rides. We feel like we’ve eaten every treat, rode every ride and shopped every store Universal had. I couldn’t ask for anything more!

Wizarding World, Here We Come!

On the road again!!

We’ll, I don’t want to jinx it, but it looks like we might manage to do the Universal Studios trip that was Covid canceled after all! We’re all healthy, our flight is listed as on time so far and we’ve made it through security. In fact, we seem to be the first one at our gate! 

With all the horror stories coming out of Pearson we gave ourselves 7 hours to drive to and through Toronto, park at the Park and Fly lot (where we hit 2 snags - the lot was full, then the 2nd lot they shunted us to was backed up by a non functional entrance gate. Staff showed up after about 10-15 minutes to let us all in. Should be fun trying to get out 🙄), get the shuttle to the airport , and get through security and customs . All of which went just like it always did! 

So we are settled in, and watching shows on free wifi, and waiting for the next adventure to start (translation, seeing if our flight leaves and luggage arrives. We have only carry on, but I’m still waiting for them to make us check it, then lose it). 

The only noticeable change I see here post Covid is masking, and that they’ve converted all the benches at our gate to individual seats with iPads and plugs. Brendan’s all set up on his laptop and loving life!

Au Revoir A Paris

I am exhausted (and broke). Time to come home. 

We had several more lovely days in Alsace since our last post. 

We have gotten into a rhythm of starting each morning walking around an achingly pretty village (this is Riquewihr) for an hour while I take pictures and the kids keep an eye out for a boulangerie for pretzels and croissants. Something for everyone!

We visited an incredible battlefield from WW1 where you could literally walk through the German and French trenches and see how close together they were. 

Then, to lighten the mood, we went to a cheese factory and learned ALL about the process of making Muenster cheese in agonizing detail.

Then a day of making changes on the fly. We started with our standard pretty village and a boulangerie. This is Eguisheim.

Our plan was to visit an open air museum all day, but after 3 hours we decided that the whole Alsace area looks like a historic museum, and that it was time to pivot. So we went to the local theme park and rode Stork themed rides (one of their local icons) all afternoon!

And with that, we crossed another trip off my life list. The Alsace was absolutely picture perfect- definitely recommend.

So, with 48 hours to go, it was time to take a deep breath and sprint to the finish of this epic, ridiculous, never ending trip. We drove a scenic 6 hours across France to Paris, dropped off the rental car and then walked our butts off. 41,000 steps in a day and a half. Oh boy.

Friday night we explored Montmartre and then wandered down to the Seine through the Palais Royale before learning how to take the Metro home. Paris may be the City of Lights but unfortunately it doesn't get dark until after 10:30, so it was more the City of Dusk for us.

We kicked off our big day in Paris with a morning at the Eiffel Tower, then did a boat cruise along the Seine. We spent the afternoon at the Louvre, as one does. Then we wandered through St Germaine de Pres until we found a little Creperie to toast our final night in Europe. We capped off the evening by visiting Notre Dame Cathedral and took our weary legs to bed.

We were welcomed home by random Covid testing for both twins, just in case we thought we hadn't stood in lines enough over the last month.

It's been a glorious, full, memorable and exhausting month. I definitely need home for a rest. But it's good to be traveling again. May we all.

Vive La France!

Holy Hannah, I may run out of camera space - the towns of the Alsace look like they were pulled right out of Disneyworld- to steal a Peter Mayle quote, it looks like they are busy posing for postcards. 3 days of sightseeing down and 2 to go in this gorgeous corner of Europe, with a little day trip to Switzerland and Germany to check them off our life list!

Our first dinner in France...

 (we had to buy it at a gas station - it was Saturday night).

Getting up close and personal with free roaming Barbary Macaques (we weren't allowed to feed them popcorn anymore, boo Covid).

Getting up close and personal with an Andean Condor (largest flying bird in the world, I believe) at a Birds of Prey show in a ruined castle!

Touring a WW2 bunker on the Maginot Line.

Apparently french grocery stores don't open on Sunday, so McDonald's it is. Before anyone claims that's not a cultural experience here's my Happy Meal - a McFish with ketchup, potato wedges with Creamy Dill sauce, a sparkling mint water and a frozen raspberry sherbet for dessert.

Our fabulous rental apartment. The furniture has to arranged a little creatively. 

Next day, it was off to Switzerland and the Black Forest in Germany. 

Testing the acoustics in a roman amphitheatre. 

We took a chairlift to the top of the mountain,  I dont want to take credit for hiking it!

Touring castles today - this is Haut Koenigsbourg. 

Picture taking heaven in Colmar. Poor Brendan stayed home to write a math test while the rest of us wandered and looked for historical plaques.

The Manneken Pis - not sure why there's a copy of the Bruxelles original here, but I'll take my famous sites wherever they want to show up.

The sculptor who created the statue of liberty is from Colmar - this place is landmark central!

And finally, one more hilltop castle,  overlooking our village. They are long days, I can't deny that. Nobody wants to be done, but I don't think I've been this continually overfed, overtired and overstimulated, ever. We will definitely home for a rest.